Custom Radius Arms for the light duty 70 series? (2 Viewers)

[GTSSportCoupe]

Also, found dimensions for the 80 arm:

" 33" from frame to axle center with 29" from frame to first link bolt link center. 7 5/16" from fist to second link bolt centers. 31 1/4 right to left center. 2 7/16" frame side bushing width and 2" wide at the axle. "

I measured roughly 29.5" from rear bolt to first link bolt on the Prado one....so it could be slightly longer than the 80, which would not be a good thing for an upgrade.

 

[divemedic]

Wouldn’t you want the radius arm longer?

Iirc @SNLC used modified radius arms from delta for his coil conversion. That might be worth looking into based on the above photo?

 

[SNLC]

Wouldn’t you want the radius arm longer?

Iirc @SNLC used modified radius arms from delta for his coil conversion. That might be worth looking into based on the above photo?

Yes you do want it longer if you are lifting. Lifting the truck brings the axle out of center, a longer arm puts it back where it should be.


What I did doesn’t really apply here. It was all custom.

Cheers

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

What's good about the 80 radius arm is it would correct caster for the LJ7x/KZJ7x without using caster bushing or plates. What's not good is the potentially shorter length. Yes, longer is what we need. However all these measurements are approximate so far. I'm going to carefully measure an 80 arm vs my 78 arm. Will let you guys know what I find..... What I'm looking for myself is an affordable way to upgrade my LJ78's radius arms. If I can somehow use the 80 ones, I will....

 

[malteser]

That's how several of mine were built. Never had an issue and one of those trucks I know to still be a daily driver 13 years later. I wouldn't trust my welding skills, but the guys that do it have top notch skills, so I never felt uncomfortable with it.
On the adjustable panhards, we installed a set of those from I believe the Philippines on Jim's truck. They were really well built. They have a couple of small issues that needed tweaking, but for the money were a really solid product. I actually only had one thing on them I didn't think was great. And, we couldn't exactly see why they did it. Where the eye end connects,they shrunk the tube down narrower and made a weak spot in my mind.

I am currently waiting on a pair of these panhard rods in hope it will aid with the leaning problem which I am still experiencing with the Dobinsons springs. What issues do they have please ?

 

[joekatana]

Just a heads up to Delta , while the LJ series have not been that popular here I am expecting to see many KZJ series coming in from starting next year and they share the same frame and suspension so I am pretty sure the demand will grow as these KZJ73's are the perfect do it all cruisers.

 

[Delta VS]

I am currently waiting on a pair of these panhard rods in hope it will aid with the leaning problem which I am still experiencing with the Dobinsons springs. What issues do they have please ?

It is highly unlikely adjustable panhards would solve a leaning issue, that is going to be spring related.

 

[Delta VS]

Just a heads up to Delta , while the LJ series have not been that popular here I am expecting to see many KZJ series coming in from starting next year and they share the same frame and suspension so I am pretty sure the demand will grow as these KZJ73's are the perfect do it all cruisers.

As stated, we'd be more than happy to get something available. Just need a stock one sent to our shop, we'll take it from there.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Been thinking about this a bit more. I feel that one of the greatest drawback's of the LJ78 suspension is the poor front articulation/flex. The front axle tends to pull the entire frame of the truck left right constantly while off road. The rear axle on the other hand flexes really quite nicely.

One thing that I just realized is the pre-1990 LJ70 had a totally different front radius arm which I'm guessing would allow more front axle articulation due to it's different bushing design at the frame. I'd be interested to hear from people who own the earlier Bundera or pre 1990 light duty 70. Also, would be neat to know how long these early radius arms are compared to the later ones? I wonder if they could be adapted to the later light duty 70 series.

Here is a link to some pictures of the early style front radius arms: Input, Next Project , 40 Body on Late RJ/LJ70 Chassis which has Coils all round, 12HT Engine

And drawings from the EPC of early/late versions:

Early front radius arm:

Late front radius arm:

 

[Nas90tdi]

The older setup is the same as the Land Rover design before they went off the rails and started building glorified mini vans. You can get a ridiculous amount of flex from that set up reasonably easily. Even with factory bushings the Land Rover had at least twice the flex my LJ does. I to have wondered why they went to the loop connection at the frame rails. It severely limits the axle drop because it binds laterally as the axle moves one way or the other. Whereas the earlier design had the ability to pivot within it's mount 360 degrees. It's limiting factor is bushing compression.
I had a Discovery we did a Johnny Joint on that it was a super flexible truck. But, made a bit of noise once you lost the dampening of the bushings. I can't seem to find any pictures of that truck. It was at least 15 years ago, pictures weren't quite so easy to take back then.
I can't even remember who made those radius arms. I think it was a company called Rovertym. They aren't actually in business anymore in their original set up. Someone else bought them and they have sort of gotten away from building ridiculous components and went a little more mainstream to cater to the $100K Defender guys who want a cool truck to go to Starbucks in.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

The older setup is the same as the Land Rover design before they went off the rails and started building glorified mini vans. You can get a ridiculous amount of flex from that set up reasonably easily. Even with factory bushings the Land Rover had at least twice the flex my LJ does. I to have wondered why they went to the loop connection at the frame rails. It severely limits the axle drop because it binds laterally as the axle moves one way or the other. Whereas the earlier design had the ability to pivot within it's mount 360 degrees. It's limiting factor is bushing compression.
I had a Discovery we did a Johnny Joint on that it was a super flexible truck. But, made a bit of noise once you lost the dampening of the bushings. I can't seem to find any pictures of that truck. It was at least 15 years ago, pictures weren't quite so easy to take back then.
I can't even remember who made those radius arms. I think it was a company called Rovertym. They aren't actually in business anymore in their original set up. Someone else bought them and they have sort of gotten away from building ridiculous components and went a little more mainstream to cater to the $100K Defender guys who want a cool truck to go to Starbucks in.

I wonder if a johnny joint adapter could be made to fit the threaded end of the early radius arm to adapt it to the later frame attachment style? Maybe it could be made adjustable to correct position of the axle for a given lift also? That would be sweet. Castor correction bushings or a caster correction plate could still be used at the axle end to solve caster issues.

My concerns would be: I bet these early arms are not easy to find, and second, I see the early Bundera has the steering stabilizer in front of the axle, not behind. So the early radius arms are a different shape as they don't have to clear the steering stuff behind the axle as much as the later design. I noticed this as a problem when I was thinking of the 80 series radius arms also.

Something like this could probably be adapted to....?

 

[Delta VS]

@LandCruiserPhil might be able to weigh in on the potential of this a bit. Pretty sure he used some radius arms on his 80 Series some years ago that were free to rotate on the chassis side. Results were "not worth it" if I recall correctly (please correct if that is incorrect, Phil, I will edit this post).

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

@LandCruiserPhil might be able to weigh in on the potential of this a bit. Pretty sure he used some radius arms on his 80 Series some years ago that were free to rotate on the chassis side. Results were "not worth it" if I recall correctly (please correct if that is incorrect, Phil, I will edit this post).

100% correct my wristed arms looked cool but no help with increasing flex and did not address binding at the axle.
Correct me if wrong but you arms are the only arms that address binding at the axle?

 

[clintnz]

I wonder if a johnny joint adapter could be made to fit the threaded end of the early radius arm to adapt it to the later frame attachment style? Maybe it could be made adjustable to correct position of the axle for a given lift also? That would be sweet. Castor correction bushings or a caster correction plate could still be used at the axle end to solve caster issues.

My concerns would be: I bet these early arms are not easy to find, and second, I see the early Bundera has the steering stabilizer in front of the axle, not behind. So the early radius arms are a different shape as they don't have to clear the steering stuff behind the axle as much as the later design. I noticed this as a problem when I was thinking of the 80 series radius arms also.

Something like this could probably be adapted to....?

Not LJ/KZJ7* but. I strongly suspect that trying to do this with a std Bundy arm & std Prado chassis mount etc would not work as it would end up too long. These are Nissan GQ Patrol. Conveniently the pins are a size that can have a thread cut straight on that matches a standard metric female rod end. I borrowed the idea & the tapping die from a friend when I installed this axle in my cruiser. Have run these for a few years now with no problems. I expect they will get rattly eventually but they don't cost too much more to replace than a normal suspension bush so no worries there.

The pin type chassis mount for radius arms also has it's issues, more wear prone than the other type & big hits can split the rubber bushes & pop them out the side.

Cheers
Clint

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Not LJ/KZJ7* but. I strongly suspect that trying to do this with a std Bundy arm & std Prado chassis mount etc would not work as it would end up too long. These are Nissan GQ Patrol. Conveniently the pins are a size that can have a thread cut straight on that matches a standard metric female rod end. I borrowed the idea & the tapping die from a friend when I installed this axle in my cruiser. Have run these for a few years now with no problems. I expect they will get rattly eventually but they don't cost too much more to replace than a normal suspension bush so no worries there.

The pin type chassis mount for radius arms also has it's issues, more wear prone than the other type & big hits can split the rubber bushes & pop them out the side.

Cheers
Clint

That's pretty cool! Nice to know the idea can work in principle at least. I think you're right though; adding these to the Bundera arm would likely make it too long. I suppose the frame mount could be moved, but then the whole idea of saving effort/money is lost. Custom arms are probably the only way to go.

 

[Nas90tdi]

Funny you mention that. I have spit those bushings out before like you are talking about. The old Poly bushings were really prone when they got old. Makes a hell of a racket getting back to the road with the radius arm thumping around in there every time it moved.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

The more I look at the Raptor 4x4 radius arms, the more I like them. Might just be exactly what I'm looking for in fact. Hard to tell from the poor picture, but they appear to have a heim joint at the frame end. The length is adjustable, and they have inherent castor correction. Wish I could find a review from someone who has actually bought them. Price is actually pretty reasonable compared to other radius arm sets out there (comparing to 80 series sets for example).

Here is a link to their UK site: Raptor 4x4 Front HD Radius Arms Angled For Toyota KZJ70 LJ70

 

[joekatana]

The more I look at the Raptor 4x4 radius arms, the more I like them. Might just be exactly what I'm looking for in fact. Hard to tell from the poor picture, but they appear to have a heim joint at the frame end. The length is adjustable, and they have inherent castor correction. Wish I could find a review from someone who has actually bought them. Price is actually pretty reasonable compared to other radius arm sets out there (comparing to 80 series sets for example).

Here is a link to their UK site: Raptor 4x4 Front HD Radius Arms Angled For Toyota KZJ70 LJ70

Maybe we should figure out how to order a few sets in Italy and get them in my container later this year

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Maybe we should figure out how to order a few sets in Italy and get them in my container later this year

If there is enough interested it could be worth it. I'm sure it would save quite a bit on shipping costs; for the guys in the US at least.

Funny thing, is the distributor Sahara 4x4 seems to have a better price than the manufacturer Raptor 4x4. Sahara is 371.90 Euro for a pair, and Raptor if 580 UK Pounds. That is $404.50 USD from Sahara and $722.90 USD from Raptor using a currency converter. Would have to contact them both to figure out what the deal is I guess. Shipping is another 160-180 USD from Sahara...

 

[steve729]

So what am I missing here?? Delta already said they're interested in making them........and we all know what their quality and service is like, {first rate}. So why not just get them started and we'll all have a source right here in the USA. I'de be in for a set.