Delta VS 6” radius arms installed/review (1 Viewer)

[baldilocks]

Note that my tie rod is 1.25” dia. Static Clearance is 9/16. When turn to stop left, clearance at left arm remains 9/16” And at the right arm 1.5”. This is repeated at right turn lock.

 

[baldilocks]

I don’t know if it’s noticabke to other but I can definitely see that the front tire has moved forward away from the lower rear fender.

Over the last three days we put 700 on road miles plus a little wheeling at Elbe Hills ORV Park here in WA.

It’s amazing what better castor angle and new bushings can do for on the road driving. No more white knuckles in certain situations with more stable cornering, stabilityin general and predictability. I’d have to say the biggest difference is with the front sway bar removed.

It’s my understanding that with near zero castor, like I had before, there is no increase in camber (and castor too actually) as the steering knuckle moves through its range from stop to stop because there was little or nothing there to increase from to start with. It’s the increase In camber when we turn the steering wheel that lends to a more stable, less twitchy sort of turning arc. Correct me if I’m wrong on that.

An added bonus is the .5” that the Delta 6” arms are over stock. Getting wheel base back can’t hurt stability either plus my Dobinson tapered coils are no longer rubbing against the bump stop that’s inside th coil during axle articulation.

In the photo is appears that the tie rod contacted the arm but there was actually just about enough space between the two to slide a sheet of paper through. This situation may worsen as the bushings break down due to the extra droop my axle gets from the longer 6” lift shocks I installed with the longer tapered coils.

Also adding a little to axle articulation is the fact that the Delta arms are narrower than stock arms which allows more axle movement before the arms bind in their brackets.

 

[ajax1]

@baldilocks nice thanks for the pic of flex and tierod. We have very similar set ups, except I have Slee arms with Slee tierod, 4 inch Dobinson flexi with longer travel shocks. I would say biggest thing I see is more clearance on the Slee arm between the tierod. I’ll try get pic in next few days. Arms look great!

 

[Delta VS]

View attachment 1894089 View attachment 1894090 View attachment 1894088 I don’t know if it’s noticabke to other but I can definitely see that the front tire has moved forward away from the lower rear fender. View attachment 1894091 Over the last three days we put 700 on road miles plus a little wheeling at Elbe Hills ORV Park here in WA.

It’s amazing what better castor angle and new bushings can do for on the road driving. No more white knuckles in certain situations with more stable cornering, stabilityin general and predictability. I’d have to say the biggest difference is with the front sway bar removed.

It’s my understanding that with near zero castor, like I had before, there is no increase in camber (and castor too actually) as the steering knuckle moves through its range from stop to stop because there was little or nothing there to increase from to start with. It’s the increase In camber when we turn the steering wheel that lends to a more stable, less twitchy sort of turning arc. Correct me if I’m wrong on that.

An added bonus is the .5” that the Delta 6” arms are over stock. Getting wheel base back can’t hurt stability either plus my Dobinson tapered coils are no longer rubbing against the bump stop that’s inside th coil during axle articulation.

In the photo is appears that the tie rod contacted the arm but there was actually just about enough space between the two to slide a sheet of paper through. This situation may worsen as the bushings break down due to the extra droop my axle gets from the longer 6” lift shocks I installed with the longer tapered coils.

Also adding a little to axle articulation is the fact that the Delta arms are narrower than stock arms which allows more axle movement before the arms bind in their brackets.

You also have a larger than stock diameter tie rod, yes? Important distinction for most here.

 

[cruisercesar]

Great review and info.

@baldilocks, @ajax1

Any chance you can measure the pinion/drive shaft angle?

@baldilocks nice thanks for the pic of flex and tierod. We have very similar set ups, except I have Slee arms with Slee tierod, 4 inch Dobinson flexi with longer travel shocks. I would say biggest thing I see is more clearance on the Slee arm between the tierod. I’ll try get pic in next few days. Arms look great!

 

[Delta VS]

Great review and info.

@baldilocks, @ajax1

Any chance you can measure the pinion/drive shaft angle?

to go along with this info, can you also measure from the ground to each of the front panhard bolts? so we know the difference in height for each arm. that will help distinguish pinion angle stuff.

 

[cybrstar]

So when are we going to get our first group buy @Delta VS
I want a set.

 

[Delta VS]

So when are we going to get our first group buy @Delta VS
I want a set.

Hate to disappoint, but we aren't going to be doing group buys any time in the near future, for any of our products. We work very hard to keep products in stock, ready to ship, that is our business model. We already offer the "lift assist kit" which is 5% off to all members of Mud at all times, forever, and if we did do a group buy, it wouldn't get any cheaper than that, so there's really no reason to go through the hassle of a group buy. Those usually get messy and at least one person will get rubbed the wrong way (not that we don't seem to manage to do that anyway), so like to minimize all that.

 

[baldilocks]

You also have a larger than stock diameter tie rod, yes? Important distinction for most here.

Yes, maybe I forgot to mention that my tie rod is 1.25” OSD which reduces the space between the tie and arms as compared to a stock tie rod.

 

[baldilocks]

to go along with this info, can you also measure from the ground to each of the front panhard bolts? so we know the difference in height for each arm. that will help distinguish pinion angle stuff.

Axle end track bar bolt center is 18.25” from my garage floor and the frame end bolt is 23.75” off the floor for a difference of 5.5”.

We spoke about my lift before and your methods hads my lift at 5.625” and my method has lift at 5”.

I don’t remember, are the track bar bolt on the same plane prior to lifting an 80?

 

[baldilocks]

With this same set up using the Slee castor plates for a 4” lift, my front pinion flange was at 81.5* and perfect for the dc shaft.

Now, with plates removed and shipped to Texas where they will live on in @KennyBob 80, and the Delta 6” arms installed, my pinion is down and more vertical at 85*.

This is now not optimal for either a dc shaft or a standard shaft because the operating angle of the pinion Joint is approx 7* and the operating angle of the XFR case joint is approx 14*. Operating angle was derive at the XFR case end by adding the static slope of the shaft to the 2* the flange is pointed up ward. Front operating angle was calculated by subtracting the approx 5* pinion up from the static slope of the shaft.

I have both types of drive shaft and didn’t bother testing the DC version and went straight to my older, all Toyota original shaft.

Running it out of phase, how it came from the factory, was no good. After putting the yokes in phase, I could run 40mph+ before noticing any vibration.

My 80 has a part time kit installed so I also tested for vibes with the shaft being driven under no load, as in with hubs locked and center diff lock switch disengage, and was able to drive 55mph with no vibes. Didn’t try it any faster because of the road I was testing on.

I’m quite pleased with how the standard shaft is working out despite approx 7* difference in U-joint operating angles. I figure 40-45mph should be fast enough for my purposes when in 4wd mode.

@cruisercesar

 

[cybrstar]

@baldilocks have you used it as a slider yet meaning over rocks?

I’m interested in seeing it’s strength on carrying the full weight of the cruiser on it if it bends or rips in any way.

 

[KennyBob]

View attachment 1894442 With this same set up using the Slee castor plates for a 4” lift, my front pinion flange was at 81.5* and perfect for the dc shaft.

Now, with plates removed and shipped to Texas where they will live on in @KennyBob 80, and the Delta 6” arms installed, my pinion is down and more vertical at 85*.

This is now not optimal for either a dc shaft or a standard shaft because the operating angle of the pinion Joint is approx 7* and the operating angle of the XFR case joint is approx 14*. Operating angle was derive at the XFR case end by adding the static slope of the shaft to the 2* the flange is pointed up ward. Front operating angle was calculated by subtracting the approx 5* pinion up from the static slope of the shaft.

I have both types of drive shaft and didn’t bother testing the DC version and went straight to my older, all Toyota original shaft.

Running it out of phase, how it came from the factory, was no good. After putting the yokes in phase, I could run 40mph+ before noticing any vibration.

My 80 has a part time kit installed so I also tested for vibes with the shaft being driven under no load, as in with hubs locked and center diff lock switch disengage, and was able to drive 55mph with no vibes. Didn’t try it any faster because of the road I was testing on.

I’m quite pleased with how the standard shaft is working out despite approx 7* difference in U-joint operating angles. I figure 40-45mph should be fast enough for my purposes when in 4wd mode.

@cruisercesar

Thanks again @baldilocks! Can’t wait to get them installed. Rig’s lookin’ good!

 

[baldilocks]

1” thick the full length

@baldilocks have you used it as a slider yet meaning over rocks?

I’m interested in seeing it’s strength on carrying the full weight of the cruiser on it if it bends or rips in any way.

I only put them through one rather short trail run up to a Mount Rainier vista point but did manage to slide over one rock with the passenger side arm. I’m not sure how much weight was on it but I do remember a few good thumps underneath.

I hope these pics help answer your question. This thread will be updated as time passes and I have additional opportunities to beat on them more.

 

[ajax1]

So I got 23.5 roughly to the top driver side panhard bolt and 18.5 inches on the pass mount bolt. I don’t have a way right now to measure pinnion angle
Slee arms with Slee hd tie rod

 

[bajaphile]

So with a DC front shaft, would they cause vibes or no? I don't have my stock front shaft anymore.

 

[Delta VS]

View attachment 1894590 So I got 23.5 roughly to the top driver side panhard bolt and 18.5 inches on the pass mount bolt. I don’t have a way right now to measure pinnion angle
Slee arms with Slee hd tie rod

Whoa! Are those tubes? Or are they machined and just can't tell in the picture? They look different than the ones on their site.

 

[baldilocks]

 

[Delta VS]

Axle end track bar bolt center is 18.25” from my garage floor and the frame end bolt is 23.75” off the floor for a difference of 5.5”.

We spoke about my lift before and your methods hads my lift at 5.625” and my method has lift at 5”.

I don’t remember, are the track bar bolt on the same plane prior to lifting an 80?

I just wanted to compare between your rig and @ajax1's rig

 

[ajax1]

Whoa! Are those tubes? Or are they machined and just can't tell in the picture? They look different than the ones on their site.

These are there second gen arms came out long time ago, new ones are one piece