fj80 RADIUS ARMS (1 Viewer)

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update on arms,
after hearing 4-8weeks to get arms built from Delta which was my 1st choice, my race car fabricator said he could build me a set but that would slow down the other parts he is building for me so decided to give Superior Engineering from AU a shot.
I had a couple of emails with them sending my measurments to confirm correct arm for my lift. same day they got back to me with recomendation or the arm to use.
So I pulled the trigger and bought them. with shipping the arms were still less expensive then US built. Exchange rate is in our favor.
Before I could even ask for the tracking number the arms showed up at my door, could not belive I got them in lees then a week.. maybe I got lucky but I have to compliment Superior on their customer service for this one. I am extreamly happy with those guys. answered my emails and phone calls right away.. and then did exactly what they said they would no excuses or delays.
arms came with rubber OEM bushings, I had the old arms out and new ones installed in 1hr that night. perfect fit, test drove it and steering is back to factory feel. have not taken it to the alignment shop to confirm caster numbers but I can tell its good. took a measurement from the axle/arm mounts just to see how much it changed. Stock arms there was 0 deg with a digital level across the bottom of the mount. with the new arms it was 6 deg. these arems are really beefy for sure landing on a rock is not going to be a problem.. they are heavy for sure. as far as flex and unsprung wieght effects I wont know unitl I put it through its paces. the only thing I still need to solve is a good way to secure the ABS sensor wires that run down the arm. for now I just have them zip tied. I a supper happy with these arms, Superrior Engineerings quality and customer service.. from my 1st experince with them I would highly recomend that company for sure.
Pictures or it didn't happen !!
 
Pictures or it didn't happen !!
SRA.jpeg
 
I have said it before in these threads, it is usually not received well.

You can cut & turn gaining around 3*. You can’t get much more than that due to tre clearance. I have done it on an 80 and so has a good friend, with bushings and not big lift you can get good results. Its cheap and its fast if you can weld.

You can also cut all the suspension brackets off the axle housing, put it right where you want and weld it back on. Takes more skill but it is also cheap and can be done in a weekend vs 8 weeks wait time.

I have Blackhawks on my 80 and have installed them on a customers 80. Both after alignment gave odd numbers. I can’t say I trust the alignment specs but using an angle cube after on both gave the same readings. I been meaning to try another alignment shop on mine to see what numbers I get from another shop. Probably do that fairly soon cause I need an alignment.

Cheers
 
I have said it before in these threads, it is usually not received well.

You can cut & turn gaining around 3*. You can’t get much more than that due to tre clearance. I have done it on an 80 and so has a good friend, with bushings and not big lift you can get good results. Its cheap and its fast if you can weld.

You can also cut all the suspension brackets off the axle housing, put it right where you want and weld it back on. Takes more skill but it is also cheap and can be done in a weekend vs 8 weeks wait time.

I have Blackhawks on my 80 and have installed them on a customers 80. Both after alignment gave odd numbers. I can’t say I trust the alignment specs but using an angle cube after on both gave the same readings. I been meaning to try another alignment shop on mine to see what numbers I get from another shop. Probably do that fairly soon cause I need an alignment.

Cheers

The only issue I see is
Most people can't weld
Of those that think they can, most shouldn't be welding suspension parts

For those skilled enough, it's a great option. For the rest of us, we take what we can get
 
The only issue I see is
Most people can't weld
Of those that think they can, most shouldn't be welding suspension parts

For those skilled enough, it's a great option. For the rest of us, we take what we can get


Don’t disagree with you at all.

Cheers
 
I have said it before in these threads, it is usually not received well.

You can cut & turn gaining around 3*. You can’t get much more than that due to tre clearance. I have done it on an 80 and so has a good friend, with bushings and not big lift you can get good results. Its cheap and its fast if you can weld.

You can also cut all the suspension brackets off the axle housing, put it right where you want and weld it back on. Takes more skill but it is also cheap and can be done in a weekend vs 8 weeks wait time.

I have Blackhawks on my 80 and have installed them on a customers 80. Both after alignment gave odd numbers. I can’t say I trust the alignment specs but using an angle cube after on both gave the same readings. I been meaning to try another alignment shop on mine to see what numbers I get from another shop. Probably do that fairly soon cause I need an alignment.

Cheers
I was thinking cutting arm mounts and rotaing the axle with stock arms would be a good way to go. you can still buy stock oem arms from Toyota and get them in a day or two along with plenty of used ones. you would be able to set it up perfect based on your suspension and load, just need to have the tools and skill set to be able to get it right or your going to create other problems like it not being strait.. caster is just one part of it, pinoin angle is also a big one for AWD with the smaller lift like mine not such a big deal but taller lifts maybe. I sure would like to see a long arm four link conversion kit with coil overs but probally just not enough demand for these fj80 to justify a companys R&D. not sure I trust most of the alingment shops. when you find a shop that is good stick with them. I road race, run off road cars for years and trust me correct alingment and suspension set ups wins races. same goes for off road, suspension is everything. most owener will never know the difference and think their rigs are great. For me I am just not happy unleless its right, like Niki Lauder, I have an ok mind but my ass feels everything in a car..
 
just went on your web site man I wish you were in CA. looks lioke you have done more then your share of fabricating on these rigs..


We are in Idaho. We have seven big build threads going here on the forum if you want to follow along. 🤙

Cheers
 
Nice arms, make sure you use oem hardware to install them lol.
 
I was thinking cutting arm mounts and rotaing the axle with stock arms would be a good way to go. you can still buy stock oem arms from Toyota and get them in a day or two along with plenty of used ones. you would be able to set it up perfect based on your suspension and load, just need to have the tools and skill set to be able to get it right or your going to create other problems like it not being strait.. caster is just one part of it, pinoin angle is also a big one for AWD with the smaller lift like mine not such a big deal but taller lifts maybe. I sure would like to see a long arm four link conversion kit with coil overs but probally just not enough demand for these fj80 to justify a companys R&D. not sure I trust most of the alingment shops. when you find a shop that is good stick with them. I road race, run off road cars for years and trust me correct alingment and suspension set ups wins races. same goes for off road, suspension is everything. most owener will never know the difference and think their rigs are great. For me I am just not happy unleless its right, like Niki Lauder, I have an ok mind but my ass feels everything in a car..

Four Wheel Underground makes a three link kit for the 80. It’s real nice.

We have a customer who jumped his 80. Front end was probably 10-15ft off the ground and he came down on flat ground. Bent his front axle, broke his steering box, bent his frame side coil buckets and shock towers, bent his shocks, bent is coil springs, busted engine mounts, pushed one tire up into the inner fender causing the outer fender to get tweaked where it meets the door and also blew up his diesel fuel filter. We took it to a frame shop and had it put on the frame rack. Surprisingly his frame is straight and true. We are fixing it, have a Diamond housing in hand for this, due to his budget we are still rounding up the rest of the parts. We will cut all the stock brackets off his bent housing and move it over to the Diamond. He doesn’t want to get crazy with a linked suspension just make it how it was.

Cheers
 
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Four Wheel Underground makes a three link kit for the 80. It’s real nice.

Cheers
I saw that and yes its looks really really nice.. I would need to drive one 1st. never been a fan of the 3 link unless its for rock crawling. great flex for sure.. I mostly do more pre running style driving fast through the desert and always though the 4 link looked stronger.
 
Nice arms, make sure you use oem hardware to install them lol.
one note on the OEM bolts though, I did reverse the bolt on the frame side by the CAT. not enough room to get it out easy without going in or out on an angle to clear the CAT. mine is a 1993 might not be a problem on other years.
 
They look sweet. what are they made of.

Picture of them installed please.
 
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They look sweet. what are they made of.

Picture of they installed please.
solid steel, again very heavy only concern is unsprung wieght and now the arms are so strong something else might break i.e. mounts in an impact.
I am out on the boat this weekend, when I get home will take some pics. not to exciting but here is a pic I saw online with the arms not my truck.

sa.png


sa pic.png
 
Four Wheel Underground makes a three link kit for the 80. It’s real nice.

We have a customer who jumped his 80. Front end was probably 10-15ft off the ground and he came down on flat ground. Bent his front axle, broke his steering box, bent his frame side coil buckets and shock towers, bent his shocks, bent is coil springs, busted engine mounts, pushed one tire up into the inner fender causing the outer fender to get tweaked where it meets the door and also blew up his diesel fuel filter. We took it to a frame shop and had it put on the frame rack. Surprisingly his frame is straight and true. We are fixing it, have a Diamond housing in hand for this, due to his budget we are still rounding up the rest of the parts. We will cut all the stock brackets off his bent housing and move it over to the Diamond. He doesn’t want to get crazy with a linked suspension just make it how it was.

Cheers
That I would like to see pictures of !! The 80 is a heavy pig and not made to jump. I’m surprised it had enough power to get that far in the air.
I jumped mine at Pismo beach but only about 3’ in the air with no damage but landing in the sand is different plus running 37” tires with only 13 PSI helped and my axle is trussed and has knuckle braces.
The landing was surprisingly smooth.
I had to try really hard to get even that much air. Again sand is a hole different ball game.

The four wheel under ground kit is a sweet kit. But at 6k just in parts for the front only
You got to really want it.
 
I used a grinder to clearance the oem arms on my previous rig. I had to take 5mm off the top so they would clear my steering linkage.

I have spent countless hours behind an angle grinder and I can for sure say that the oem arms are not typical mild steel. They sparked liked high carbon steel when grinding and cut much slower than mild steel.

It would be interesting to know the metallurgy of the oem arms, I am not convinced they are cast unless they can cast high carbon type tools steels.

Really bad idea, friend. You run the risk of creating a stress riser and the compromised arm can fail catastrophically.
 
Really bad idea, friend. You run the risk of creating a stress riser and the compromised arm can fail catastrophically.
Most likely true, but done my meany including myself with out issue
 
Really bad idea, friend. You run the risk of creating a stress riser and the compromised arm can fail catastrophically.

Plenty of people have done this without issue. I totaled the rig and bent the frame but the arms stayed true.

I would almost think the casting ridge that I ground off would he a stress riser.
 
Enough people have used a grinder on the factory arms without issue and in the 20 years I've been driving an 80 and been on this forum nearly as long I can't think of a single instance where an arm has failed as a result of clearancing the arms. I'm still running OEM arms that have also been clearanced and I'm not exactly easy on my truck and it's been in the air a number of times. No issue.

To repeat it again even though it's been stated in this thread, but others have also mis-stated. For the record, Factory radius arms are FORGED, not CAST. Big difference in strength.

As for the Blackhawk arms I have seen them up close but not run them on my own truck. I know several people that are using the Blackhawk arms with positive experiences. There are 3* caster built into the arms for a 3" lift. They have better steering link clearance as well as behind the axle clearance. They are forged like the factory arms (not certain if there are differences in the metalurgy between Blackhawk and OEM but I would think they are similar but not the same). I don't have any experience with the Superior arms but I've seen them on several rigs. Not sure I'm a fan of the Superflex or Hyperflex versions but the standard ones look find to me. I think the Blackhawk, Superior standard arms, or the Delta arms are all good choices for aftermarket replacements for OEM arms. I'll also continue to be happy with my factory arms and caster plates.
 

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