Heh. I saw that reply. Sounds like somebody has a vested interest and something to gain by deleting that post.
Flexing the 3 link (8 Viewers)
- Thread starter joker2040
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Heh. I saw that reply. Sounds like somebody has a vested interest and something to gain by deleting that post.
nukegoat
Should have bought a Jeep
A 2-link?
^ I'm saying the front control arms would bolt to the factory frame mounts and then the forward section of each arm would only bolt into one hole on each of the axle mounts. Basically just using what is already in place but bracing the axle mounts and making your own arms with the heim ends on them. When I've read other 3 link threads and looked at there pictures it appears this is what they are doing except they generally swap the axle brackets to the top of the axle and move the frame mounts around a bit. I'm just curious if this would be a viable approach to freeing up the front end travel.
The control arms need both forward bushing on a minimum of one control arm to keep the axle from rotating.
You could remove the front bolts at the axle end of both radius arms and install an upper link. I ran around for a week like this while waiting for lower link parts to ups.
This is why the upper link must be installed toward the forward side of the axle then ? Sorry for all of the questions, I just want to understand how this all works.
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Exactly what my setup looks like. Actually modeled it after this: http://www.actionjackson.com/cruiser/mods/20060110.asp
Nice!
Action Jackson an 80 pioneer for sure
for pushing the envelope
for pushing the envelope
Hey Phil thanks for the picture that helps a lot. I've been having a hard time finding photos that show all of those parts. I need to keep researching.
Question for the suspension experts regarding raising the panhard. This all seems so complicated to me - knew I should have paid attention in high school geometry class 
Can you put this bracket:
Here on the axle? And as you can see my panhard/draglink angles aren't that bad since I'm only at about 4" of lift, but they say the flatter the better so....
What about panhard length? Putting it there makes it a few inches shorter than the factory setup. Is there a difference in road manners in a shorter panhard vs a longer panhard?
4WU's kit puts the panhard all the way at the edge next to the knuckles. Who knows where the coilovers will go, lower link pads I'm guessing?
Another geometric angle thing I know nothing about....does that panhard have to stay parallel with the crossmember? What happens if you angle it back? And how high is too high for the panhard? Since my truck isn't that tall, what happens if axle-side panhard mount is actually TALLER than the frame-side panhard mount?
Can you put this bracket:
Here on the axle? And as you can see my panhard/draglink angles aren't that bad since I'm only at about 4" of lift, but they say the flatter the better so....
What about panhard length? Putting it there makes it a few inches shorter than the factory setup. Is there a difference in road manners in a shorter panhard vs a longer panhard?
4WU's kit puts the panhard all the way at the edge next to the knuckles. Who knows where the coilovers will go, lower link pads I'm guessing?
Another geometric angle thing I know nothing about....does that panhard have to stay parallel with the crossmember? What happens if you angle it back? And how high is too high for the panhard? Since my truck isn't that tall, what happens if axle-side panhard mount is actually TALLER than the frame-side panhard mount?
nukegoat
Should have bought a Jeep
Yes. Flatter (and longer) is better but I'll still contend that the roll axis isn't a panacea for all things handling. Still, if you can manage to make it work, it'll behave better. Anecdotally, a lot of well-behaved lifted Jeeps and other vehicles have much steeper and shorter Panhards.Question for the suspension experts regarding raising the panhard. This all seems so complicated to me - knew I should have paid attention in high school geometry class
Can you put this bracket:
Here on the axle? And as you can see my panhard/draglink angles aren't that bad since I'm only at about 4" of lift, but they say the flatter the better so....
What about panhard length? Putting it there makes it a few inches shorter than the factory setup. Is there a difference in road manners in a shorter panhard vs a longer panhard?
4WU's kit puts the panhard all the way at the edge next to the knuckles. Who knows where the coilovers will go, lower link pads I'm guessing?
By definition it wont' stay parallel with the crossmember as the other links rotate the axle forward and back through their travel. If you plan to keep using the Toyota bushings, though, they may not like it. I think heims would be better anyway since the steering is trying to push the axle left and right and the bushings are deflecting, making the whole system a little more numb than it needs to be.
You can run the axle side mount higher than the frame-side mount but it would be worse than parallel to the ground. If you're doing this much work, shoot for as flat as you can. I should mention the obvious in case you weren't aware - you need your drag link and track bar to be essentially parallel to each other. If they are travelling in different arcs, you'll get bump steer.
The all important bump steer issue can be nicely addressed with hellfire knuckles previously mentioned by booger weld. Strong consideration should be given to bump steer if you drive a lifted truck on the road.
Thanks for the info! So what else would you attribute to the bad road manners of a lifted 80 with factory linkage? Caster and sway bars? In my reading I would have guessed it was the panhard/draglink locations since most guys simply throw in springs, shocks and caster bushings/plates and call it a day. Most never touch the draglink and panhard unless you're going all out with a 3/4 link.
Yeah if I do this I'd most likely make a new panhard using Ruff Stuff's kits
Yup - got that part. Since I already have a y-link steering setup with a RHD arm I'd want to run a Slee high steer arm on the passenger side. Attach the drag link there, leave the tie rod on the lower arms - basically identical to @js93cruiser setup.
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Those would be the bee's knees! But if you don't need your tie rod up that high, you can easily do the same with a high-steer arm on the passenger side and RHD steering arm for about half the price of Hellfire knuckles.
Absolutely The only other high steer arms I have seen combines the a upper link and the factory lower link. That setup deletes the ABS and looks somewhat scary to me. Do you know of others that keep the ABS?
No that's the only two options I know of for the 80 knuckles; Slee and Hellfire.
