Flexing the 3 link (10 Viewers)
- Thread starter joker2040
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
4WheelUnderground
Suspension is EVERYTHING
So back to my question. Anyone else have thoughts on a cantilever coilover set up. Pro, cons, has anyone here run one??
ive riding in a truck with a cantilever set-up but only in the desert, not sure how it'd do in the rocks!
4WheelUnderground
Suspension is EVERYTHING
Why is that
I have been in a few cantilever trucks, as long as you keep the shock ratio 1:1 they are fine. The problem comes in when you start messing with the ratio, at that point tuning the shock becomes difficult, not impossible, but difficult. If the rules would allow me to I would run a cantilever on my build I would.
i didnt say it wouldnt work im just not sure how it would work as i've never taking a truck with that kind of setup crawling on rocks just blazing through the desert! it would be a slick a s*** way to get some good travel in the back of these 80s but expensive to boot!
4WU
I would be quite interested in this as well. Any write ups or additional info.
Looks great.
4WheelUnderground
Suspension is EVERYTHING
Check the Built to the Hilt thread here. Or the Little something we are working on thread on Pirate. That's all I have for you at the moment. Check back when the beta tester is driving around. Should be a few weeks and that's done.
Reviving this For the sake of analytical debate. No more goofy superduper radius arm talk and RTI champ bs. We can plug numbers in a link calculator and derive blatant data. I have a 6" slee kit on stock suspension bits for about another week. Id like to grab info on this before i remove it and resolve all the issues.
This website has spectacular technical info in many respects, lets further it and mathematically define why lifted 80s drive like s***.
This website has spectacular technical info in many respects, lets further it and mathematically define why lifted 80s drive like s***.
That's like a user on Jenny Craig's forum asking why she can't get a date.
According to all the technical data spewed, it doesn't matter what the chosen links, it's all in pan hard angle.
Less angle is mo betta' right?
Here my 40 series axle with 80 series components.
So I'm a little late to this party, but having seen a bunch of these pissing matches over the years, and found out who knew their s***e and who was full of s***e, I think this post sums it up nicely. He had an end goal, and a limit for compromises, and guess what, it all ties in together. Yeah, get the geometry right, and then tune the damping. We're not talking cone dodgers, or short travel sports cars. I was talking with the SAW guys during a tuning session one time and they said to properly calculate best performance for a modern long travel desert car with bypasses and such, the calculations are almost impossibly complex, and that's why guys with 30years of top level experience are required to really get the best out of the vehicle.
My three link has all the articulation I can use, in fact it needs bumps. What it needs is softer springs, more compression damping and an anti-roll bar...and more caster, and once I get that, I know it'll handle better at speed both on and off road.
As heavy as these things are, I think a 2.5 is the going in point if you're going to subscribe to the current soft spring/high compression damping design in coilovers. It'll generate a lot of heat if you're hauling the mail, so that bigger piston is going to stay cooler.
On a factory design OME, Slee, etc. "lift-kit", 2" shocks are fine
If i may, your 3 link has lots of room for improvement. It was built in a weekend while two guys drank beer and sarcastically joked at the Ih8mud posts while building bumpers.
If i could lay hands on that truck again it would shine further.
You can always bump nitrogen pressure if the 2.5s are cavitating.
I wish you would stay in this thread. Im all ears on the spring rate and dampening thing. You are one of the few who can give real world feedback on all of this and your experience is worth its weight in platninum
If i could lay hands on that truck again it would shine further.
You can always bump nitrogen pressure if the 2.5s are cavitating.
I wish you would stay in this thread. Im all ears on the spring rate and dampening thing. You are one of the few who can give real world feedback on all of this and your experience is worth its weight in platninum
Last edited:
Im interested to see how this plays out as well.
I did a 3 link on my 40 with 80 axles. My 40 is "only" 4560, so I run 150 over 200 in the front with higher valving. My dual rate collar is about 1.5" away from the stop. I have 75% anti-dive. .18 understeer. my links are 30" long. My pandhard is dead flat at ride height. Lower links are damn near flat and my upper is negative and adjustable. No room period for High steer with the 40 frame.
As Booger pointed out, the ZukIzzy thread and a few others on Pirate are definitely worth the read.
I have an 80 frame that I'm 3 linking for my 40 now. Making new frame side brackets on my Torchmate with a decent amount of adjustability. I was actually thinking of going the modular subframe route like AM4x4/Mayhem Metal Works.
I did a 3 link on my 40 with 80 axles. My 40 is "only" 4560, so I run 150 over 200 in the front with higher valving. My dual rate collar is about 1.5" away from the stop. I have 75% anti-dive. .18 understeer. my links are 30" long. My pandhard is dead flat at ride height. Lower links are damn near flat and my upper is negative and adjustable. No room period for High steer with the 40 frame.
As Booger pointed out, the ZukIzzy thread and a few others on Pirate are definitely worth the read.
I have an 80 frame that I'm 3 linking for my 40 now. Making new frame side brackets on my Torchmate with a decent amount of adjustability. I was actually thinking of going the modular subframe route like AM4x4/Mayhem Metal Works.
Last edited:
That's impressive stuff.
Pretty much, a bolt on subframe.
Don't know how it could ever play into an 80 "kit", but that's the ticket to ride the fast track of the money train.
@yOHda
Where's the story on the 80/40 frame?
@BigBoy
The new housing should dispel the myth of a bent front housing, at the very least.
If I do nothing else to it, but C&T, armor, raise panhard and high steer, it should be a major improvement, if y'all know what you're talking about.
Pretty much, a bolt on subframe.
Don't know how it could ever play into an 80 "kit", but that's the ticket to ride the fast track of the money train.
@yOHda
Where's the story on the 80/40 frame?
@BigBoy
The new housing should dispel the myth of a bent front housing, at the very least.
If I do nothing else to it, but C&T, armor, raise panhard and high steer, it should be a major improvement, if y'all know what you're talking about.
Im horrible at build threads so I just work at my own pace and post random pics on the interweb. I junked my 80 body and couldnt part with the drivetrain as it was still decent. Had planned to swap the 1fz into my 40, but I really want the newer frame and stock rear suspension as well. So the 80, sans body, is sitting in my shop while I dream up some kind of 43 or 45 creation to put on top of it. I basically collected a bunch of parts and motors(1uz's) over the past couple of years and need to do something with it all.
Currently my 40 runs stock FZJ rear axle, RuffStuff 9.5 front, 80 steering box, 80 brakes(master/booster, etc.), basically anything that will swap from my 94.
It does 62 down the highway with one hand on the wheel. Im happy about that.
The Mayhem Metal Works subframe is just an idea for myself. I would never be making a kit to mass produce.
Currently my 40 runs stock FZJ rear axle, RuffStuff 9.5 front, 80 steering box, 80 brakes(master/booster, etc.), basically anything that will swap from my 94.
It does 62 down the highway with one hand on the wheel. Im happy about that.
The Mayhem Metal Works subframe is just an idea for myself. I would never be making a kit to mass produce.
Last edited:
