i understand what your saying but you know people build and link out full size trucks. the 80 would be considered a full size. the onle reason for the 3 link not to be safe is strength. well his is definately strong. stronger than the stock radius arms. granted the front end is A LOT softer do to more flexibility but he is gonna do a sway bar setup up that has quick disconnects like a jeep. Sorry what i said before wasnt directed towards you just to others and people that commented on the last 3 link build.
i did it again ;)
- Thread starter js93cruiser
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ive seen them on all sorts of trucks too, thats why I can see there place on trail rigs, but not so much for DD or long distance rigs.
hope it all works out and you guys can get that thing out on the trails.
hope it all works out and you guys can get that thing out on the trails.
Perhaps people are a little reserved considering what happened to his other truck. A bolt came out because it wasn't tight enough. that is a completely amateur mistake and pretty poor by anybody's standards, wether it was a custom 3 link or the standard setup. The fact he has years of experience just means he should have known better.
But that's all in the past now. 3links work well off road, but just aren't the same as a radius arm setup onroad. There's no getting around that, and you only look a fool if you say otherwise. Having said that most would prefer the handling of a radius arm for a road going truck, so are going to be reluctant to praise a 3link rig that sees alot of higway driving. It's called an opinion, and if you post stuff on the internob then you have to accept people's will differ.
Nothing says I'm smarter than Mr. T like a 3-link 
sleeoffroad
Supporting Vendor
The mount on the axle needs gusseting as already mentioned. You have 1/4" bracket welded to a 1/8" housing. Not a very good setup to start with. Also, from the pics of the welds and also the welder itself, I would suggest a bigger welder.
Now before everyone gets in my face, please look at the welds on the shock mount and the link mount. Not very hot and does not look like a lot of penetration. If you are indeed building trucks for other people, get the right equipment.
It would also have been a good idea to spent 30 minutes with a grinder and make the mount fit the curvature of the diff housing so that the front side could be welded as well. Now you have to booger snot that hole to get it to be filled in. I know you guys are really proud on how fast you do this, but the devil is in the details, and those are the ones that take time.
Just because there are multiple passes does not mean that the root passes have good penetration.
That upperlink mount has a lot of forces on it, with a lot of leverage. The 80 is a heavy truck and if he is going to use it as I imagine he is, then that mount it not going to last.
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Get your defense on Tribal! Concerns were...guy 3-links his 80 series, then guy flips his 80 series 4 times driving at highway speeds. Now guy bought his daddies LX450 and 3-linked it as well. The flipped four times part is what we are hoping doesn't happen again. I thought this was an open forum and folks could handle the criticism? 
I can remember the Solid Axle Swaps were bashed when people first started to doing them. People were bashing the fact that they were not going ride like factory. DUH! It is not factory and it is the most common suspension upgrade now.
sleeoffroad
Supporting Vendor
Without sounding high and mighty it might be because we have been building trucks a little longer that than, and BTDT and trying to impart experience on him. This is a forum, without knowing the background of the people, it is difficult to judge the expertise and knowledge of the poster, except what has been learned from other posts. Unfortunately his track record is not that good.
This truck was build about 10 years ago, and a lot of what I am posting re: three links is what was learned on this truck, including the link mounts etc. Ben did this when he was about the same age as the other poster, made the same mistakes, learned the same lessons. Talk to him now and you will get a totally different mind set as what he had when he built that truck. Lucky for him, he only rolled it on the trail and not the street.
There is no need to get defensive. If you start a thread, you have to be ready to get what is coming your way. Hopefully the reader will get both sides of the picture and be able to make an informed decision when contemplating modifications. The reason why we post these kinds of posts, is because a lot of people are in awe of these kinds of modifications, without being able to judge, or have the experience to see mistakes being made.
To be positive, cool for him to do it on the truck, but please don't get arrogant about it.
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sleeoffroad
Supporting Vendor
I have heard this a number of times through the years. Never see it come to the market. Also important to remember that we (the old guys on the board) have been wheeling these trucks for a long time and have seen history repeat itself. Just because the trucks are cheaper does not mean they get wheeled more, it just means more people have access to them, but also that people are prepared to spend less on them.
I will say it again, once you modify the suspension on the 80 to this extend, you have made the truck capable of going places where you are going to trash the body. Since they are cheaper, more people are prepared to do that now than years ago, however once you trash it, that is it. The benefit of having a really capable wagon is out the door when the back windows are blown out and the hatch and doors don't close anymore.
However crushing sheetmetal on the truck is still a lot of fun
- Thread starter
- #50
Ok well I was definitely a little frustrated last night and my post got a little out of hand but I'm use to encouragement on suspension upgrades and something as minor as a three link I wouldn't think would get such harsh opinions. If anyone read what I said we are gusseting the upper link mount today. The welder works perfectly and burns very well. Every single bracket on his last cruiser that he welded on the axle didn't even get damaged at all by the high speed roll over. EVERYONE makes mistakes every bolt was torque down the first time but just backed out do to not using lock nuts. Which was done this time around. As for three link being street worthy you under stand cherokees and wrangler tjs and jks are not a radius arm setup from the factory right. They come with flimsy control arms that have terrible bushings at both ends that wear and crack over time. I understand everyone has there own opinion but what bothers me about people is they don't know how to get there message across politely. Someone that's excited about finishing there truck and posting it up doesn't want constant bashing. Now tips to improve what's been done is always great but no need to be an a** about it. And as for the value of the 80s dropping well of course there gonna be pushed to there limits when there worth less. Where is the fun if you dont? I also don't know too many people willing to jack up an expensive truck. A link setup WILL be produced I actually know a company working on one at this moment its just a little more difficult to make one for the people who don't like to use grinders and welders and want everything bolt on. Sorry again for pushing buttons and getting defensive just like everyone else I'm expressing my opinion
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fzjconvert
one hand, two ducks
fzjconvert
one hand, two ducks
Hey brother just remember what I told you in my pm and smile! You are doing a great job! Have fun and be safe and I am speaking from lets say a couple years of experience!
First, a three link is anything but minor, especially for a street rig. If this was a trail only rig, I think you'd find people's feedback and opinions to be quite different.
Secondly, the opinions you are getting aren't harsh in the least. They may be somewhat blunt, but folks aren't going to go easy on you, especially given the history here.
Let me refresh with a (somewhat simplified) history of events.
- Thread created with a generic "I 3 linked my cruiser" statement. Zero documentation, zero tech in the post, almost no pictures, and virtually no information about the build at all. Lots of bold claims.
- Whoops! I rolled my three linked cruiser four times! No big deal!
- Yay! New rig to three link! Here's a handful of pictures! No tech details, very little in the way of build details, no explanation of what I'm doing, but trust me guys, I know what I'm doing!
From an outside perspective looking in, the above sequence of events doesn't bode well for js93cruiser. It's difficult to take this seriously, or simply believe that he actually knows what he's doing.
Especially when he disregards the comments/advice/suggestion of folks who have done dozens of builds, some of which actually have been three links. And then calls said comments/advice/suggestions "harsh."
That'd be like me wanting to build a car for NASCAR, and saying that Jeff Gordon's opinions are "harsh."
Tapage
Club 4X4 Panamá
hey .. let's see some action shots . !
fzjconvert
one hand, two ducks
First, a three link is anything but minor, especially for a street rig. If this was a trail only rig, I think you'd find people's feedback and opinions to be quite different.
Secondly, the opinions you are getting aren't harsh in the least. They may be somewhat blunt, but folks aren't going to go easy on you, especially given the history here.
Let me refresh with a (somewhat simplified) history of events.
From an outside perspective looking in, the above sequence of events doesn't bode well for js93cruiser. It's difficult to take this seriously, or simply believe that he actually knows what he's doing.
- Thread created with a generic "I 3 linked my cruiser" statement. Zero documentation, zero tech in the post, almost no pictures, and virtually no information about the build at all. Lots of bold claims.
- Whoops! I rolled my three linked cruiser four times! No big deal!
- Yay! New rig to three link! Here's a handful of pictures! No tech details, very little in the way of build details, no explanation of what I'm doing, but trust me guys, I know what I'm doing!
Especially when he disregards the comments/advice/suggestion of folks who have done dozens of builds, some of which actually have been three links. And then calls said comments/advice/suggestions "harsh."
That'd be like me wanting to build a car for NASCAR, and saying that Jeff Gordon's opinions are "harsh."
lol ok ill stop the ranting now that is a very good point. ive posted build threads before on naxja.org because the black cherokee in the pic is mine
but when i do my posts i post info, measurements blah blah blah. js93cruiser isnt very computer savy and has me post his pics. i assume most of the time he will put tech info but he doesnt 
lol from now on ill make sure there is actually some tech info on whats going on haha and for that last long comment i dont know if you saw my post underneath it that was me tyiping that not js93cruiser. I didnt see it was still logged into his account on my computer. just understand that we do know what were doing and were just not slapping things on the truck 
sleeoffroad
Supporting Vendor
You have to take these two statements in context.
I was trying to show tribal4x4 that we are not bashing, but actually post from a point of experience. Hence the preface of not wanting to sound high and mighty.
We don't have horse in this race as far as commercial activity. We do not do three links for money, but we do have some experience in the matter. If you do not see it like that, then I am sorry and apologize if I am offending the OP and his friends.
I would think the purpose of this thread is to show what he has done, but maybe, just maybe also get some input, solicited or not. It is up to him if he wants to use it or not.
fzjconvert
one hand, two ducks
no i definately understand where your coming from.
