Installed Delta Front Radius Arms (1 Viewer)

[zonker]

Since I have been on a roll lately with 80 series stuff and I didn't have to worry about CFM.. so I installed my Delta front radius arms. Back when I changed out the suspension for an OME kit.. I just went with the control arm bushings to correct caster.. which was somewhat effective. Got the kit from Slee and his recommendation was to skip the OME bushing and go with the rubber TJM version.. which I did.

Now 30k miles later steering has become a little light during forward progress.. a bit of wandering has settled in. So time for caster plates or replacement radius arms. Not wanting to hack up the front arm mount on the diff.. I elected to go with the arms. After removing the old arms I was shocked at how well TJM bushings had survived. No cracks or degradation.. still looked really good. Might have softened up a bit.. but I have no way measure that. But guessing that might be why the steering had changed a bit. Or I just subconsciously felt the need spend some money since I have not done so on the 80 in awhile.

Test drive with the new arms was outstanding. Steering felt a bit heavier.. perfect. At 60mph no wander.. perfect. Hands lightly off the steering for an upcoming known bump.. perfect! Along with more confidence in the handling I might expect to see an improvement in tire wear as well. At 70 years old.. with the quality of these arms and stock bushings.. I am guessing that will never have to remove the arms again. Not hard.. but still a little bit of a pain.

 

[ColoradoFJ40]

How long did it take you? I've been fighting with mine on the panhard bracket from delta but finally whipped it tonight. Still waiting for the radius arms to ship. Can't wait to get them on.

 

[FMC80]

Or I just subconsciously felt the need spend some money since I have not done so on the 80 in awhile.

Wow, some day I’ll be able to say this. I think.

 

[Grandlooser]

Caster being correct is like major bueno.

 

[zonker]

How long did it take you? I've been fighting with mine on the panhard bracket from delta but finally whipped it tonight. Still waiting for the radius arms to ship. Can't wait to get them on.

@ColoradoFJ40 Pretty easy project. Good idea to do one side at time.. obviously. A couple of good strong ratchet straps for tweaking the diff housing back and forth to get the bolt holes lined up. A long thin pry bar for minor movement or convincing the radius arm to move down in the mount a smidge. Total time 4 hours. Took me longer to torque bolts/nuts to 130 ft.bs laying on my back with not enough room and “weinnie” arms. Used a torque multiplier for half the fasteners due to said “weinnie” arms. Hence the 4 hour installation time!

 

[inkpot]

Mine are ordered. Anqious to get them on. I am currently running 1st gen Slee tubular arns. The measured out @2 degrees caster which was ok. But not great. SPEC is 4 degrees. I have beat on the Slee arms pretty hard. And I have welded up a crack that showed up last year. They are designed to FILL the axle brackets snug, so no rotational flex. No way to trim them down.

 

[clx16]

I put in an order also, i am sure i have a bit of time to wait for them to get another batch in. But really looking forward to now having such a twitchy steering in the future.

 

[coues7]

Which arms did you guys order and what suspension?

 

[clx16]

Dobs 3" springs up front with expectation of a bumper and winch to bring it down to 2.5 or so. So ordered 3" delta arms from @Delta VS . To be safe i should have waited for the bumper and springs to be installed and given a caster reading to Delta before ordering which is recommended by Delta. I think i will likely still be ok.

 

[george_tlc]

I've had the delta 3 installed for a few weeks now. Went down that path after installing the 3.5" dobs (c97-144VT new style dual rate front coils). It raised the front end about 1" higher than the previous OME+spacer setup I ran for a whole bunch of years. The old setup was stable at fwy speeds, but that extra 1" made our 80 a bit too twitchy for me to trust, especially other family members driving it.

Anyhow, the delta 3 tamed the front end and it is stable again at speed and over bumps/dips at speed. Took about 4 hours or so to install with some fighting to line up the bolt holes - that probably took the most time. One of my sons helped. Could be done with 1 person, but certainly more pleasurable to have someone assisting and to chat/vent with when things don't want to line up

The instructions that come with the arms are decent and you can plan ahead and make sure you have the appropriate sized spanners, sockets, breaker bar, torque wrench etc. on hand and you aren't having to rush out to find a needed tool.

Oh, the 4 hours to install was with arms that came preloaded with new toyota rubber. Figured to spend the money and get them them ready to go.

cheers,
george.

​

 

[zonker]

In answer to the question what suspension hangs underneath our 80. OME 2.5" with 30mm Slee spacers. Consequently after the suspension settled.. it is now at 2.5" front and rear. Especially since our LC is pretty heavy on both ends. Ordered the 3" radius arms hoping to fudge a little bit of a gain in extra caster.

When I installed the OME and after it settled a bit.. I had an alignment done. Probably one of the best alignment guys I have ever known. So I know his numbers were accurate. I don't recall the exact numbers or I could dig them out of the file cabinet.. nah! So my memory will have to serve me. The caster numbers were right around 3 degrees with a small +- side to side. Handled reasonably good or at least close enough. Put on the Slee spacers a year or so later and the 'ol girl became a bit on the twitchy side. So for the last 3 or so years I have driven with both hands on the wheel and paying attention straight ahead. Look over to the left or right.. and I found myself not in the middle of the lane anymore. Not so scary to the right.. but to the left and the oncoming traffic made me nervous.

Not anymore.. she is SOLID! Expensive upgrade but in my opinion completely worth it and I didn't have to bugger up the mounts on the differential housing. Guessing since I have new bushings.. hardware and a lot of new steel.. I should be good for a really long time. Since I am 70.. I would guess that these arms will out live me. Unless of course I find myself over on the wrong side of the highway! Sheesh!

 

[Trusty Rusty]

Y'all got me worried that install might be a half day job! Just knocked out a complete suspension overhaul minus the arms. Lost my helper today (dad must have finally gotten worn out!), so will be tackling the arms solo (they're currently in transit to Houston!). Scouring the threads to make sure I've got my ducks in a row come install time.

Excited to get these @Delta VS goods on the road!

 

[inkpot]

Y'all got me worried that install might be a half day job! Just knocked out a complete suspension overhaul minus the arms. Lost my helper today (dad must have finally gotten worn out!), so will be tackling the arms solo (they're currently in transit to Houston!). Scouring the threads to make sure I've got my ducks in a row come install time.

Excited to get these @Delta VS goods on the road!

I installed mine several months ago. I used OEM bushings and I trimmed them on a lathe to match the narrower size of the Delta arms. Much better articulation than the old arms. I am very happy with them. I do like to give them a good workout pretty often.