Narrowed Radius Arm Pics? (1 Viewer)

[Heckraiser]

For those of you who have ground down your radius arms to reduce binding at the axle bracket, do you have any photos you could share? Looking at the set of radius arms on the garage floor, the arm itself doesn't seem to protrude much farther than the bushing itself. Just looking for a better idea of what I should be going for. @LandCruiserPhil ?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

For those of you who have ground down your radius arms to reduce binding at the axle bracket, do you have any photos you could share? Looking at the set of radius arms on the garage floor, the arm itself doesn't seem to protrude much farther than the bushing itself. Just looking for a better idea of what I should be going for. @LandCruiserPhil ?

All my bushing are narrowed to the rubbers edge to match my narrow arms. Mine were also narrowed on a mill and bushing turned on a lathe. I dont remember the exact amount they were narrowed as it was done 6-7 years ago.

 

[baldilocks]

I don’t see the need for narrowing the arms. If your shocks are long enough to cause binding, there is still room for the arm to flex the bushing inside the frame end bracket.

I run Dobinson 3.5” tapered coils with their 6” lift shocks and a 1” spacer on top of the coil. Including the spacer the spring is right at 24” and the shock maxes out just before that. I have used every bit of this droop with stock arms.

 

[Heckraiser]

OK, thanks for the insight. By my measure, looks like the bushing could be taken back about .014" [edit: .14"] on both sides before you start cutting into the rubber. I do have a buddy with a full machine shop--not sure if I want to call in that favor, but at least I have an idea of what I'm looking at now.

:edit: ^ comment directed at Phil

 

[Heckraiser]

View attachment 1825789 I don’t see the need for narrowing the arms. If your shocks are long enough to cause binding, there is still room for the arm to flex the bushing inside the frame end bracket.

I run Dobinson 3.5” tapered coils with their 6” lift shocks and a 1” spacer on top of the coil. Including the spacer the spring is right at 24” and the shock maxes out just before that. I have used every bit of this droop with stock arms.

Do you have a photo of your stuff as well? Or maybe a close-up of where the radius arm mounts up to the axle as viewed from the front when the front end is twisted up like that? That does look like plenty of articulation from the front.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

OK, thanks for the insight. By my measure, looks like the bushing could be taken back about .014" on both sides before you start cutting into the rubber. I do have a buddy with a full machine shop--not sure if I want to call in that favor, but at least I have an idea of what I'm looking at now.

:edit: ^ comment directed at Phil

If i was to guess I would say close to a 1/2" total

@baldilocks without question it make a difference. Pictured with OME springs and shock front swaybar disconnected HD rear in place

 

[Lumpskie]

Here are mine.... angle grinder job.

Not full flex, but on a rock a little taller than 31".

I might narrow more and use Phil's approach by doing it on a mill or lathe. I'm not looking for more absolute travel... just freedom of motion. My hope is to get the front to deflect more comparably to the rear. (I think people are calling that balanced travel)

 

[baldilocks]

Do you have a photo of your stuff as well? Or maybe a close-up of where the radius arm mounts up to the axle as viewed from the front when the front end is twisted up like that? That does look like plenty of articulation from the front.

I don’t have a photo of the arm when at fulldroop.

I would also like to point out that, in my earlier photo post, the vehicle body is nearly level laterally. The axles are doing all the moving. My left rear and right front are fully stuffed up against the bump stops.

Most 80 series flex shots posted demonstrate the rear suspension doing the majority of the articulation, not the case in the photo I posted.

Fresh oem bushing are amazingly flexible and my pic is proof that with longer springs and shocks ample articulation is possible.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Front flex and balance with zero front bracket bind

 

[Lumpskie]

What I've noticed with my arms is that my axle seems to get pulled by the panhard a bit. So, with my grind, I don't get torsional stress but I do get translational stress. Maybe my adjustable panhard isn't adjusted quite right. I'd love to see how the suspension reacts across a ditch or similar to get the weight distribution more even as well.

 

[ccslider]

You should check out the new Delta arms. They have caster correction built in and are narrow.

@Delta VS

 

[Heckraiser]

Well out of my budget, but yes, a very cool product

 

[Delta VS]

To give you an idea of what ours are, see below. This is an old test test set, you can see the OEM bushings are hanging out the sides. We get ZERO interference with this setup. (the visible ding in the OEM bushing was from dropping in the shop, not on the vehicle)

 

[Heckraiser]

Cool, thanks for the pic!

 

[Tools R Us]

We take ~.300" out of them and grind where the tie rod contacts.

 

[Heckraiser]

Sweet. Angle grinder work OK for that method? Just grind, measure, grind, measure, grind, measure? How do you turn down the bushing?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Sweet. Angle grinder work OK for that method? Just grind, measure, grind, measure, grind, measure? How do you turn down the bushing?

I use a lathe to turn down bushings with an added chamfer on the edge for ease of pressing.

 

[Box Rocket]

I agree with @baldilocks that the front shocks are a bigger factor in front flex. I haven't done any clearancing of my radius arms but changing from OME L shocks to the Slinky 12" shocks I saw a HUGE jump in droop and overall flex. I knew the L shocks were limiting travel, just didn't realize how much. I couldn't see any contact from the arms to the brackets when I took these photos. Still a sliver of daylight between the arm eyes and bracket.

Not saying that grinding the arms doesn't help, it probably does but the gains are minimal compared to getting the correct shock/coil setup.
IMG_0630 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_0632 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[Heckraiser]

That does look pretty swell. You're running 315's correct?

Slinkies are not in the budget now (and probably wont be, given the delta between them some competitors), but I will probably put more thought into a complete spring/shock package in the future.

I'm replacing all my bushings now because it's needed, so I'm just looking to do whatever I can while I'm in there on this current project.

 

[Box Rocket]

That does look pretty swell. You're running 315's correct?

Slinkies are not in the budget now (and probably wont be, given the delta between them some competitors), but I will probably put more thought into a complete spring/shock package in the future.

I'm replacing all my bushings now because it's needed, so I'm just looking to do whatever I can while I'm in there on this current project.

Yes, 315's.
Stage1 Slinky kits are actually an excellent value IMO for the performance gained. For that matter, so are the Stage4 kits. The value is excellent. Cost isn't cheap but cost and value aren't the same. I guess I look at it as I don't need to spend money 3x trying different suspensions setups until I get the one I really want. I have done that in the past with a few different trucks. In the end I spent more than if I had just got the one I wanted in the beginning and had a far better result for all that time. Still, I understand everyone personal finances are different.

Maximizing flex is one thing and there are several ways of achieving that, most of which can be done for a pretty low cost. Getting top level performance to go with the impressive flex photos is generally more expensive but ultimately far more satisfying in the long run.

Back to your point...there are steps you can take to get the most out of what you have and replacing the bushings with OEM rubber ones is a good move!