richardlillard1
SILVER Star
No it wouldn't. You would run them for six months to a year and decide you want something else. You need to focus on taking the advice you put directly under your screen name.
Superior Engineering Super Flex Radius Arms Review
- Thread starter Despingator
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No it wouldn't. You would run them for six months to a year and decide you want something else. You need to focus on taking the advice you put directly under your screen name.
Jungle80farmer
Jungle Fruit Farmer
That thing is bad ass! I love the orange. My 71 FJ40 is orange n black. I've been watching the skull & bones aussie guys alot on YouTube. There all running 6 inch dobinsons with the superlex arms & flex amazing on the trail. How are the on road characteristics? I'm either keeping it stock height & 285s or going 6 inch dobinsons with the superlex arms. No in between. If they handle nice on the road then im going plan b. Mind you my FJ40 is a 4 inch sprung under lift so anything has to be better with coils. I've got the itch so bad to do up my 80 thoughts of selling my 40 to fund the 80 build keep dancing thru my head. That would be a tough pill to swallow after 16 years with her. The addiction is real. Happy friday
Has anybody changed bushes on these?After 5 years of hard wheeling and straight tracking on road bushes are looking worn
so shakey steering and wandering on road is happening
Ordered Toyota genuine bush kit with 4x arm to diif and 2x arm to chassis
The top front bush on the superflex arm is smaller than the other 3.
They do advertise these as using standard bushes?
Does anybody know a matching bush I can use,otherwise have to wait for one to come from superior which will take (2 weeks+)and they want price of bush for shipping.
I did ask superior what bush this used but havnt heard back.
so shakey steering and wandering on road is happening
Ordered Toyota genuine bush kit with 4x arm to diif and 2x arm to chassis
The top front bush on the superflex arm is smaller than the other 3.
They do advertise these as using standard bushes?
Does anybody know a matching bush I can use,otherwise have to wait for one to come from superior which will take (2 weeks+)and they want price of bush for shipping.
I did ask superior what bush this used but havnt heard back.
I think it's from a control arm of a Nissan patrol
richardlillard1
SILVER Star
It's from a rear upper arm on an 80.
I replaced the bushings recently and I will say it's a slight pain in the ass with the shape of that arm, but it isn't the end of the world.
I find it interesting that you are having steering wobble from it, because I had none when I pulled the arms. Make sure none of your tires are out of balance or other steering components are to blame.
EDIT: This is when I pulled them off.
I replaced the bushings recently and I will say it's a slight pain in the ass with the shape of that arm, but it isn't the end of the world.
I find it interesting that you are having steering wobble from it, because I had none when I pulled the arms. Make sure none of your tires are out of balance or other steering components are to blame.
EDIT: This is when I pulled them off.
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I started by doing tyre rotation and checking steering etc
Then noticed heaps of play in radius arm when leavering on them.
Took radius arms out and all bushes pretty worn
On the superflex arm there nearly gone!
Superior site does mention a nissan bush but not the sepific one
Ill buy the 80 upper arm bush
Cheers!
Then noticed heaps of play in radius arm when leavering on them.
Took radius arms out and all bushes pretty worn
On the superflex arm there nearly gone!
Superior site does mention a nissan bush but not the sepific one
Ill buy the 80 upper arm bush
Cheers!
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I promised some pictures.
nice pics grant, happen to have ant before/after photos on the spot?
richardlillard1
SILVER Star
@David Otero or @crikeymike what sort of options do you have for 3" and 4" springs?
I've tried reading your catalog and it confuses me.
I've tried reading your catalog and it confuses me.
No sorry. But what I will try do is. I have a friend that has a 4" OME lift 35" tyres. Will get him to swing past and see if it can do it.
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@David Otero or @crikeymike what sort of options do you have for 3" and 4" springs?
I've tried reading your catalog and it confuses me.
Haha, too many options can make it confusing. I'll shoot you a PM
RFB
97 FZJ80 LIFTED SC DUAL BATTERIES,37s
shes a beauty I love it.
RFB
97 FZJ80 LIFTED SC DUAL BATTERIES,37s
whats the width of your tyres? awesome looking rig by the way.
RFB
97 FZJ80 LIFTED SC DUAL BATTERIES,37s
Did you sell these by chance? Because the arms I scored were out of Fla.
I have been running superior eng superflex arms on my 80 for about 4 yrs now. They are *not* a simple no-mod install as the left side original sway bar mount on the axle housing has to be cut off. Also the bushes supplied by superior were (at the time I got mine) not genuine and I've just last week replaced the bushes a second time. The first time I fitted toyota ones, this time I used Nissan ones since I had some new genuine's around.
My 80 is a pre-8/92 so it does not have the std +3 deg caster setting of later 8/92+ 80's, so I've been running 4" lift compensated arms with 3" suspension lift and that gives me a caster setting of about +4.5 deg. I am close to deciding to get rid of the superflex arms and go back to both standard type aftermarket lift-compensated.
Why? I do very little off-road driving now, and the on-road performance behaviour of the superflex arm pair is not very nice. The RHS one (a std type arm) flogs out the axle housing mount bushes and the back of the arm kicks around a lot in the mounting to the chassis. There is no explanation possible except that the super-flex style arm on the LHS + the non-superflex style arm on the RHS are not behaving the same for on-road use.
I've had other people tell me that superflex arm sets are really no good for mostly on-road use.
So YMMV, but be wary that while you may get brilliant off-road flex, etc. you are losing on-road handling.
My 80 is a pre-8/92 so it does not have the std +3 deg caster setting of later 8/92+ 80's, so I've been running 4" lift compensated arms with 3" suspension lift and that gives me a caster setting of about +4.5 deg. I am close to deciding to get rid of the superflex arms and go back to both standard type aftermarket lift-compensated.
Why? I do very little off-road driving now, and the on-road performance behaviour of the superflex arm pair is not very nice. The RHS one (a std type arm) flogs out the axle housing mount bushes and the back of the arm kicks around a lot in the mounting to the chassis. There is no explanation possible except that the super-flex style arm on the LHS + the non-superflex style arm on the RHS are not behaving the same for on-road use.
I've had other people tell me that superflex arm sets are really no good for mostly on-road use.
So YMMV, but be wary that while you may get brilliant off-road flex, etc. you are losing on-road handling.
RFB
97 FZJ80 LIFTED SC DUAL BATTERIES,37s
Thats Strange because n my 97 80 these things have been perfect, 75mph on highway with 6in p
lus 1 in body lift shes fine and off road crawling climbing thru moab or thru forest trails scattered with large boulder of granite and ledge shelves shes perfect. strange. didnt have to cut anything to install moved the dumb ABS line thats all. my only complaint would be the powdercoating isnt holding up great, good not great.
Maybe the LHD axle housings are different, but to fit the 'superflex' arm (with the plates) that changes the articulation line from 'under' the LHS of the axle housing to 'behind and vertically' behind the axle housing requires the factory swaybar mount to be removed on a RHD 80 series. It cannot be left in place.
These pics show a close-up of where the factory swaybar mount was, and what the superflex arm has to replace it (the RHS requires a spacer block to 'lift' the front swaybar mount up to match ).
pic page
pic page
Maybe there is potential benefit to what Superior now called 'hyperflex' arms which is basically two 'superflex' arms instead of one std type and one superflex type, but who knows.
The key change with the original 'superflex' kit is that the articulation line stays underneath the axle for the RHS but is changed to 'behind and vertical' for the LHS. That's how the extra flex is achieved.
Note also that the odd-one-out top bush for the 'superflex' arm is *not* a Toyota bush - the only one that fits is a Nissan bush and it's design is important to achieve the claimed level of flex.
The mis-matched flex angles are I think what makes the on-road behaviour so markedly un-nice.
These pics show a close-up of where the factory swaybar mount was, and what the superflex arm has to replace it (the RHS requires a spacer block to 'lift' the front swaybar mount up to match ).
pic page
pic page
Maybe there is potential benefit to what Superior now called 'hyperflex' arms which is basically two 'superflex' arms instead of one std type and one superflex type, but who knows.
The key change with the original 'superflex' kit is that the articulation line stays underneath the axle for the RHS but is changed to 'behind and vertical' for the LHS. That's how the extra flex is achieved.
Note also that the odd-one-out top bush for the 'superflex' arm is *not* a Toyota bush - the only one that fits is a Nissan bush and it's design is important to achieve the claimed level of flex.
The mis-matched flex angles are I think what makes the on-road behaviour so markedly un-nice.
I put a single, stock caster, superflex on my rig (along side my LandTank caster plates). I've had it on the road for a month or so. On road, my rig drives pretty much exactly like it did before with 2 stock arms. When flexing, the arm makes a very big difference, that I has already allowed me to take lines on trails that were previously too tippy for me to feel comfortable on. Here are some quick comparison pictures.
The "before" pictures on taken on a roughly 30" rock. With the stock arms, my rig felt like it was near the end of its ability to flex, despite the fact that my Slinky setup had more travel available. The "after" pictures are taken on a 35" rock. With the Superflex arm, I felt I could have easily climbed higher, if I had a taller rock. I'd love to get my rig on a ramp and test it more. Here are some comparisons:
Note the up travel on the front axle.
before:
After on taller rock showed that I can climb higher than before:
Note the down travel on the front axle. In this case, 5 additional inches of height seem to make the suspension flex similarly in both instances.
After:
A closer look at the front spring reveals that I am indeed getting more down travel:
Before:
After:
Overall, the pictures don't do justice as to how different the user experience is. Uphill and flexed situations have a much flatter body position resulting in much less anxiety on my part. I'd love to find a nice ditch to get the setup into full flex but I haven't found one that was deep enough to demonstrate that yet. My favorite part about this setup is that I can unbolt the superflex arm and put my other stock arm back on, if I want to. I'm pretty happy all around.
The "before" pictures on taken on a roughly 30" rock. With the stock arms, my rig felt like it was near the end of its ability to flex, despite the fact that my Slinky setup had more travel available. The "after" pictures are taken on a 35" rock. With the Superflex arm, I felt I could have easily climbed higher, if I had a taller rock. I'd love to get my rig on a ramp and test it more. Here are some comparisons:
Note the up travel on the front axle.
before:
After on taller rock showed that I can climb higher than before:
Note the down travel on the front axle. In this case, 5 additional inches of height seem to make the suspension flex similarly in both instances.
After:
A closer look at the front spring reveals that I am indeed getting more down travel:
Before:
After:
Overall, the pictures don't do justice as to how different the user experience is. Uphill and flexed situations have a much flatter body position resulting in much less anxiety on my part. I'd love to find a nice ditch to get the setup into full flex but I haven't found one that was deep enough to demonstrate that yet. My favorite part about this setup is that I can unbolt the superflex arm and put my other stock arm back on, if I want to. I'm pretty happy all around.
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Thanks for your contribution Lumpskie.
In all the pictures that Ive seen of these arms show very little room for the arm to actually move, meaning side to side creating arm to bracket bind. They do seem to work better then stock fore sure. The Hyper arm set up is interesting to say the least. I wonder if they have any options to move the axle forward?
In all the pictures that Ive seen of these arms show very little room for the arm to actually move, meaning side to side creating arm to bracket bind. They do seem to work better then stock fore sure. The Hyper arm set up is interesting to say the least. I wonder if they have any options to move the axle forward?
