The 4WheelUnderground 3 link thread (1 Viewer)

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Not here to make E friends? Kumbya only sounds good in front of a campfire...


I don't sell anything. I have a time clock and a boss like most of us.

I didn't, however, know I was pissing people off.

Apologies.

But! I know Brian and he's not trying to chase the Starbucks crowd and the mentality that follows...

If you really wanna get to the farthest,remotest places in an 80( and it's just as sloppy and heavy as any 4runner with one tons and an Exo cage, but better)than listen up.

Wait til he has a rear solution and there might be a revolution. Cause once the front is fixed the back end does nothing but piss you off

For the record I'm totally fine with the rear of mine after relinking it
 
Are there really no bushings in the arms?
None, the only rubber compliance between you and the road is the 10" or so of compliant sidewall
 
None, the only rubber compliance between you and the road is the 10" or so of compliant sidewall

Yikes. The added spring/compliance of the bushings definitely helps reduce the input loads into the brackets... Seeing how Jose beats his rig I'd be worried about cracking the brackets or frame near the welds...

Jose, I might be critical of the lack of bushings, but damn, this is really awesome! Can't wait to see what it does for capability!
 
Have you seen those brackets??? lol

Guys have been using solid heims in suspension links for years. They are loud, squeaky and harsh but they work just fine. The problem with joints that have rubber in them like the Johnny Joints is they only use a 9/16" bolt.
 
Thank you for not being the guy(x1000) who accessorizes the holy FAWK out of an 80 with Bolton junk only to appease the Starbucks line conversation:D

You're the real McCoy Jose:beer:

No offense to the 98% of the mud community:) enjoy your coffee...

Ha thank you sir :cheers: Just trying to follow in your footsteps!

What spring rate on the co's?

They're 200/350, it's what Brian supplies. I'll see how they handle in the real world since Booger seems to think they're a bit light.

Does the 3 link put that much more stress on the axle that you need to gusset it or is that a "while you have it out" upgrade?

Na, it's purely a while I'm in there upgrade, and also a bit of bling :)
 
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If I ate Kawasaki dirt bike fenders and Taco Bell for a week and then pointed my butt up at my truck with the intentions of aiming explosive diarrhea to point something out I could have not done a better job:flipoff2:

@Delancy is in the house!

Not that I'm an 'expert' and not to foul Jose' thread, but wtf are you asking in 66.66667 % of those questions?

Dude that made me laugh out loud. My first thought was that he wanted to play a game of tic-tac-toe with all those green lines.

Fifteen minute phone call answered most and some I didn't know I had, so deleted the previous inquisition.....but NOW reserve the right to foul the thread in any other typical manner.

Like:

I bet you don't. :)

Man, you deleted all that?! I was starting to work on responses, they were good questions. Was gonna wait till I was back on a computer because I hate typing on my phone. So did you get what you needed? Anything share-worthy?

Do you have to pull the box to remove the pitman arm? Super ultra fantastic, definitely more pics! And thank you for such excellent documentation.

Thanks! And yeah unfortunately it looks like the box will have to come out if you need to remove the pitman arm because the new bracket doesn't leave room for a puller tool in there.

That all looks gorgeous. Brian's link mounts Will not be failing ever.

Why didn't you just remove your calipers?

His welds are seriously beautiful. It's almost a shame to paint over them. Calipers are all off now that I've installed the Hellfires.

You're going to pull the box to fully weld that panhard mount, right?
I'm loving how this build went from the ultimate camper to a "how to" for a rock crawlin pig.:)

Been a big transformation! Who knows what it'll look like in another 2 years. As for the steering box, I wasn't planning on removing it. There's only this short section that comes up around the box. The rest is under the frame and on the inside.

nLdS4eK.jpg


Whoa! I'd buy the **** out this kit if it was for a 9.5" front/60 series...
Keep up the good work! It looks cool

Thanks! Might be worth a quick phone call to Brian. Brackets may be easily modified to fit.

Is there a built in Ackerman angle on your steering arms?

Per Billy: "The arms have a 6" throw at the tie rod holes, and an 8" throw at the drag link holes. Ackerman angle you say? Each arm has 2 holes. The first hole is for the tie rod and it gives you the right amount of ackerman angle for the average wheel base. Need more steering angle and full hydro with the common 8" ram? Use the forward holes that have no ackerman angle for the furthest possible steering in comp based rigs."

So, Billy says the inner holes give proper Ackerman for most rigs. But the inner holes won't work as I learned today. The panhard bracket stick out too far forward to use the inner holes. The problem is Billy no longer supplies the driver's side arm with 2 holes. They come with 1 only. But it's nice to have friends with mini trucks. A buddy is gonna trade me his earlier gen steering arm that still has the 2 holes.

Here's what I mean about the panhard and tierod on the inner holes. No clearance

5CS0HGVh.jpg


I think sometimes ppl forget that all of us are real life ppl. Some ppl take sarcasm in a different light. It can be easy to lash out here because you don't know the person in real life and there is no real percussion. Except to be labelled as "that guy".

I don't think booger means any harm. He's just a **** talker. We all know one. I personally think it's funny although not my style. He is also very very skilled and has answered questions for me threw pm and not ridiculed my lack of knowledge on the subject. I'm sure booger just wants a challenge but being so smart in fabbing it's hard to challenge him. I would be frustrated too. Ha.

Overall if your on this forum you just have to lighten up and take all sarcasm and negativaty with a grain if salt

Good point. Sarcasm, humor and overall tone are not easily conveyed online and it's easy to take offense to what is otherwise good natured ball busting. IMO, Booger is one of the coolest guys here with the skills and knowledge to back it all up.

Oh ...and I can't wait to see more 3 link pics Jcardona. Keep up the good work. That front axle is going to look brand new with all that prep!

Also I got my abs delete done this weekend... thanks again for those detailed pics buddy! The pedal feels waaaay better.

Saw the thread, nice work! Glad it was useful :)
 
None, the only rubber compliance between you and the road is the 10" or so of compliant sidewall
Yikes. The added spring/compliance of the bushings definitely helps reduce the input loads into the brackets... Seeing how Jose beats his rig I'd be worried about cracking the brackets or frame near the welds...

Jose, I might be critical of the lack of bushings, but damn, this is really awesome! Can't wait to see what it does for capability!
Have you seen those brackets??? lol

Guys have been using solid heims in suspension links for years. They are loud, squeaky and harsh but they work just fine. The problem with joints that have rubber in them like the Johnny Joints is they only use a 9/16" bolt.

You guys talking about the 2 giant control arms? Those aren't your standard Heim. It's a Flex joint with a rebuildable nylon bearing race. Details: http://www.4wheelunderground.com/Heims--Joints--Bushings-and-Hardware.html
 
And today I wrapped up the Hellfires and Aisin manual hubs from the HZJ81s. Since I have the older chromoly Longs with only 1 snapring groove, I had to cut a new groove. I read about the 8mm pipe spacer, but I could not get it to fit no matter what I tried. No big deal. 10 minutes with the dremel and it was done. Cut a second groove 13mm from the top. If you have a trunion bearing race handy, that's exactly 13mm wide so use that as guide to mark your lines. Also installed the new hub studs as my old ones were trashed.

KbkbtTqh.jpg
 
Have you seen those brackets??? lol

Guys have been using solid heims in suspension links for years. They are loud, squeaky and harsh but they work just fine. The problem with joints that have rubber in them like the Johnny Joints is they only use a 9/16" bolt.

My joints use 5/8 fwiw.
 
Not here to make E friends? Kumbya only sounds good in front of a campfire...

I have made lot's of friends on a forum, friends that became real life friends. I have traveled with them and gone to see them on the other side of the planet. It is not such a bad thing dude.


I don't sell anything. I have a time clock and a boss like most of us.

I didn't, however, know I was pissing people off.

Apologies.

My bad, thought you were a vendor, read something about that but guess I read wrong. I wouldn't say pissing people off, rather just acting/looking like a knowitall douche. General politeness and courtesy also goes a long ways, on the forums or otherwise.

But! I know Brian and he's not trying to chase the Starbucks crowd and the mentality that follows...

If you really wanna get to the farthest,remotest places in an 80( and it's just as sloppy and heavy as any 4runner with one tons and an Exo cage, but better)than listen up.

Wait til he has a rear solution and there might be a revolution. Cause once the front is fixed the back end does nothing but piss you off

That is great, I am all for it. My 80 works pretty good though for what I use it for. Remotest to me means way out in the boonies in Baja, just did that recently in it, stock suspension configuration worked fine. Or way out in BFE Wyoming or Idaho for a weekend of camping. Sometimes I like to go to the dunes in it, stock suspension works good in the dunes, just need lot's of hp. Don't think I will ever take my 80 on a rock trail where I risk smashing it. Not to say I am against better suspension on it though. But for my uses and probably most peoples uses, the stock configuration works fine. I am also fully aware some folks want to do a 3-link and hey by all means go for it. Just don't think that it is a do all and everybody should do it. Some of us simply don't take our trucks where it will be needed. Some, like me, want to be able to find a part in BFE Latin America so for this stock = best. Talking to us like we are idiots and don't know how suspension works and why a 3-link is better doesn't do much for anybody. In particular when yo say crap like we have Starbucks breath. Dude I don't drink that crap and I know what a 3-link is so yes your comments come across as douchery. Thing is if I was considering a 3-link, do I need the flex and if I do is it worth sacrificing road handling or the ability to easily get parts in say Nicaragua. I think you will find that generally a mentor is not a dick because when they are people generally don't listen to them.

And with that I will leave Jose's thread alone and let him show us his build.

Cheers
 
@jcardona1, I deleted for thread continuity, not anticipating, but not surprised, that it derailed to the degree it did.

I'm in good shape on the previous questions, at this point, but thanks for offering to accommodate.

This is a little concerning....


image.jpg


Are you still running the y link set up?
 
Rmp0: doctor diagnoses you with clinical anal retentive disorder and prescribes a chill pill to cure.
 
@jcardona1, I deleted for thread continuity, not anticipating, but not surprised, that it derailed to the degree it did.

I'm in good shape on the previous questions, at this point, but thanks for offering to accommodate.

This is a little concerning....


View attachment 1042974

Are you still running the y link set up?

Yeah I'll be keeping the y-link. But it will go under the arms, not on top. It's what Brian recommends and this is exactly how Bobby's is set up

N61eMjh.jpg


xNYhfwu.jpg


Vs76QaW.jpg
 
Hmmm.....

If the DS arm is lacking the front hole, would there be a clearance issue running a seperate tie rod and drag link, with the tie rod on the bottom, you think?

image.jpg


Like Billy did?

image.jpg
 
K, I'll stfu. Sarcasm and such is better interpreted and not found hurtful so much on pirate... Maybe I get on better there cause a great number of those people have met me in person and a jerk simply doesn't exist to them.

Straight up, honest to god apology(and I love me a venti frapachino). Especially to you @Rpm&o. I've followed your stuff since you were doing it in a 4door taco.

Remember, however, there are far more posts ridiculing 3 links in this forum than all of my rude/crass
opposition to those theories.

Sometimes it's like were (80 suspension tinkerers)the gay and lesbian community of IH8mud:( EDIT: And before anyone gets butt hurt (no pun intended) by that, some of my dearest closed friends/relatives are of a different sexual orientation than myself. So don't load your guns, please

Regardless, your point is taken and respected.
 
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Hmmm.....

If the DS arm is lacking the front hole, would there be a clearance issue running a seperate tie rod and drag link, with the tie rod on the bottom, you think?

View attachment 1043010

Like Billy did?

View attachment 1043012

If the DS arm doesn't have 2 holes you're stuck because you can't run a steering link from PS outer hole to DS inner hole. But if DS and PS arm both have 2 holes then yeah you could, in theory, use the outer hole on the PS arm. Drag link up top and tie rod underneath. But Brian recommends they go underneath the arms as it may limit uptravel, hence my reason to use a y-link setup.
 
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