Trail-Tailor Rear Control arms - Review (1 Viewer)

[Box Rocket]

I've wanted to post a bit of information and a little bit about what I think of these arms since they're new to the market, and also now that I've got ~1000 miles or so on them.
Rear Lower Control Arms


For anyone that doesn't know, @reevesci released these recently and they use a HD Currie Johnny Joint at one end with a beefy 1" shank (3" long), and sleeved poly bushings at the other end. They can be adjusted for length by threading the Joints either farther in or out and then "setting" them with the jam nut. Both the joint and the poly end have grease zerks and are both fully rebuildable.
The arms themselves are made of heavy wall 1.75" DOM. That's a nice upgrade from the OEM control arms that are prone to bending when they get dragged over rocks. I don't worry at all about thrashing these on the rocks at Cruise Moab and elsewhere this spring, not something I could have said with my factory arms.

I got a full set of upper and lower arms. For me I was looking forward to these because I've always had a bit of driveline vibration from the rear driveline. Its a common issue with lifted trucks since the t-case and pinion flanges are no longer parallel after installing a lift. I have a DC front driveshaft and could have gone the same route with the rear, but upgrading the factory control arms was a good idea for strength. And it just made sense to use adjustable arms that could correct pinion angle and get the flanges parallel again. The second benefit is that you can make these slightly longer than the factory arms to relocate the axle and get it re-centered in the wheel wells since when an 80 is lifted the axle is moved forward at static ride height. So if you have issues with your tires rubbing the front of the rear wheel wells (very common with 37's as well as some 35's) these arms can give you a bit more room back and eliminate or reduce any tire rub.

Ok, enough description. How do I think they work? So far they've been excellent. They're quiet; not that I expected them to be noisy but with more moving parts than the factory arms there's potential for a bit of noise. Haven't noticed any.
The installation was simple. I should know since Jason sent me the first prototype set that were a little too short for me to be comfortable with (left too much threaded shank on the JJ exposed).

I chatted with Jason about it and he quickly sent me replacements that added just over an inch of length to the arms. (The production arms are this new length.) So I installed them twice for that, but also installed them with the JJ's at the axle side, then at the frame side. So the arms were in and out of the truck no less than 4 times. After the first time, it was roughly an hour job to do it again. No big deal.
NOTE: in the above photo the JJ is at the axle end. Final installation has the JJ at the frame end (as Jason recommends). You can also see the difference in how much of the Joint threads are exposed between the above photo and the one below with the new longer arms.


Quality is great and welds look good. Jason has an excellent reputation for his fabwork and the quality was what I would expect from him.

It was pretty simple to correct the pinion angle. You could do this with just lower arms, or with just the upper arms. On lifted 80s it normally means shortening the upper arms, or adding somewhere in the ballpark of 3/8"-1" of length to the lowers depending on the lift. Since I had both uppers and lowers I started by setting the upper to match the length of the factory uppers and took care of the adjustment with the lowers since I also wanted to axle to move backward a bit. It just made sense to make the lowers a little longer than the factory lowers. I didn't do anything scientific, I just got them where I thought they were close than put an angle finder on the pinion flange and t-case flange. It took a few minor adjustments to get the length correct and make the flanges parallel, then locked them in with the jam nuts.

After the installation I noticed an immediate change with no more driveshaft vibrations. Success!
However, it did expose that one of my ujoints needed to be replaced. So that was good too and I got that swapped out. Rear Driveshaft is nice and smooth and quiet now.

I have several hundred road miles with the arms and a few hundred dirt miles now too. A mod like this is one of those where you know it's right when you don't notice anything and the truck just feels like it should. That's how these arms feel. Nice and solid with no weird road manners.

I've been able to flex the rear suspension a bit and I can already tell that I've gained a bit of travel because of the Johnny Joints allowing more movement before binding than the factory arms. I don't have any hard science behind the flex gains yet but I plan to update this thread with some new pics to show how they work in that regard.
I spent 4 days on the trails this past weekend but between keeping a fast pace and it being very muddy I didn't get any pics of the arms in action. Sorry, I just didn't want to lie in the mud to get the photos. But I promise I'll get some soon that show some flex.


In conclusion, I'm really happy with these and I think Jason has another quality item available to 80/100 owners looking to upgrade their factory arms and who need a solution for pinion angle and axle location. Increased flex is just a bonus.

 

[Box Rocket]

Full disclosure.
Jason supplied me with these arms and asked that I write an honest review. He made it clear that he welcomed any criticism about them too. I don't have a problem pointing out flaws or problems if I see them. My review on these is exactly what I think of them.

Also, I forgot to mention that the frame brackets for the upper arms need to be clearance. There is a slot for the arm in this bracket at the bottom part of the bracket in the photo, not where the tape measure is..
This picture is taken from underneath so it's a little confusing but you can see the slot where the arms fits. This is a factory arm.

The Trail Tailor arms are larger diameter and will contact the brackets. I took about 1/2" off both sides of the slot in the bracket with my angle grinder and that seems to be plenty of clearance for the new arms.

 

[Malleus]

Full disclosure.
Jason supplied me with these arms and asked that I write an honest review. He made it clear that he welcomed any criticism about them too. I don't have a problem pointing out flaws or problems if I see them. My review on these is exactly what I think of them.

Also, I forgot to mention that the frame brackets for the upper arms need to be clearance. There is a slot for the arm in this bracket at the bottom part of the bracket in the photo, not where the tape measure is..
This picture is taken from underneath so it's a little confusing but you can see the slot where the arms fits. This is a factory arm.

The Trail Tailor arms are larger diameter and will contact the brackets. I took about 1/2" off both sides of the slot in the bracket with my angle grinder and that seems to be plenty of clearance for the new arms.

You know those bends at the bottom of the verticals (which you shaved 1/2" off of) are there to add strength to the member, right? (just checking)

 

[Box Rocket]

You know those bends at the bottom of the verticals (which you shaved 1/2" off of) are there to add strength to the member, right? (just checking)

Yep, which is why I didn't remove them completely.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Adam,

Thank you for the write up and review. Glad you are happy with them and I know they will continue to get more and more use and further feedback.

Adam received the first prototypes. The lowers are unchanged to date, but the uppers have been cleaned up a little. I went to internally threaded tubes and got away from the weld adapters. I was able to increase the strength with a smaller OD DOM tube going this route. Old tubes were 1-3/8" x .120" and new are 1-1/4" x .156" DOM. This also allowed me to increase the poly bushing thread from 7/8" to 1".

These are available for the 80, 100, 200, 4R and FJC.

As far as opening up the channel, I can see where it may be seen as weakening the mount to trim this channel. But, the channel was completely removed on all other Toyota link set up successors; 100, 200, 4R and FJC. So, I personally chalk it up to first run engineering overkill that was deemed unnecessary for future models.

Jason

 

[ajax1]

What's price on these look exactly like metal tech copy

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

What's price on these look exactly like metal tech copy

Lowers are similar, but the uppers are fully- on vehicle adjustable, MTs are not.

Prices are in the Trail Tailor forum threads. (Link in sig line)

J

 

[nukegoat]

As far as opening up the channel, I can see where it may be seen as weakening the mount to trim this channel. But, the channel was completely removed on all other Toyota link set up successors; 100, 200, 4R and FJC. So, I personally chalk it up to first run engineering overkill that was deemed unnecessary for future models.

Jason

The upper mounts are wayyyyy overkill anyway. Not gonna be a problem.

 

[1973Guppie]

I am running 850/863 but plan on a one inch spacer soon here, so basically will be J size springs. Is there any benefit to those of us running a 3 inch lift? Curious if others have needed longer control arms with j springs to center up the pinion angle and center the axle in the wheelwells?

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

I am running 850/863 but plan on a one inch spacer soon here, so basically will be J size springs. Is there any benefit to those of us running a 3 inch lift? Curious if others have needed longer control arms with j springs to center up the pinion angle and center the axle in the wheelwells?

N,

Lift height is lift height no matter with a spring or spacer. As soon as a lift is installed, no matter the height, the suspension/driveline geometry will change.

Pinion Angle- the axle rolls when a lift is installed and causes a change in the pinion angle and the axle position. The adjustable control arms allow you to correct the pinion angle and in turn will usually correct the axle placement in the wheel wells. If not, the arms will allow for further adjustment for this correction.

@Box Rocket has a 3" Slinky lift and needed pinion angle and vibration issues corrected. As stated above he was able to correct both with the arms. I will assume his axle was re-positioned as well during the install.


I replied to your question about panhards in another thread, but will add it here as well since lift geometry is the general question.

Axle Shift- When lifting a rig the axle/s will shift to one side because the panhard bar is designed for its factory height and now it is too short to keep the same geometry parameters. This shift can be anywhere from 1/4"- 1" or even more in some cases. The higher the lift the more the shift. Adjustable panhards allow you to "re-center" your axle (Right to Left). Some guys are known to throw a wheel spacer on one side to get the tires back to center, but this doesn't correct the axle to driveshaft line which will/can cause wear on components eventually.

Hope this helps a little.

J

 

[1973Guppie]

N,

Lift height is lift height no matter with a spring or spacer. As soon as a lift is installed, no matter the height, the suspension/driveline geometry will change.

Pinion Angle- the axle rolls when a lift is installed and causes a change in the pinion angle and the axle position. The adjustable control arms allow you to correct the pinion angle and in turn will usually correct the axle placement in the wheel wells. If not, the arms will allow for further adjustment for this correction.

@Box Rocket has a 3" Slinky lift and needed pinion angle and vibration issues corrected. As stated above he was able to correct both with the arms. I will assume his axle was re-positioned as well during the install.


I replied to your question about panhards in another thread, but will add it here as well since lift geometry is the general question.

Axle Shift- When lifting a rig the axle/s will shift to one side because the panhard bar is designed for its factory height and now it is too short to keep the same geometry parameters. This shift can be anywhere from 1/4"- 1" or even more in some cases. The higher the lift the more the shift. Adjustable panhards allow you to "re-center" your axle (Right to Left). Some guys are known to throw a wheel spacer on one side to get the tires back to center, but this doesn't correct the axle to driveshaft line which will/can cause wear on components eventually.

Hope this helps a little.

J

thx for the response, sending you a pm as to not muddy up your thread here. Have a few more questions. Interested in getting some LCA's

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

thx for the response, sending you a pm as to not muddy up your thread here. Have a few more questions. Interested in getting some LCA's

No worries, let me know and glad to help.

 

[bugsnbikes]

fixing axle shift via longer/adjustable arms is a "partial" fix and doesnt correct for the altered / steeper angle of the panhard and ucas. one would need to raise the axle side mounts to return the panhard and ucas to oem angle to match.

 

[1973Guppie]

Just ordered some LCA's from Jason, excited to get them. He has been very good to deal with and has answered all my stupid questions coming from a guy more experienced working on old leaf sprung junk, lol.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

fixing axle shift via longer/adjustable arms is a "partial" fix and doesnt correct for the altered / steeper angle of the panhard and ucas. one would need to raise the axle side mounts to return the panhard and ucas to oem angle to match.

I prefer the raised bracket over the typical drop bracket method to get the PH as horizontal as possible (pending lift height, a combination may come into play). Although I haven't seen too many high speed float (tail wagging) issues reported for an 80. It's a good idea to address with additional fab if the driver notices this issue developing.

J

 

[nukegoat]

Some guys are known to throw a wheel spacer on one side to get the tires back to center, but this doesn't correct the axle to driveshaft line which will/can cause wear on components eventually.

Hope this helps a little.

J

I agree thats a bad idea but the driveshaft sure wont care in a single cardan implementation. Toyota doesnt have it lining up anyway from the factory...

 

[mcguirejohnson]

Thanks for the writeup Adam, solidified my choice.

 

[Box Rocket]

For the sake of information, I already had adjustable panhards on my truck to correct side-to-side axle location after the lift.
Doesn't affect the arms, but I also have wheel spacers on all 4 corners.

 

[Izeloz]

Is there any concern about the longevity of poly bushings in this application? Or does the inclusion of a Johnny Joint provide enough flex that bushing fatigue is relieved at the poly end?

 

[nukegoat]

fixing axle shift via longer/adjustable arms is a "partial" fix and doesnt correct for the altered / steeper angle of the panhard and ucas. one would need to raise the axle side mounts to return the panhard and ucas to oem angle to match.

If you lift X", the only way to retain OEM geometry would be to raise EVERY mount (lowers, uppers, and panhard) exactly X" as well. Nobody is going to do this so calling it a "partial" fix is a bit misleading.

The pinion flange can be made coplanar to the t-case output again by only extending the LCAs.

Me, I just rip it all off and start over.