Wild West Off-Road 2nd Generation High Clearance Lower Rear Control Arms ARE ON!
PERFECT TIMING! Having replaced every other bushing under the rear of my 100, the lower arms bushings were finally gone as well. You should hear it articulate! EEK! So, the plan was to buy a set of Slee HD Lower Control Arms for the 80-series and install them onto the 100. This would require buying 80-series bolts, washers, and nuts as the 100 takes a smaller bolt-set. Then, to fit, we'd need to drill out the holes on the four arm mounts to 80-series size so the hardware fits. (Easy) The day I was going to order Slee's I seen the review of Wild West Fab's new high-clearance arms in 4WD Toyota Owner Magazine. The review by 4WDTO was excellent and the idea of added clearance was killer. The arm is of a bent design which adds needed ground clearance. I changed my mind and ordered from Wild West instead. (The same 80-series hardware was needed so I ordered that as well for about $40) Then the call came from Tim at WWF a few days later....."Hey, we're working on a second generation design, do you want to wait a week or so for those?". Tim explained that they are adding a on-arm "skid" to the front end of the arm where it attaches to the bushing tube. "This will add even more strength in the most vulnerable area of the arm" Tim said. I told him YES....I'll wait.
Info on his First Gen arms are in the mag:
Full details here. Watch for updates.
John Shotts (shottscruisers) : photos : Wild West Off-Road 2nd Generation High-Clearance Lower Control Arms- powered by SmugMug
While waiting for the arms I was observing one other POSSIBLE issue for use on the 100.
***We know the arms for the 100 and 80 are the same length. The mounts on both vehicles do differ some. While we're waiting for the arms, let's take a peek at the mounts to see if we anticipate any other issues. Here's a pic of the 80-series front mount. Looks like plenty of room for the larger bushing tube. And 4WDTO Mag already verified that. [:>)
***Here's the 100's mount. Looks like plenty of room as well for the larger tubing. WAIT....It looks like the top of the mount ends closer to the arm than in the 80. Considering these new arms will begin more parallel to the ground before articulation, will they hit the mount (semicircle above arm) when compressed? Let's verify......
***Here's a shot of the 80's semicircle area. It's about 1.5" from the stock arm top.
***Whoa! It's a tad under 1.25" on the 100. Less room to move before contact. WHOA #2.....The difference could be the angle of the arms on these trucks. The 100 sits at 3" and the 80 sits at 7". That means the 80's arm is at a greater angle and therefore it's farther from the frame's semicircle area. We shall see when we get the new arms. Meanwhile, we MIGHT need to trim the semicircle a tad so contact is not made on full compression.
PERFECT TIMING! Having replaced every other bushing under the rear of my 100, the lower arms bushings were finally gone as well. You should hear it articulate! EEK! So, the plan was to buy a set of Slee HD Lower Control Arms for the 80-series and install them onto the 100. This would require buying 80-series bolts, washers, and nuts as the 100 takes a smaller bolt-set. Then, to fit, we'd need to drill out the holes on the four arm mounts to 80-series size so the hardware fits. (Easy) The day I was going to order Slee's I seen the review of Wild West Fab's new high-clearance arms in 4WD Toyota Owner Magazine. The review by 4WDTO was excellent and the idea of added clearance was killer. The arm is of a bent design which adds needed ground clearance. I changed my mind and ordered from Wild West instead. (The same 80-series hardware was needed so I ordered that as well for about $40) Then the call came from Tim at WWF a few days later....."Hey, we're working on a second generation design, do you want to wait a week or so for those?". Tim explained that they are adding a on-arm "skid" to the front end of the arm where it attaches to the bushing tube. "This will add even more strength in the most vulnerable area of the arm" Tim said. I told him YES....I'll wait.
Info on his First Gen arms are in the mag:
Full details here. Watch for updates.
John Shotts (shottscruisers) : photos : Wild West Off-Road 2nd Generation High-Clearance Lower Control Arms- powered by SmugMug
While waiting for the arms I was observing one other POSSIBLE issue for use on the 100.
***We know the arms for the 100 and 80 are the same length. The mounts on both vehicles do differ some. While we're waiting for the arms, let's take a peek at the mounts to see if we anticipate any other issues. Here's a pic of the 80-series front mount. Looks like plenty of room for the larger bushing tube. And 4WDTO Mag already verified that. [:>)
***Here's the 100's mount. Looks like plenty of room as well for the larger tubing. WAIT....It looks like the top of the mount ends closer to the arm than in the 80. Considering these new arms will begin more parallel to the ground before articulation, will they hit the mount (semicircle above arm) when compressed? Let's verify......
***Here's a shot of the 80's semicircle area. It's about 1.5" from the stock arm top.
***Whoa! It's a tad under 1.25" on the 100. Less room to move before contact. WHOA #2.....The difference could be the angle of the arms on these trucks. The 100 sits at 3" and the 80 sits at 7". That means the 80's arm is at a greater angle and therefore it's farther from the frame's semicircle area. We shall see when we get the new arms. Meanwhile, we MIGHT need to trim the semicircle a tad so contact is not made on full compression.
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