Y-link suspension (1 Viewer)

[woody]

hey, nice lookin star....now, start attachin some pics

sharp rig!

I have yet to see a tie rod end of any sort that wasn't tapered, but there is always a first time....looks like a simple enuf design, I'd be curious on the cost of those ends versus a heim....and the only concern I'd have is the lack of double shear safety when they do finally loosen/break.

 

[clownmidget]

Super70, that is some beautiful work. Thanks for the input regarding road manners/front end behavior of the 4-link. What you describe in terms of use is pretty much exactly what you would expect in the western US. 1000+ miles of highway pavement followed by a few hundred of dirt or gravel roads and then a couple of dozen miles of serious trails. I use my truck for work as well so it needs to be at least as safe as it was oem. Let me know when you'll be taking that "drive" over to CA and I'll start cooling the beers .

Also, have you heard of/dealt with Overkill 4WD shop in NSW? They offer a very interesting 4/5-link front for the 80 series for what seems to be pretty reasonable cost.

Thanks for the pics again, very nice setup.

 

[Super 70]

Woody,

Thanks.

You may be right... not really sure about the taper.

As for breakage or double shear safety, I wouldn't claim to be an expert in that subject matter. I'll leave that to the engineers to debate. As far as I know.... those joints are used as a single point on big rigs and usually have 80000lbs of weight behind them. 16 joints like that on my little rig, that weighs in at a fraction of that.... I doubt greatly weather I will break or see one fail... the other side of that is this truck has a super regular maintenance schedule and gets looked at by my mechanic and the fabricator routinely. Personally speaking, I tend to be very proactive about maintenence and replacing worn parts.

Not sure of the cost difference between hiem joints and these ones. I don't recall them being very expensive...

My dad's truck has hiem joints on his Dodge Skyjacker suspension... they don't look nearly as big or strong. They are not greasable. He is running the coilover suspension from Skyjacker on his 3/4 ton dodge turbo diesel.... which is actually a suprisingly slick kit for the Ford/dodge 4x4s.

kodiak would be able to answer all the technical questions re the suspension as he is the builder.


Here are a couple pics... one early in the suspension buildup. The second of the front end... in the pic the high steer setup is the Marlin crawler kit... I was by OTT recently and ordered a full kit with arms that have a higher rise etc. So I will be switching my steering setup to the OTT full kit in the next week or so.

 

[Gumby]

I like the TREs. 16 of 'em would be worth buying a tapered ream.

 

[crawlin cruiser]

Silly question,

Ive seen the "y link" suspension many times on the front of trucks. But why is it never used on the rear?

thanks Dan

 

[woody]

y-links require use of a panhard....much easier to avoid in the rear with no engine to clear....and that panhard frequently wants to end up where the fuel tank sits....

y-links are notoriously pathetic for antisquat values under accelleration...some of the Early Bronco crowd has run their C-bushing arms all around with coils with limited success, but a standard VV or XX 4-link will work better.

(my rear suspension is essentially the VV style)

 

[clownmidget]

Ok, Woody, then how important is the rear panhard on something like a 80-series strictly off road? It appears on a lot of these custom rear 4-links there's no panhard, but when I finally got around to installing an adjustable one on my 80 my rear axle was offset 2 inches. Now maybe it was the stock length panhard pulling it out like that and just removing it would have let the axle center???? Interested because obviously there's a downside to having that panhard, even adjustable, off road under articulation.

Neat stuff. I just realized that the 70 doesn't have a panhard in the front either!?!? Thanks in advance for clearing up the 4-link vs 5-link pros/cons.
Mike

 

[Tools R Us]

then how important is the rear panhard on something like a 80-series strictly off road? Mike

The parallel link setup in the 80 uses the panhard center the axle, the links are not setup to take sideloads. A triangulated 4 link setup is designed to take sideload so the panhard is not needed. The easiest way to eliminate the panhard on the 80 would be by replacing the two top links with a wishbone type link?