Today I finished (well nothing is ever really finished) my long arm build. I had to finish weld my upper arms, make brackets , and install them on the lowers that I built last weekend. Over all, I am very happy with how it all turned out.
The uppers are made with the same 2x2x1/4" tubing as the lowers were made from and all the flat stock/brackets are also out of 1/4". It ended up being a little bit of a challenge getting the 2 inch tubing to fit next to the differential and driveline on the driver side. It worked out fine though I just had to be pretty careful about where I located the brackets on the lower arms.
Here is a few shots of the finished product. You can see that I mounted my brackets in position so as to clear the frame rails on uptravel.
Like I mentioned above I am very happy with how this all turned out. The "Butt Dyno" tells me that it rides much smoother and doesn't feel like all the suspension work is being transfered directly to the frame. This setup should allow for the springs to do more of the work. I am heading out on the trail tomorrow to test it all out. Check the trips page to see my write up of how it works off road.
The only issue that I have at the moment is that my flex joints are making a little noise. I haven't ever used these joints in suspension before and I don't know how much noise to expect from them since they are still considered are "hard" joint by most. I will probably discontect them and tighten them up a little as well as make sure they are good and greased and then see how they are. If it get too annoying I can always replace them with regular bushings even if I do give up a little flexibility.
The uppers are made with the same 2x2x1/4" tubing as the lowers were made from and all the flat stock/brackets are also out of 1/4". It ended up being a little bit of a challenge getting the 2 inch tubing to fit next to the differential and driveline on the driver side. It worked out fine though I just had to be pretty careful about where I located the brackets on the lower arms. 
Here is a few shots of the finished product. You can see that I mounted my brackets in position so as to clear the frame rails on uptravel. 
Like I mentioned above I am very happy with how this all turned out. The "Butt Dyno" tells me that it rides much smoother and doesn't feel like all the suspension work is being transfered directly to the frame. This setup should allow for the springs to do more of the work. I am heading out on the trail tomorrow to test it all out. Check the trips page to see my write up of how it works off road. 
The only issue that I have at the moment is that my flex joints are making a little noise. I haven't ever used these joints in suspension before and I don't know how much noise to expect from them since they are still considered are "hard" joint by most. I will probably discontect them and tighten them up a little as well as make sure they are good and greased and then see how they are. If it get too annoying I can always replace them with regular bushings even if I do give up a little flexibility.
3 comments:
Nice Write up. How are they holding up - would you still go with the square tubing? Any changes that you would make if you had to do it a second time?
Would also like to know.....
Would also like to know.....
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