Anyone running one of these on a rig they drive on the street? Wondering how handling is on the corners. Trying to come up with a decent front suspension to go along with coilovrs for a full-width D60 going into a TJ for use on and off-road.

Thanks

what about wristed radius arms like on a Bronco? You can get lots of flex and pin the arm on the street.

I have heard bad things about the hinged radius arms. This is a cheap fix for Land Rovers and Early Broncos, but a bunch of the Land Rover guys are looking to take them off. If I was doing something custom I would not spend the time for that. I have a custom 3-link configuration on my rover. I will attach a pic and also a link for more pics if interested. I get a lot of flex out of it. It is simple, it had better handling characteristics than the stock front radius arms.

Way

Here is the link and a picture of it in action. It flexes a bit more now.


Here is the link for my web site.
http://student.fortlewis.edu/~alway/

Here is the link to the specific page on my site.
http://student.fortlewis.edu/~alway/adamwaydynatrac.htm

Way

If you copy way's way it will function just like a wristed radius arm, with less slop from bushings and stuff plus that will be simpler to make than using ford cbushing mounts etc. But a 3 link with the third link all the way to one side has all the handling quirks of a wristed radius arm.

My center link is centered even though it does not look it in the picture (optical illusion I guess). On the second picture of my Dynatrac modification page I have autocad drawings of the brackets. Fell free to print them off and copy whatever. If I had it to do over, I would make the center link bracket a bit different. The way I have it was just conveinant (teraflex control arm used for center link BTW).

Way

For a street rig, I really like a 3link with a trackbar. Two lowers, an upper and a trackbar. I really like the trackbar because you can design it around the draglink and get really good handling.

CJ

Check this out

Check this out


Nolen: is that a U-joint at the front xmember??? If so, wouldn't that move horribly side-to-side??? I think that the tip of the A is supposed to be connected to the axle housing, not the frame. Also where are the lower control arms??? Do they come from the center of the rig???

Is that your old setup, hehehe...?

That looks like the traction bar I saw last weekend. Except he had a trailer hitch mounted to the frame that the traction bar with the female trailer hitch attached!

Way, what is the deal with that Dynatrac axle you built? I looked at the pics last week and it looks like the axle is all rusty and in the junk yard in one pic and then it shows you welding on the mounts. Just didn't understand why it looked used. Must be custom made though as the high pinion diff is on the passengers side. :) BTW, do you still own and drive the Rover? Do you like the handling of this style three link - two upper arms to the frame and one centered lower to a cross member under the engine? What are the handling quirks with wristed radius arms or a radius arm on one side and a single frame to axle arm on the other?

CJ, what type of three link are you talking about that you think works well on the street and the trail? "Two lowers, an upper and a trackbar" Is the upper centered on the axle or offset to one side? If offset to one side, isn't this pretty much the same as a radius arm on one side and a single arm on the other? Which is pretty much the same thing as a wristed radius arm setup, right? And there are some handling quirks with these I have been told.

Thanks for any thoughts, Jeff

Way, what exactly would you have done different for that center link bracket? Jeff

You suspension design looked cool as far as I could tell, but based on those pics I'm having a hard time really visualizing the design, do you have a "drawing" or some type of unobstructed artistic rendering of it.

Maybe I need to take off my shades.....:confused:

Jeff, I think that this is different from a wristed arm approach due to the use of a track bar to locate the axle laterally. Wristed arms on C-bushing style fords still use the C bushing for to resist lateral movement and wrap.

Unless I am missing something, the Rover setup uses 4 links - panhard/track bar, two uppers, one lower. Way's design and fab is VERY cool.

Originally posted by yurtle
Unless I am missing something, the Rover setup uses 4 links - panhard/track bar, two uppers, one lower. Way's design and fab is VERY cool.

stock rover design is two lower radius arms with a track bar. no other links. it binds like HELL.

i am another proponent of the hinged radius arm approach because you have all of the flex you want off road but then you slip in a little hitch pin and you are back to all factory suspension geometry, which some mechanical/automotive engineer was paid to figure out for me back in the 1960s. and he had to worry about legal liability so he made it as safe as possible :D

Wow, thanks for the compliments. First off the Dynatrac axle was purchased form an ARCA competitor that decided to go with a D60. He had it sitting in his backyard for about a year prior to me buying it. The axle rusted. The first pick on my site shows what it looked like when I purchased it. I quickly cleaned it up and then began the project. As you already know (or should know) Rover axles SUCK big time. Great Basin Rovers is a joke and I decided to do something that a lot of rover owners (not on this list though) feel is a sin.

I really like the handling characteristics. Unfortunately I do not have any sketches of what my suspension looks like. Basically I utilized the factory control arm mount on the frame (similar to what the early bronco has). The center link attaches to the cross member and then to the axle. If I had to do it over I would use a longer center link and locate the mount higher (in relationship to the ground). Other than that the set-up is pretty sweet.

Way

i have had long arm's and a wristed arm, so i built a 4 link with panard rod(5 link) i like it by far the best. and i drive it 70 mph down the hiway.
it handles ,stops, wheels, flex's etc far better than anything else i have tried.
you can see pic's of it here,
http://www.broncohio.com/tech/fourlink.html

steelman

A triangled 4 link will work fine, just make it beefy so the links won't bend if you kiss a curb hard.

Originally posted by Way
I really like the handling characteristics. Unfortunately I do not have any sketches of what my suspension looks like. Basically I utilized the factory control arm mount on the frame (similar to what the early bronco has). The center link attaches to the cross member and then to the axle. If I had to do it over I would use a longer center link and locate the mount higher (in relationship to the ground). Other than that the set-up is pretty sweet.

Way

Mount the center link higher? Are you referring to the mount at the axle? Would you run the outer arm mounts lower then? Sorry for all the questions. I like the way you set the axle up.

Yes, I would have mounted the center link mount on the axle a bit higher. However this would have required a longer center link to make work. I would not have altered the control arms.

Way

Originally posted by Way
I have heard bad things about the hinged radius arms. This is a cheap fix for Land Rovers and Early Broncos, but a bunch of the Land Rover guys are looking to take them off. If I was doing something custom I would not spend the time for that. I have a custom 3-link configuration on my rover. I will attach a pic and also a link for more pics if interested. I get a lot of flex out of it. It is simple, it had better handling characteristics than the stock front radius arms.

Way

What bad things have you heard? Who is taking them off?

I have heard that the hinged arms wears out the bushing very quickly. There are several Land Rover people that have tried them. Several people really like them compared to the stock radius arm which isn't saying much. I have heard of a few people replacing the bushings with a bearing assembly with minimal success. I know first hand that the hinged arms provide significantly less up travel (and down) than a more free design. I would also like to point out the substantial ground clearance gain by going with a three link. There are a few of the more extreme people on the Land Rover lists that have had them and are trading them in.

Way

I never heard of bronco guys having this problem. It most be the Land Rover setup.