Anyone put extended radius arms up front on a 2nd gen? I was thinking of something similar to a Rubicon Express extended radius arm. The upper arm would connect to the lower arm right where the stock lower link mount is so it will fit in where the frame turns.
Thanks

Been done before. Here's mine in the early stages.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f49/burritoboi5/DSCN2236.jpg

Search more though, there were two in particular that unlike mine actually looked damn good. they were boxed not sleeved DOM and were all TIG welded.

Been done before. Here's mine in the early stages.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f49/burritoboi5/DSCN2236.jpg

Search more though, there were two in particular that unlike mine actually looked damn good. they were boxed not sleeved DOM and were all TIG welded.

More pics/installed pics please :D haha

I won't say I have any "finished" pics per say because I still plan on pulling them and changing some things/smoothing out some angles and adding some extra bracing where they mount on the frame and in other areas. But here they are in all their ninja-turtle green glory.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f49/burritoboi5/DSC_0204.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f49/burritoboi5/DSC_0202.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f49/burritoboi5/DSC_0201.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f49/burritoboi5/DSC_0205.jpg

Last pic is dark I know... I didn't take them

That's exactly what I was thinking of. My search just kept coming up with Jeep and Toyota stuff. How well do those ride, flex, function, etc? Is the frame mount holding up ok?

For the most part this rig is my daily driver with limited recovery duties so for what I use it for it's great. As of now the frame mounts are holding up but you never can be too sure so I want to throw some more 1/4 plate at it. Never really flexed it out too much but with the skyjacker coils and 2.0 fox remote ressys she rides very smooth for a 2500 on 37s. Ass end of it is still just stock leafs with matching fox shocks so it rides like crap unless it has 750lbs of whatever back there. Would eventually like to take out some leaves and put in some airbags for when I haul but this truck was purchased for the engine/tranny not comfort :D

Thanks for the info. I see a post that Binderbound made some but I think the uppers would be too long on the ones he made. I only have a 3" lift and don't want to go higher. I would need the shorter top tubes like you built. I would be very interested to see how they work after you've had some time on them and flexed them a bit.

Aubrey,
I have 50" long arms with 5" srpings- similar to the design above. I will dig up some pics this evening and post them (there may be some on pavementsucks.com under Mountain Ram).

Flex is good enough that it will max out the shock and drop out the spring, but I have bent the arms made from 1.5" diameter .5" wall (I had the material laying around). I straightened them and added some .25" thick angle iron and haven't had a problem since. They don't look as good as they used to, but they work well. If I were to do it again, I would go with 2" dia .25" wall.

Some on here will say that radius arms won't work, while there are better solutions, mine work great.
Todd

Tuff Country now offers a radius arm kit for 3rd gens, looks like it has a similar design to what has been shown.

Aubrey,
I have 50" long arms with 5" srpings- similar to the design above. I will dig up some pics this evening and post them (there may be some on pavementsucks.com under Mountain Ram).

Flex is good enough that it will max out the shock and drop out the spring, but I have bent the arms made from 1.5" diameter .5" wall (I had the material laying around). I straightened them and added some .25" thick angle iron and haven't had a problem since. They don't look as good as they used to, but they work well. If I were to do it again, I would go with 2" dia .25" wall.

Some on here will say that radius arms won't work, while there are better solutions, mine work great.
Todd

Just about material don't think I mentioned but mine are 2in 1/4 wall DOM sleeved in pipe that was then rossette welded every couple of inches. Overall arm length is 54 inches eye to eye I believe.

Cool. I wonder if they'd work very well on a 3" lift. With those joints, I would think a long radius arm would flex better and ride better than four short control arms. All the regular long arm kits are for a minimum of 5 - 6" lifts. The upper would be the problem. That's why I was thinking a radius arm would work better for me. I don't want to go up that much in height.

That Tuff Country kit is only for the 3rd gen and it looks like the links are bent.

Yep, mine is only leveled out in the front so 2.5 inch coil springs up front and some fender trimming to fit the 37s

Cool. I wonder if they'd work very well on a 3" lift. With those joints, I would think a long radius arm would flex better and ride better than four short control arms. All the regular long arm kits are for a minimum of 5 - 6" lifts. The upper would be the problem. That's why I was thinking a radius arm would work better for me. I don't want to go up that much in height.

That Tuff Country kit is only for the 3rd gen and it looks like the links are bent.

Didn't get to post up pics, I'll try at lunch today.

Anyway- 4 links are actually better for articulation if done right. The radius arm setup trys to twist the housing- wringing it like a towel. You have to rely on the the bushings to give. The 4 link keeps the front end in one plane, but one side will move toward the rear while the other moves towards the front.

The radius arm setup only works if you have a long length. The longer the arm, the less twist there would be on the axle during articulation. Having some bushings is better than all heims or johnny joints.

that's true of a triangulated 4 link, but a parallel 4 link with a track bar (there's no way around running a track bar in front unless you go to full hydro steering unless you want massive uncontrollable bump steer) twists the housing just the same.

I run a radius arm on the diff side and a single arm on the other side, with all hiems. With good tight strong joints it works well. I also have a shock in place of the "missing upper arm" which helps control sway and roll without running a swaybar.

that's true of a triangulated 4 link, but a parallel 4 link with a track bar (there's no way around running a track bar in front unless you go to full hydro steering unless you want massive uncontrollable bump steer) twists the housing just the same.

I run a radius arm on the diff side and a single arm on the other side, with all hiems. With good tight strong joints it works well. I also have a shock in place of the "missing upper arm" which helps control sway and roll without running a swaybar.

I thought about doing that as well, but it seems to work fine with the 2 full radius arms. I was worried the Dodge housing would come apart at the CAD casting, but it has held up pretty well so far...

Pics
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/Mountain_Ram/LongArms.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/Mountain_Ram/MVC-060F.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/Mountain_Ram/skidplate2.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/Mountain_Ram/truckside2.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/Mountain_Ram/flexA.jpg

Mountain, it looks like your axle is pushed pretty far forward. Did this cause a problem with the steering and track bar and spring perch location? Did you eventually cut the lower control arm mount off? It looks like the original arms had angle welded on and the mounts got tighter to the frame. Is that correct? You said you have 5" coils. I'm only going to run 3" coils. Do you think they'd still work ok?
Thanks for the pics!

Mountain, it looks like your axle is pushed pretty far forward. Did this cause a problem with the steering and track bar and spring perch location? Did you eventually cut the lower control arm mount off? It looks like the original arms had angle welded on and the mounts got tighter to the frame. Is that correct? You said you have 5" coils. I'm only going to run 3" coils. Do you think they'd still work ok?
Thanks for the pics!

I pushed the axle forward about 3" so the 42s would clear the front fender (still had to cut a little). I have a DT fab trackbar and it contacts the diff at full stuff. It is made of aluminum and has some give, so I am OK with it. I eventually will make a new trackbar frame mount to fix that. I did not move the coil buckets and have no issues with the steering. You can see in some of the pics that the lower control arm mount has been cut from the frame- you cannot run this type of setup with it there. I welded angle iron on the arms beacuse they started to look like a banana from pounding on the rocks. If it were a street truck the 1.5x.5 would have been fine. I don't know what you mean that the mounts got tighter to the frame...

I think it would be a little more challenging with the 3" coils as things get much tighter. It can be done, but your uptravel may be limited by the frame to radius arm contact.

BTW- my frame mounts are made from 3/8 stock that hangs down and .25 against the bottom of the frame. I tied the mounts together with the skidplate (.25" thick), but I don't think the 3/8" material needs that support.

Did you have the arms made or did you make them yourself?

you can also just do a three link with a panard like I did on my durango same setup just one less bar

Did you have the arms made or did you make them yourself?

made them myself... when i can get material- it's the cheapest way to go!

How did you guys come up with the lengths for the main and short links?
Why did you say that bushings work for this setup better than joints?

How did you guys come up with the lengths for the main and short links?
Why did you say that bushings work for this setup better than joints?

The bushings will offer some 'squish' if the bolts get in a bind. The johnny joints and Heims don't offer that. I feel that is need most on the uppers to allow the axle to move.

My lengths were pretty simple. I made the frame brackets first, fit them to the frame and looked for something on the frame to locate on (bolt hole). I think I went off the stock Tcase skidplate hole. I bolted them on the truck while the old Superlift arms were still under there. Then I measured to the lower control arm bolt location. The upper I wanted as far back as I could go without hitting the frame on compression.

I bolted them on the truck with the weight on the suspension, one at a time, so the front end didn't move.

TD

Similar deal here. I started knowing I want 50+inches for the lower link to get a nice angle in comparison to the frame. Then mounted my rear mounts so the axle would end up an inch further forward than stock, leveled on 37s = rub and cut. From there I just figured out how far back I could go for the upper mount without risking hitting the frame too much. Simple math from there to figure out the remaining length necessary for the upper arm.

Same deal with the bushings, other benefit is they're a lot cheaper :grinpimp:

What size joints are those pictured? 2.63" or 3"? Would there be any benefit to an adjustment on the lower links in addition to the adjustment on the upper link?

On moving the axle forward, I would have really expected a bit of complication with the steering. I have considered this for a while, but was concerned with moving the steering so far forward. If a guy were to relocate the frame mount of the trackbar, could you go as far as 5" forward. I expect to relocate the coil buckets by then, but that would not be all that difficult at that point.

the benefit to adjustable lowers is that if you bend them, or don't get your mounts perfect, you can adjust the alignment of your front axle and your overall wheelbase a bit to keep from crabbing down the road.

the steering complications are pretty well limited to the drag link and tie rod interfering with one another, or the drag link or pitman arm interfering with the axle at full compression or full articulation.

Don't know if anyone cares, but there's an article in the new Petersen's about Tuff Country's new radius arm kit. It looks just like what you guys are building. They show it on a new truck, but I can't believe it's much different than what you guys need.
Travis..