New here from JU so don't bust on me like you do JU;)

Thinking of getting the RK 3-link for my TJ. I have the 4.5 RE with non-adjustable lowers and want to get rid of my track bar for obvious reasons. What do you guys think of the RK 3-link? Just the 3-link. I am staying with all the rest RE since I think they are the best..

Thanks.

the RK tri line that you are thinking of still uses the trac bar, so that will not "get rid of my track bar for obvious reasons", it uses long lower CA's and an extremly short upper CA that is attatched to the lower CA on only the passenger side and that is a barbage set up, i have seen the little bar they call a control arm and it looks to week and pathetic to handle any real braking forces, i would stay away from it if i were you

Originally posted by YJ_Swamper
the RK tri line that you are thinking of still uses the trac bar, so that will not "get rid of my track bar for obvious reasons", it uses long lower CA's and an extremly short upper CA that is attatched to the lower CA on only the passenger side and that is a barbage set up, i have seen the little bar they call a control arm and it looks to week and pathetic to handle any real braking forces, i would stay away from it if i were you

YJ_swamper, you are talking about a different kit than I am. The 3-link (REAR) uses short lowers and gets rid of the rear track bar. It uses a plate the is bolted to the rear diff and a upper control arm that is U shaped and bolts to the original control arm mounts..

Originally posted by YJ_Swamper
the RK tri line that you are thinking of still uses the trac bar, so that will not "get rid of my track bar for obvious reasons", it uses long lower CA's and an extremly short upper CA that is attatched to the lower CA on only the passenger side and that is a barbage set up, i have seen the little bar they call a control arm and it looks to week and pathetic to handle any real braking forces, i would stay away from it if i were you


Nope, the trilink will get rid of your trac bar and has nothing to do with the lower control arms :rolleyes: It is a wishbone set-up that attaches to the factory frame mounts.

I'm not a huge fan on RK but a couple of guys I run with have the 3-link and it seems to work fine. It is a bitch to setup though.

Originally posted by 99TJRockCrawler


YJ_swamper, you are talking about a different kit than I am. The 3-link (REAR) uses short lowers and gets rid of the rear track bar. It uses a plate the is bolted to the rear diff and a upper control arm that is U shaped and bolts to the original control arm mounts..

yea i thought you were asking about the tri-link FRONT, i consider the rear a 4-link because that is how many points are attached to the frame, the front links only attach to the frame at 3 points, if i remeber correctly i think the RK rear uses long lowers but still uses short arms for the triangulated uppers

Originally posted by Beast40



Nope, the trilink will get rid of your trac bar and has nothing to do with the lower control arms :rolleyes: It is a wishbone set-up that attaches to the factory frame mounts.

I'm not a huge fan on RK but a couple of guys I run with have the 3-link and it seems to work fine. It is a bitch to setup though.

Hey there BEAST40:) Why is it a bitch to set up...seems simple but I have never seen one installed?

Originally posted by Beast40
It is a bitch to setup though.

Agreed. Not only is the wishbone heavy but cumbersome. The thing that also got me was that I have an arb line coming out the top of the diff right where the top mounting plate is so I had to modify it. The C-Clamps they use to hold the thing down also aren't the greatest...be careful with the brake lines.

Its a good kit as far as I can tell...depends on what Tera comes out with in comparison.

Originally posted by YJ_Swamper


yea i thought you were asking about the tri-link FRONT, i consider the rear a 4-link because that is how many points are attached to the frame, the front links only attach to the frame at 3 points, if i remeber correctly i think the RK rear uses long lowers but still uses short arms for the triangulated uppers



I agree I would call it a wishbone 4-link but the front only attaches to the frame at 2 points :p

You are correct though the rear wishbone is a short arm set-up.

Originally posted by Beast40




I agree I would call it a wishbone 4-link but the front only attaches to the frame at 2 points :p

You are correct though the rear wishbone is a short arm set-up.

2 points :confused: now there is one thing that i am sure of and the front attaches to the frame to ATLEAST 3 points, one per CA and one for the trac bar

Most people don't think of the trac-bar as a link, although technically it is. TJs and XJs commonly are said to have 4 link suspension when in reality they are 5.

Just a question for 99TJ RockCrawler:
What is your beef with trac-bars? If they are designed correctly and are coordinated with the steering I can't think of any reason to get rid of it. Is this for the front or rear, or both?

Originally posted by bberry007
Most people don't think of the trac-bar as a link, although technically it is. TJs and XJs commonly are said to have 4 link suspension when in reality they are 5.

Just a question for 99TJ RockCrawler:
What is your beef with trac-bars? If they are designed correctly and are coordinated with the steering I can't think of any reason to get rid of it. Is this for the front or rear, or both?

This is for the rear....Well mine has broke along with just about everyone else and I have welded it already but the metal was tweaked pretty good. For me to buy a new bracket for the axle+upper control arm bracket+track bar relocation bracket+adjustable track bar would cost as much as buying the RK tri-link. And this way I never have to worry about it breaking again:D

RK was having a horrible time with the joints they use failing in their triangulated rear setup. They may have that fixed now, but people were losing a joint every couple weeks. Not fun. You could build a triangulated system for less than what their kit costs that would work better. Their triangulated system has horrible rear steer also.

Ben

Originally posted by 99TJRockCrawler


This is for the rear....Well mine has broke along with just about everyone else and I have welded it already but the metal was tweaked pretty good. For me to buy a new bracket for the axle+upper control arm bracket+track bar relocation bracket+adjustable track bar would cost as much as buying the RK tri-link. And this way I never have to worry about it breaking again:D

OK, You say you have welded it...which means you own or have access to a welder...So why not make your own three link or four link? Git some rod ends and some 4140 chromolly and make what works for you, you'll be money and miles ahead of the game;)

Originally posted by YJ_Swamper


2 points :confused: now there is one thing that i am sure of and the front attaches to the frame to ATLEAST 3 points, one per CA and one for the trac bar


You were calling it a trilink front, which was confusing. Tell somebody you are running a trilink front and it could mean a few different things. Also, most of the time when describing a suspension people add in the trac bar to make it clear.

Originally posted by jeepboyben
RK was having a horrible time with the joints they use failing in their triangulated rear setup. They may have that fixed now, but people were losing a joint every couple weeks. Not fun. You could build a triangulated system for less than what their kit costs that would work better. Their triangulated system has horrible rear steer also.

Ben


Every bolt on TJ suspension has bad rear steer, its a component of the lower rear links and the fact they are parallel to each other.