Long arms

[Lee21490]

Well I'm sure this has been beaten into the ground a lot, But from googling I keep seeing threads with 50% of people saying one thing, and 50% saying the other 50% are liars.

 

So to the question.. I'm looking into the Clayton long arm setups atm. I'm very undecided on their '4 link' radius arm setup, Or the true '3 link' setup.

 

 

So far the only downside i've seen for the radius arms, is it can cause the axle try to twist itself? Is this an actual problem for a 6.5" lift? Or is it just a theoretical issue with radius arms?

 

The 3link looks nice, But a hell of a lot more fab involved. And i don't really like the idea of running just one upper control arm.

 

 

 

Would love some opinions / Things i should read up on / etc.

 

Thanks guys.

[mnkyboy]

Best thing to do is to read about radius arms vs 3 link in general rather than Jeep specific to get a basic understanding of each design.

 

yes by design a radius arm will wring out the axle and bind,some people will remove one Y link or wrist the arm to help with the bind,either way it won't really affect flex because even bound up a radius arm will easily out flex any shock that will fit the stock locations.

 

the big downside comes from the Fixed geometry,a link suspensions leverage works from the instaneous center which is the convergence point of the upper and lower arms,this is typically behind the rear tire on a multilink suspension.

 

with a radius arm suspension this point is fixed to where the links attach to the frame which typically would be the transmission crossmember,because of this radius arms have high anti dive percentages and they also apply much less power to the ground compared to a properly designed multi link suspension.

the placement of the instant center is also why a radius suspension unloads,having the center towards the center of the rig you will be effected by weight transfer more then a multilink which has its leverage point behind the vehicle.

 

there is much more to it and vehicle dynamics is tough to explain,best thing is to read as much as you can.

[Doc.]

I run a 6 inch coil. When I had a 4 link it would wear links and even broke one once from flexing. I finally built a 3 link and love it, it flexes better than ever and the only issue with arms now is damage from rocks. Mind you this is a home brew not anything store bought. With radius (and some "3 link" out there) you can have this binding/twisting issue that could damage parts and limit flex. The thing I really don't like (for example) is if you have the front flexed out with the left front down, and then turn to the right, this makes the left tire want to roll off the rim from how it changes the caster angle. Wish I could explain that better, or had a photo, maybe someone else can do better.

[Lee21490]

Best thing to do is to read about radius arms vs 3 link in general rather than Jeep specific to get a basic understanding of each design.

 

yes by design a radius arm will wring out the axle and bind,some people will remove one Y link or wrist the arm to help with the bind,either way it won't really affect flex because even bound up a radius arm will easily out flex any shock that will fit the stock locations.

 

the big downside comes from the Fixed geometry,a link suspensions leverage works from the instaneous center which is the convergence point of the upper and lower arms,this is typically behind the rear tire on a multilink suspension.

 

with a radius arm suspension this point is fixed to where the links attach to the frame which typically would be the transmission crossmember,because of this radius arms have high anti dive percentages and they also apply much less power to the ground compared to a properly designed multi link suspension.

the placement of the instant center is also why a radius suspension unloads,having the center towards the center of the rig you will be effected by weight transfer more then a multilink which has its leverage point behind the vehicle.

 

there is much more to it and vehicle dynamics is tough to explain,best thing is to read as much as you can.

 

Yea, I did some more reading after posting this & Read into 'unloading' pretty much scared me away from the radius style arms.

 

Leaning towards the 3-link now. Didnt notice until i read the install guide for the 3-link, that you can get a 'hd brace' for the axle side upper control arm mount, That makes me feel a lot more comfortable with running just one upper.

[mnkyboy]

Claytons bridge does beef up the mounting quite a bit,my brother runs the Clayton 3 link on his MJ with 3/4 ton axles and 37s.

 

It performs pretty well for an off the shelf kit and he hasn't been able to break it which is surprising knowing him.

[Lee21490]

3 Link kits need a minimum of 6.5" of lift due to floor clearance!

 

Ah @#$%.

 

 

/e i guess it used to say 5.5" minimum. and they just recently changed the specs.

 

Slightly bruises the floor with 5.5", Not worried. Think I'm going to get the 3-link.
 

[mnkyboy]

I wanna say my brothers MJ is a little under 6.5",probably closer to 6",i don't think he has had any issues.

 

when i did my 3 link i built the upper link mount inside the cab on the passenger side so the arm actually travels inside the cab.

[Lee21490]

I wanna say my brothers MJ is a little under 6.5",probably closer to 6",i don't think he has had any issues.

 

when i did my 3 link i built the upper link mount inside the cab on the passenger side so the arm actually travels inside the cab.

I could just bumpstop if needed too. Going to order the Clayton 3-link next week, Unless i find a better kit between then.

[89eliminator]

3 Link kits need a minimum of 6.5" of lift due to floor clearance!

 

Ah @#$%.

 

 

/e i guess it used to say 5.5" minimum. and they just recently changed the specs.

 

Slightly bruises the floor with 5.5", Not worried. Think I'm going to get the 3-link.

 

 

they probably say this because they don't want people cutting up the floors to run the kit to get the proper amount of link separation.  

[Lee21490]

 

3 Link kits need a minimum of 6.5" of lift due to floor clearance!

 

Ah @#$%.

 

 

/e i guess it used to say 5.5" minimum. and they just recently changed the specs.

 

Slightly bruises the floor with 5.5", Not worried. Think I'm going to get the 3-link.

 

 

they probably say this because they don't want people cutting up the floors to run the kit to get the proper amount of link separation.  

 

Yea, Read a few threads where people ran 4.5-5.5 lift with the kit, Ended up bruising the floor a little is all. Bumpstops will stop that i guess.

 

 

Well after searching a ton & Find a few people on CC that use the setup, I havent really seen any downsides of the kit. Get paid in a few days here, I'll be ordering it then.