James Duff Radius Arm Pics | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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James Duff Radius Arm Pics

nak4af

Elite Explorer
Joined
July 4, 2001
Messages
824
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City, State
Bellevue, Nebraska
Year, Model & Trim Level
1993 Explorer Sport
For years I have searched and searched to find good pics of the JD radius arms to only find one or two under body shots. I finally droped some dime and got my very own set. I'm hoping to get the other suspension components off and have them all coated black. My undercarrage needs a littel TLC.

Heres a pic after unpacking, which was top notch to say the least. These things are beefy! I will put these on this weekend if my shocks make it in and see how it performs. Hoping it will make it ride smoother not to mention the better offroading I should be able to do. Not that there is much of that around here.

When I put them on I'll take pics as I go, so stay tuned.
 

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yeah, they look nice and beefy:thumbsup:

have allways admired their stuff....only thing i don't like about them is the longevity of the heim in DD situations, of which i would be subject to ( my truck isn't a trail only rig...yet )

also, with the solid mount of the heim...beleive there will be alot more harshness to the front suspension, i could be wrong, but let us know

l8r, John
 






Believe it or not, mine is a DD. Until I get a motor back in my car, this is it for me.

I believe the earlier versions had the smaller heim so I think they were more prone to breakage. As driveability goes, guess I'll have to see. With the arms back further in the frame, I would guess they would help steering a lot and eliminate bump steer with the solid joints. No where to wheel around here (reference my "What do you think about Omaha" post) so not really going to get to use them to their full potential. This truck requires far less money that my car will need plus winter is approaching so why not get her ready?

I've been wanting to buy these since 2003.
 












i didn't mean the heim would break...i meant the actual "ball" wearing out in its socket from mud, rain, and road dust....not to mention road salt from winter.....

why so many other lift manufacturers have gone to the "Johnny Joint" or rebuildable heim was what i meant would be better for DD....

the arms have no effect on bump steer, that is the steering linkage angles...

and whenever ya hit a pothole, will be much more harsh since there will be no rubber to absorb any of the rearward shock at the end of the arm

believe me, i have wanted them for almost as long and mine is a DD as well...wife has the car, and i have 2 teenage daughters ( one who just got her liscence) so a seperate trail rig is still several years off:p:

l8r, John
 






I had no problems with the heim wearing, being harsh or any other issues in the almost 4 years I had mine on. And I abused the heck out of them.
 






I had one of the first sets of those arms, the ford solid axle variety, i got i think back in 99. I ran them for 8 years without ever getting the heim loose... the first 4 years it was a daily driver. No need to worry about the joint getting sloppy. Every once in a while i would spray them with wax based teflon lube (motorcycle chain lube)- i have no idea if this helped or not.

Also, it didnt add any harshness over the stock rubber bushing arms. FWIW the front rode so smooth you couldnt even feel potholes until the rear hit.
 






I had no problems with the heim wearing, being harsh or any other issues in the almost 4 years I had mine on. And I abused the heck out of them.

That is reassuring to hear. After dropping $650 I hope they work great.

...Also, it didnt add any harshness over the stock rubber bushing arms. FWIW the front rode so smooth you couldnt even feel potholes until the rear hit.


That's also good! After the front hits the rear has no choce to follow. Who cares about the aftermath!!
 






Same here, I have over 80,000 miles on the same JD arms as you have and not noise or looseness. But no road salt in FLA. but plenty of mud and sand.
 






You guys are really making me feel good about my purchase. Now if the UPS guy will get here with my shocks, I could put these on!
 






I'm looking at the JD RA's also, Thinking about the dual shocks too.

Since these don't use them pesky bushings I'd say they are better then stock. I know where my tax return is going.... or excess financial aid. whichever gets here first I guess :)
 






Going to the junk yard to get some f150 coil seats, then it's install time.
 






Got the coils and got the arms in. Broke the passenger shock removing it. Oh well, get new ones Monday. I got these from a 91 F150 V6 model. The driver is shorter than the passenger. Instead of ordering from the fordpartsnetwork, go to your local yard and get them for $20 like I did. As you can see, these are better than the ones in the sticky as they are perfectly round and have no tab. Also the center hole is centered. I just pulled two from two different F150's. Both passenger sides. I sandblasted them of course.
 

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A little before and after. I still have to tweak the front to make both sides level. And of course an alignment. Seems my tie rod is worn so time for aSupperrunner steering upgrade.
 

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After all that work, had to take the coil seats off yesterday due to them being too tall. Only had 2 inches of shock travel. For some reason, the front is higher with the extra washers removed. Rides a lot nicer with new shocks.

I may sell these if someone is interested. It'll prevent someone from having to go to the junkyard and remove them.
 






I may sell these if someone is interested. It'll prevent someone from having to go to the junkyard and remove them.

i would be interested......let me know if ya really wanna sell em'

l8r, John
 






Yes, I'll sell them if someone wants them. $50 shipped anywhere in the lower 48 States. I'll even throw in the F150 bolts that are a bit longer than the Ex bolts.
 






I had some concerns about the heim also, but after hearing from guys that had them sounds like they're great. I was going to mention that if there was ever an issue that you could replace the with a rebuildable Johnny joint as long as the threads match.
But if it ain't broke, why fix it.
Would like to see pic after completed at ride height and what angle the arms are on.
 






I was going to mention that if there was ever an issue that you could replace the with a rebuildable Johnny joint as long as the threads match.

Yes and no, places like Ballistic Fab have joints with different size shanks so matching up threads is no problem. 1" and 1.25" shanks are pretty standard. The Duff brackets may not match up with the johnny joint width (2 5/8") plus they run a much smaller 9/16" bolt, looks like the Duff's run a 1" bolt. I don't know what the Duff brackets measure but they may be not as wide to accept the johnny joint. Hopefully someone with Duff arms can clarify.
 



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Yes and no, places like Ballistic Fab have joints with different size shanks so matching up threads is no problem. 1" and 1.25" shanks are pretty standard. The Duff brackets may not match up with the johnny joint width (2 5/8") plus they run a much smaller 9/16" bolt, looks like the Duff's run a 1" bolt. I don't know what the Duff brackets measure but they may be not as wide to accept the johnny joint. Hopefully someone with Duff arms can clarify.

The Duff brackets use two spacers on each side of the Heim.

I'll get some finished pics when I get finished. Still figuring out the finalized ride height. After removing the spacers, now I'm at max adjustment for the alignment on the drivers side so I'll have to add another 1/4" washer on each side. Then still have to get a new center link and drag link before aligning. Kind of hoping to invest in the Superrunner steering instead.
 






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