superlift radius arms, watch out!

[olivesman]

this post concerns everyone w/ a 5.5" superlift w/ extended radius arms(not the newest, 2 years old). a buddy of mine was driving home this weekend from college and had to suddenly slam on his brakes. due to the force, the drivers side radius arm snapped completely in half and the spring popped out of place and almost fell out. if he had been going any faster and had to stop any harder, it would have been likely that the spring would have came completely out and taken his brake line with it.
just recently, super lift sent him some new radious arms w/ some 133 springs, due to his sagging of the 118's. they are still the old syle but about 1/8" thicker in the exact spot his snapped. i have been hearing nothing good about super lift and this about tops it off. how stupid can one company be to produce a defective part and then try and cover it up by sending out new parts w/o telling people what's really up with their products.
please just be carefully if this applies to you. actually, be more than that, be mad and be mad enough to raise cain to superlift. i can promise you they'll send you new parts. you probably wont even have to ask.
-russel

 

[RobbieJ]

I just finished a 5.5" superlift and I used james duff radius arms from my 2.5" james duff lift. They seem to work well. They are 10 times stronger them the stupid lift radius arms. I got some stupid lift arms with my lift and won't be using them. I think that if I trim some of the radius arm bushing I can maximize drop. They allow my new 133 coils which are 20" tall plus 1.5" coil spacers. to extend to 19.5". The shock almost bottoms out. I have no idea what this set up would do with superrunner radius arms but I think what I've got is pretty good. I also plan to add heim joints to the james duff arms soon. RobbieJ

 

[Grinder]

Let me know how the Duff arms work with the superlift once you get it up and running.

 

[tdavis]

This problem has been discussed to death in here, several times.

See http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=17379

for more information on the radius arms.

The new ones are a pain-in-the-ass to install, but are much stronger than the old ones. No one I know of that has installed the doubled-welded radius arms has broken one - yet.

As for the rest of the kit - The other weak part is the drop bracket that holds the passenger side TTB. It will bend *forward* as you drive, and knock a chunk out of the diff. See http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=22762 for more information on the drop bracket fixes. Personally, I'm of the belief that all drop brackets should have this fix applied - I saw it on a Rancho kit (Ray H's beast), and said "ah HA!". Since doing this, I've had *zero* suspension problems (alignment stays in place, a very light pull to the *left* (and I mean light - like only after driving for a 100 yards do you notice it! It's almost like the road causing it more than suspension..))

As much as everyone *****es about the superlift problems, at least Superlift is trying to fix them, unlike other Vendors. From what I've heard, Skyjacker doesn't want to talk to you, and Trailmaster just runs you around..

 

[olivesman]

wow, their worse than i thought.

 

[RobbieJ]

Grinder, What is your front coils installed free length using the superlift arms. I have new 133 coils. Do you have 133s or 118s? Robbie

 

[tiessen]

Robbie, glad to hear you got the Superlift installed with the Duff arms. Hope everything works out. The new springs are good? I didn't even unpackage them before I set them. Sounds like you've got a good system for your suspension now.

Cheers
Dale

 

[rpenner54]

I have one of the new arms installed half-assed right now. The bottom bolt refused to go in straight for some reason when I installed it. Everything seemed lined up okay but its sticking out about 1/2 inch and its torqued down as far as my dad can torque it down. In other words I have it crossthreaded in there and its not going anywhere. However because of this the arm moves on me. Sorta annoying to hear that really loud clunk under you.

 

[Dennis Brown]

Solid axle vs superlift

From all the problems I've been reading with front end lifts on TTB I am seriously considering a solid axle for my stock 91 XLT. Can anyone give me recommendations on what axle can be used and are there any links to web sites that document the steps involved?
Thanks for any input.
Dennis

 

[olivesman]

there are several guys on here who have done it both ways. coils vs. leafs and they are all great guys that would love to help you out. one of them is a member named. do a search under converstions and you should find a bunch of stuff. i'm considering the swap myself and would love to see what you find so please post bac when your search is over. -russel