extended radius arm crossmember

[deamers87ford]

can someone post some pics of a cross member that they made or used.
i have homemade arms that at stock just lengthened and they end up right about at trans cross member. i did search but i didnt get any pics i need ideas for mine.
thanks so much

 

[Travisfab]

I have a James Duff Kit & the radius arm crossmember is also a tranny mount. I think that is the best way to do it.

 

[Maniak]

The best bet would be to combine the RA mount with the Trans mount IF you made it so the trans mount could be pulled separately. Otherwise you end up with lots of extra work if you need to drop the Trans mount.

I modified my Trans mount with a sawzall when I put in my longer RA's. One of these days I'm going to finish/modify my RA mounts so the Trans mount bolts to the RA mount.

Here is a shot shoing the RA mount and the modified (not pretty) trans mount. Factory only had 2 bolts on there anyway so I'm not worried about missing that bolt.

More shots of making the mounts etc start around post #44 in this thread.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246044&page=2

And Yes, I made the RA mounts a little (ok, maybe a lot) thicker than I needed..


~Mark

 

[deamers87ford]

thanks for the reply do u have anything going across them and how much should they drop down

 

[Maniak]

thanks for the reply do u have anything going across them and how much should they drop down

I have nothing between them.. They are bolted from the side and I have them bolted up from the bottom. I must take the Joint out of the Mount to unbolt the 2 vertical bolts.

Here are a few more pics to get a better understanding of how they are installed..

You can see the vertical bolts here.. The forward bolt is count sunk into the metal enough to make it flush. There is still quite a bit of meat for it to grab onto.

Build-day3 001 by maniak_az, on Flickr


From the front.. You can see there is nothing between them...

Build-day3 014 by maniak_az, on Flickr

I just used Grade 8 bolts/nuts and then double nutted them so they can't back off (didn't use grade 8 on the 2nd nuts though)..

Front-suspension-shots 015 by maniak_az, on Flickr


I only have them hanging down enough to fit the joint. There is no reason to drop them like you did when the stock arms and RA drop brackets. The extending of the arms cuts down on the bad arc you got with the short factory arms. Also, Depending on how you did the extending you also work in some caster to make up for the lost of caster from longer springs... IIRC, with 4.5" of lift and my extedned arms I was over 10 degrees of caster.. Since I've lifted it more (using cut/turned beams too) I no longer have any kind of drop brackets and some of that extra caster was eaten up by the longer springs so it is closer to stock now.

I have thought of going against my own best judgement and making a trans mount that has integral RA mounts. My reasoning is to move the RA mounts from under the frame to the more stock position of just inside the frame rails. By going the easy route (most people do it) and putting them under the frame you make it easier for the tires to hit the RA at full lock.

If your RA are bent to they bend around the tire then you don't have this issue but I have yet to see someone do that on DIY extended RA's.

~Mark

 

[deamers87ford]

alright thanks those brackets look like the hold up good
heres the arms i got

 

[Brian1]

Here is mine that I built:

Build thread here: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=309780

 

[Maniak]

alright thanks those brackets look like the hold up good
heres the arms i got

Ahh.. Post style..

IIRC you can use the mounts from a f-150. They have used mounts that bolt only to the Frame from the late 70's all the way up to 1991 (maybe later, I'm only personally seen up to 1991 or so).

That is assuming you can modify your stock trans mount or you make a new trans mount to get it out of the way of the RA mount.

I know I've seen at least a couple rigs on here that have custom made mounts for post style RA ends. I can't remember what they used though, or if they were really stock ones.

~Mark

 

[FR-425]

The 95-97 E-350 RA brackets look like a good universal option for relocating the post style RA.

Looks like these ones have been cut and turned.

But in stock form I think they might work unmodified for the Ex. Since they are bolted in place it will be easy to source from the bone yard.