Extended RA with ballistic joints on a 92

I decided its time to work on the extended arms.. its a small enough project and the kind I can do without taking the X down for a long time...

I got these from an EF member a while ago (came with a 5.5" lift and other parts)..

They currently have Heim joints which I don't think would last very long in our dusty climate.. Also, they were female heim joints instead of the normal male ones which means its harder to find good joints...

I already cut the ends off, and removed the extra support material that was in the tube..

I'm looking to use a set of Ballastic Joints (http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Forged-Chromoly-263quot-Ballistic-Joint_p_1636.html).

This means I'll need to make new hangers for the joints since the ones for the heim will be too narrow..

I do have two somewhat stupid questions...

Bolt on or Weld on the joint mount to the frame?

Will it really matter if I get get left or right handed threads for the Joints/tube adapters? For my use I can't think of a reason to have either, other than lefty loosy, righty tighty .

~Mark

 

[DB_1]

Rod ends work fine in my experience for the desert, all of my steering and most of my links are rod ends. Those rod ends in your pic don't look to be of the greatest quality, I've hade good luck with the FK brand.

In your case you don't need left hand thread, just stick with right hand threaded stuff for simplicity sake. The only reason you would need left hand threads is if you used them in conjunction with right hand thread joints on a linked set up. That would allow you to adjust the length of your links in or out with out unbolting the link itself.

Those Ballistic joints would work great, i'd run them in a heartbeat.

As for the mounts, you could do it either way, I like stuff to bolt on just so it's easy to remove if i ever need to.

I'm using brackets from Polyperformance, I bolted them to the frame with 2 bolts on the underside and one on the side:http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/Chassis-Mount-Link-Bracket-p-374.html

I'll be rebuilding my set up soon with brackets from K.O.R.E. which are a little bit bigger to fit the joints i'm using plus they are 1/4" thick steel...beef:http://kore4x4customs.com/asccustom...=1&categoryID=2&productID=90&cartID=356980905

Both brackets are the right width for those Ballistic joints so it'll slip right in.

 

[Maniak]

Another question...

The ID of the tube is 1.25" with 3/8" wall. Do I want more material on the tube adapter or more material on the threaded shaft of the Joint?

For example...
Which is better to use? Tube adapter threaded for 1" or a Tube adapter threaded for 7/8"?

The 7/8" one is a smaller threaded shaft but there would be more material around it. If I went with a 3/4" threaded tube adapter the threaded point on the joint would be even smaller but the material around the threaded area as its in the tube would be thicker...

~Mark

 

[tdavis]

You want as big of shank as possible on the joint.. That's where the stress is at IMO.

Go all right hand..

Build/Buy brackets of at least 1/4", maybe 3/8" thick material. They will get beat to death.

I prefer to do bolt on where possible, but it may mean you have to sleeve the bolt holes in the frame.

 

[Maniak]

I really like those KORE brackets.. the Ballastic ones would require me to weld on a plate so it could grab the side of the frame..

Ballastic bracket.

the KORE ones already have the extra side piece..

And.. to get a bigger shank.. that means I should get the 1" shank on the Ballastic Joint and then get the 1.25 ID/1.5 OD tube adapter with 1" threading.. The OD is a little bigger than the OD of my tube but that really shouldn't matter (at least I can't see why it would matter)..

~Mark

 

[rookieshooter]

This is the frame bolted mount I made for my rear axle Ballistic tip. I've done a few trail rides since then plus riding on the road everyday and have had no problem.

I would have at least a min. of a .250" wall thickness around the tube adapter IMO.
The DOM tubing that I made my Radius arms out of was 1.000" ID and was a nice snugg fit for the tube adapter.

Now keep in mind that this was on my flyweight chopped top B2.

 

[Maniak]

I would have at least a min. of a .250" wall thickness around the tube adapter IMO.
The DOM tubing that I made my Radius arms out of was 1.000" ID and was a nice snugg fit for the tube adapter.
[/QUOTE]

Unless I cut apart these Arms, I'm stuck with 3/8" wall and they don't look like they are going to come apart easily.. Can I put a Sleeve over the current tube to help spread out the forces or is that not even worth doing?

~Mark

 

[rookieshooter]

Maniak, Since this is, IMO extremely important what your doing about sizing. I would contact Nate at Ballistic Fab and explain to him what you got. They may even custom make you a tube adapter if necessary. I just don't want to put bad info. out there only to have you not happy or worse, injured.
Phone:

520-888-4441
I called him several times while designing my rear radius arm coilover suspension and was of great help. Tell um Rick from WV with the Chopped top B2 and with rear Coilovers said Hi.
Probably forgot by now LOL

 

[Maniak]

I could drive over at lunch sometime.. They are about 1 mile away from me as the crow flies

~Mark

 

[rookieshooter]

I could drive over at lunch sometime.. They are about 1 mile away from me as the crow flies

~Mark

Your not playing by the rules. That is just plain not fair.

If I lived that close by, I'd be out front of their shop with sign...Will work for brackets LOL

 

[DB_1]

Show Ballistic a pic of that KORE bracket and get a quote on a set of them. They have a CNC brake that should crank those out for you no problem. I'd even have them make the holes for the bolts so that's one less thing you have to do

 

[91ROKKRAWLER]

got specs of the stock arms you had in the first pic?

 

[Maniak]

What specs are you looking for? these are "94 Crawler"'s old Radius Arms.. The Tube is 1 5/8" tube (OD) with an ID of 1.25.. The Heims are 1.25" heims (thats what he said.. not sure how you measure that)..

I also got his upper coil buckets with f-250 shock mounts (installed those a long time ago).. and some of his other parts (couple sets of springs etc)..

EDIT: I fixed the name of the person I got them from.. I was confusing these parts with the RA brackets I got from someone else..

~Mark

 

[DB_1]

The Heims are 1.25" heims (thats what he said.. not sure how you measure that)

It just refers to the shank and hole diameter of the heim. Some heims have mixed dimensions like I have on my bottoms links which are 7/8" shank with a 3/4" through bolt.

 

[rookieshooter]

OK, here is an idea. You can check with Ballistic on this also.
This is what I think I would do. Since you have 1.250" inside diameter and they do not make a tube adapter that size. Get some 1.250" outside DOM tubing longer then the shank length of the Ballistic tip.
Ballistic sells DOM. Make sure the wall thickness is around .250". This will give you around .750" inside diameter. Then have this tapped for one of their smaller Ballistic shanked tips like 7/8", might have to drill a little out to get right size. Or it might just work out close enough.
Might want to do the tapping before inserting into arms. Leave about 1/4" sticking out to have a nice fillet weld around insert. You could even put a small V notch into the stock arm at the end. This would increase the amount of linear weld around your insert.
I have done heim ends this way instead of using weld-in bungs.

Now they do make the new 3.0" Ballistic tip with a 1.25" shank. Depending on the clearances, it might be possible to tap the existing arm for the teeth. I guess it would depend if the 1.25" was at the peak or the valley of the thread.
Then slide some 1 5/8" ID DOM over the existing arm to strengthen, at least far enough to cover the shank.

 

[DB_1]

Since you have 1.250" inside diameter and they do not make a tube adapter that size.

Here's some tube adapters with a 1.25 OD x 7/8"-14TPI thread:
http://www.bulltear.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=56

 

[Maniak]

What about this style? or is this the wrong style? Its not like this piece will ever move.. The Jam nut is what I'll put the wrench on.

As I understand it.. its for 1.25" ID tube... and will work with a 1" shank joint.

http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/10quot-14-tpi-Tube-Adapter_p_1405.html

~Mark

 

[DB_1]

Cool, didn't see those and they will work perfect. I just like the hex style because you can put a wrench on the tube adapter and another wrench on the jam nut for more leverage. Not really a concern since you have radius arms that are in a fixed position.

 

[rookieshooter]

If I do the math right that leaves you a 3/16" wall thickness on the main tube not 3/8" as mentioned earlier. Seems just a bit on the weak side. But who knows?

 

[Maniak]

I "think" your right.. I remember it being just under 1/4" and 3/8 is bigger than 1/4 so it needs to be 3/16. These are existing arms that did hold up so "hopefully" they would be strong enough for me..

I'll re-measure tonight and I'll see what ballastic fab says.. I just need to finish the project for work so I can play hookie for a few and head over there.

~Mark