Jaws IS solid!! (56k warning)

It's the moment you've all been waiting for. It's not totally done all the way, but we just have minor things to do. What's left is: Rear brakes, attach front driveshaft, move the axle forward maybe 1-2", more welding, put Cory's steering on, then shocks. This should take less than a day to do.

'76 EB D44
'76 EB 9"
35/12.50R15 BFG MT's
15x10 Rockcrawlers
Coils from James Duff
James duff extended radius arms
Front and rear ARB's
4.56 gearing
RS9000X shocks
steering from CoryL

Here are the new coils. They worked perfectly.

I'll have more pics as the rest of everything gets together. I'll paint everything later too.

Here are previous pics of the build up:

My old axle...

My new axle...

My air suspension...

Fitting it under...

My old coils

 

[AlaskanJack]

I am going to stay with the EB hard brake lines for my SAS. You can see the lines coming off the pumpkin in this pic.

 

[AlaskanJack]

What surprises me is that some SAS's don't appear to flex that well. I know Chad up here has a D44 in front and his flex sucks. He blames it on stiff coils but I am skeptical. I heard you mention shock placement and increasing flex. What things should be looked at closely to maximize flex? Do those Duff arms allow for more flex than the EB radius arms or are they just another way to go if you don't have the radius arms? I also read a while back about tucking the RA mount higher to the frame but am not sure what this does. Can anyone enlighten me. I know a guy up here did a SAS on his BroncoII and he was looking for some 4" drop brackets for the RA's off like an F150. What do you all know about this?

 

[james t]

the Duff arms offer a MASSIVE amount of more flex than the stock EB arms, but you have to have a shock that will allow that much travel. if the shocks are run straight up and down they need to have 15" of travel to flex with the arms. a 15" travel shock is really really long if you've never seen one. you can get the stock EB arms to flex so-so but the stock shocks are really short and they hold back most of the travel on a stock EB.

this pic is an EB with the Duff arms.... ill let you decide if they flex good-

 

[AlaskanJack]

Ah I see but it the added flex due to the heim joints since the length looks comparable?

Won't a four link offer the maximum flex?

 

[Robb]

Stock EB Radius Arms.......................one, just a little "tweeked"

 

[410Fortune]

a wristed arm = massive flex.
Of course if your coils dont droop or compress then you are not going to flex anything.....

a 4 link set up properly will flex great, but not much different then a radius arm/trac bar setup properly with coils......

I am really impressed with the articulation I am getting with my cut and turned beam setup, most of it is due to the soft Skyjacker 6" coils. If I went with heim joints on the radius arms, a custom steering setup and some new shock mounts I may get another 1"or 2" but thats alot of work for minumul gain......never stopped me before!!!

 

[AlaskanJack]

Well I know that Chad has a wristed arm but his flex sucked I'll see if I can get a pic for you to see.

 

[AlaskanJack]

here you go and you can see his rear wheel is coming off the ground.

Since when does MSN not let you link photos?

Hmm why didn't that work try this http://groups.msn.com/AlaskaExplorers/2003alaskanmeetampgreet.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=118

 

[AlaskanJack]

let me do this and delete previous post

 

[james t]

Jack, the JD arms are about 11" longer than stock EB arms.

 

[AlaskanJack]

Originally posted by james t
Jack, the JD arms are about 11" longer than stock EB arms.

Wow really!! The radius arms from the EB in this picture look long as heck. 11" would be really long. I compared these EB arms to my Superlift extended arms and they were comparable in length.

Someone was telling me that the pivot point of the radius arms cannot go past the driveshaft pivot. In my calcs the Duff arms would definitely go past this point?? What am I missing or was I mis-informed?

 

[james t]

the rear mount for the JD arms is farther back than the front driveshaft. just guessing, it looks like about 8" farther back.

 

[AlaskanJack]

Originally posted by james t
the rear mount for the JD arms is farther back than the front driveshaft. just guessing, it looks like about 8" farther back.

Yea I guess your right I see that in the flex pics. Won't that cause driveshaft bind at full droop?

When I was told this about RA's not going past the end of driveline it made sense cause then the axle can droop farther than the driveline can. Isn't that where a high angle driveline would be needed?

I can just see the driveline getting caught up on the cross member

 

[james t]

i dunno.... they've worked great on mine with no problems. ive also never heard of anyone else having problems with them...

 

[nak4af]

Alaskanjack

Since the driveshaft has a slip yoke, maybe that's why there is no bind! If you have too much travel, you would obviously need a longer slip yoke!

 

[james t]

the only way i could see binding issues would be if both front tires were off the ground and the entire front-end was drooped. i have jumped mine high enough to get all 4 wheels several feet off the ground (accident) and had no trouble with the front driveshaft. although, i did break an outer axle (again).

 

[AlaskanJack]

Well this is what I was thinking the longer the arms are the further the axle can droop. It then will be limited by thye crossmember. Or the axle droop will have to be limited by straps or shocks. With this in mind then why go with arms that are extremely long. A high angle driveline will allow the driveshaft to have an 80 degree angle but as you can see the cross member will hit first.

I am using Ricks set up as an example since he said his driveshaft was hitting crossmember.

 

[JoshC]

Looks good Chris! Congrats man!

Why would you not just use control arms instead of radius arms, wouldn't that just be easier and allow more flex? I don't know a think about radius arms and how they work, but i don't know how you get flex out of something that is mounted on a bushing. Sorry for my ignorance on this subject.

 

[taxx]

Like this:

Mine is limited to tire stuffing and rear flex. But a radius arm offers an extreme amount of flex, which is why most EBs are still running them on the trails. A bushing can be squished around and maintain a tight fit for the frame end of the radius arm while allowing it to move around some. Same reason your leafs have bushings gives it more room to "breath". I am not saying Radius Arms are the way to go, there are pros and cons to both. An EB setup is a simple yet effective way to bring life to a newer IFS truck. And wristing it alleviates the bind from the axel trying to twist. But springs are a big factor in it too. A nice variable rate coils makes for a decent ride and flexes nice!

 

[AlaskanJack]

Taxxman is your pin removed on your wristed arm in those pics? I can't tell for sure but it looks like the wristed portion is sticking down under the axle.