Radius arm spacers?

[akcrogers]

I'm seriously considering getting some Perrys fab front fenders, and was talking to him on the phone this afternoon. He mentioned puting 1-2" spacers on the radius arms to push the suspension forward to eliminate rubbing on the back of the front wheelwell. Has anyone done this? Also, I'll be putting a 4" skyjacker lift on within the next month. Do the longer radius arms take care of this, or would I still want spacers on the skyjacker radius arms?
Thanks

 

[mahieber]

I just took the stock radius arms off of my 92 and I don't think you could get much of a spacer in front of the cross-member and still get the nuts on all the way. Maybe an inch max.

The longer radius arm brackets from the lift might be able to be mounted forward of the "recommended spot" but I have a feeling you will run into trouble with either the crossmember from the transmission or the body mounts at the reae of the front seats getting in the way. My Rancho lift has extended arms, and the mounting spots take the stock "obstructions" into account for the mounting location.

 

[mrboyle]

I wouldn't recomend trying to "push" the radius arms forward, as this will put serious strain on the entire front suspension and lead to premature failure of many of the components. If you are afraid of the tire hitting the front wheelwell there are several things that you can do to eliminate the problem. Only thing is they are going to cost money. Your best choice would be to have the inner fenders removed and new ones made with more clearence.

 

[Byrd91]

I noticed with my Duff radius arms that the driver side wheels seems to sit a little farther back in the wheel well than the passenger, i thought of maybe doing a spacer (1/2" max) to accomodate for this. You'll need an allignment as the toe in will be off, but this seems like a good thing to be checking when doing a lift though. I wouldn't go too extreme though (more than 1").

 

[jimbo74]

Originally posted by Byrd91
I noticed with my Duff radius arms that the driver side wheels seems to sit a little farther back in the wheel well than the passenger, i thought of maybe doing a spacer (1/2" max) to accomodate for this. You'll need an allignment as the toe in will be off, but this seems like a good thing to be checking when doing a lift though. I wouldn't go too extreme though (more than 1").

actually, all vehicles made in the USA have the left tire farther back..... want tp know why? if they were exactly the same your car would pull to the right? why, you may ask? becuase all of the American roads are crowned, so that when it rains the water drains away from the center of the road and towards the gutters.....

 

[Byrd91]

Huh, I've never noticed that before. Seems like it would be more of an allignment thing. Because it seems like if the wheels were all parallel it would still go straight(on a non crowned road) I guess I'll just have to take your word for it. Anyone else know anything about that.

 

[jimbo74]

i work as a mechanic and the head mechanic that tuaght me how to do alignments told me about it becuase i noticed that other cars, not just mine, were like that AND had never been in an accident.... My truck has been in several accidents so i thought that was what pushed it back.... Byrd 91, how many ROADS have you been on that arent paved. They arent ROADS by DMV standards if they arent paved. How many manufacturers make a vehicle for STRICTLY off road use?

 

[Byrd91]

I wasn't trying to argue, just get more information, and it seems like would be the one to know. So the wheel is farther back on the driver side, but it doesn't seem like that alone would cause the vehicle to track straight on a crowned road. What I'm getting at is say you had a car with just parallel wheels with no toe in or camber or anything. If you just pulled that one wheel back would that by itself make the vehicle track straight, or pull to the left on a perfectly flat road? Please explain some more. I want to learn.

 

[jimbo74]

well, another thing that will cuase a pull is the toe in/out
if this isnt within specifications the car will also pull.... the part about having the r wheel sit farther forward only comes into play if the caster and the tow are properly set...... kinda compensation for irregularites like the way NASCAR uses a 2" larger diameter tire on one side of the car....