TTB upgrades?

[SteveVB]

Well Im going to upgrade my lift in the next few months, taking out the 2 1/2" Rancho springs and replacing them with some 4" Skyjacker springs.
Im also going to SOA the rear, and I was planning to reinforce the radius arm bracket while the fab guy is working on the rear... but now Ive been thinking about the TTB and getting some more movement out of it.

While swaping out the front diff I realized how much the rear radius arm mount inhibits movement. I saw a thread on one of the ranger boards asking about using a joint on the end of the rad arm, which got me thinking.
I could add a new end like a Jonny joint, or more specifically the Rubicon Express joint to the end of the rad arm, and have a new bracket built to hold the new end. The bracket and joint would prevent fore aft movement, but would allow the arms to twist a bit more than they can using the stock style stud and bushing mount. It would add a bit of length to my already longer Rancho arms which would help out with flex also.

The joint Im talking about:
Dead Link Removed


I dont think it would cost too much- 150 for ends and tube, a couple hours to fab up.

Anyone have any constructive thoughts on this? Something Ive overlooked? Anyone do anything like this? I know racers use heims on the end of their rad arms, similar to what I want to do.

Thanks

 

[NOTAJP]

I think you are on the right track. I have been thinking of doing the same thing.

I wouldn't worry about side-to-side movement because the TTB mounts will keep the axle in place while allowing up and dowm movement.

Do you have swaybar disconnects already? That will free up a lot of movement but still be nice to drive on the road.

 

[SteveVB]

Originally posted by NOTAJP
I think you are on the right track. I have been thinking of doing the same thing.

I wouldn't worry about side-to-side movement because the TTB mounts will keep the axle in place while allowing up and dowm movement.

Do you have swaybar disconnects already? That will free up a lot of movement but still be nice to drive on the road.

Yes I disconnect my front and unbolt my rear bars when I need the flex. I m going to have the links lengthened a couple of inches to run with the taller springs and SOA rear.

Im not so much worried about side to side like you say, but the axles drop in an arc and at the margin some rotation at the rad arm mount would most likely help.

 

[410Fortune]

When you install those 4" coils what are you doing about the axle pivot drop brackets? A 2" drop bracket for the axle pivots will not work with a 4" coil, you cannot adjust the camber enough (trust me I know)

I plan to convert the rear of my Skyjacker arms to Hiem joints down the road, it should be fairly simple, cut the threaded endof the radius arm off, wled on some hiems, fab up some heim mounts to replace the Skyjacker radius arm drop brackets. However this will be way down the road because even with teh urethane bushings in there not I can get 14" of travel with cut and turned beams (installing this weekend)

So here is the setup I am running (after this weekend)
Duff 2" axle pivot drop brackets
Dana 35 cut and turned beams for 3" of lift
Eibach 5" TTB lift coils
Skyjacker extended arms and tranny X member
Rancho 9000 shocks

In the rear I have Skyjacker 4" leafs with a 8.8 converted to spring over (BII). If the front sits a little higher then the rear I will run a 1"extended shackle..

With the ARB locker in the front Diff I dont think more then 14" of travel will work without losing the pass side axle shaft so I may need a limiting strap and some J hooks on the coils to keep them seated........

 

[SteveVB]

Keeping the brackets.

I am keeping the drop brackets as is. I am going to drop the rad arm mount an inch - although if I lengthen it it wont drop as much , but the caster should be OK. Many people are running the 4" in the rancho kit and have been able to align with available bushings. Guys are running 1.5" spacers, and 2 inch coils with no problems - I dont see any problem with running the 4 " coils and the 2.5" brackets.

I need to check shock length since it will be a limiter- will be in your set up also, if its sized right you may not need limiting straps. The j hook is good idea.


Can you run the ARB in the cut beams? - I have heard the axle shaft is hard to keep in due to the angle of the pivot point u-joint.

How much are the eibach coils? - do you know the spring rate on them?

I just picked up an overstock ARB for my front- $501 arrived today. looks good.

I think Im going to order some of the rubicon ends next week try and work this out next month with some time.

 

[410Fortune]

Steve you need to measure the Rancho drop brackets against a stock drop bracket. I did and found the 3" duff axle drops are actually 2" of drop (stock is 6" from frame, duff is 8"). So unless your rancho brackets are 2.5-3" of actual drop the 4" coil will be more then even a 3 degree maxed out shim can handle.........trust me I have been through this many times with my truck, hence the bent beams (camber is 1.75 degrees out with my current stock beams), eating up my tires like crazy........

The ARB in the 3" cut and turned beams is fine the geometry of the diff/axles/spindles is unchanged as we cuit the beams up near the pivot point, so everything else stays in phase. However too much travel will drop the pass side shaft out of the diff, to battle this a valve spring in installed in the pass side axle slip ytoke to push the inner shaft into the diff. 14" of travel will be about the max I can go before custom axle shafts would be needed.

Eibach coils are made for the ranger/Explorer prerunner kits, I dont know the spring rate off hand but I believe it is 400# which hould be ideal for my BII, 4.0L and D35.

When I bought my Rancho 9000's last month I took into taccount the cut and turned beams I would be getting, they should not limit my travel, they will bottom out right now since I dont have th extra 1" of lift and oodles of travel I will have next week........if they do limit the travel slightly that will be okay, I'll run a strap to protect them from pulling apart, I will upgrade to longer ones when I do some shock hoops.

The Eibach coils are $180 from Camburg and are the only TTB coils I have found that provide 5" of lift (Superlift is 5.5, Skyjacker is 6")

I was VERY lucky with my ARB, I got it used from a 91 Ex we parted out for $200, I had it checked out and installed when I re-geared to 4.10's. The compressor was $160 and I installed everything myself, I AM LOVING THIS ARB!!!!!!!!!!! you will too!

 

[SteveVB]

Originally posted by 410Fortune
Steve you need to measure the Rancho drop brackets against a stock drop bracket. I did and found the 3" duff axle drops are actually 2" of drop (stock is 6" from frame, duff is 8"). So unless your rancho brackets are 2.5-3" of actual drop the 4" coil will be more then even a 3 degree maxed out shim can handle.........trust me I have been through this many times with my truck, hence the bent beams (camber is 1.75 degrees out with my current stock beams), eating up my tires like crazy........

I really need to do this- I went to GWNF today and had a great time in the ice and snow, but 2" more tire would have prevented me from taking the strap a few times.

Where did you measure this from? The crossmemeber directly above the bracket, or the frame rail on each side?

Ill have to measure them. Before I put the springs in, or maybe Ill just throw them in and have it checked. Springs shouldnt take much time to swap them if I cant get it aligned.

About the ARB, the angle of the housing would not allow the spring to stay in place, but if you are cutting it up higher that sounds like it might work better- good luck. Thats a good deal on the arb, what compressor do you run it from??

 

[jimbo74]

if i were to get extended radius arms with a hiem joint? i would not need to worry about doing the above mod, correct?

 

[SteveVB]

correct

Heim joint is the same idea as the joint above. I havent been able to get a range of motion on the RE joint yet so I dont know how they compare. The idea is the same- control forward back movement, while allowing up and down swing at the same time enabling the joint to rotate.

 

[jimbo74]

cool...... subscribing to this, maybe reference on bent beams will come up

 

[Rick]

I have Johney Joints on the lower links of my front suspension. They've worked great for over a year now.

 

[SteveVB]

Originally posted by Rick
I have Johney Joints on the lower links of my front suspension. They've worked great for over a year now.

Do you know of any diifferences between the Currie and the Rubicon joints?
The rubs are rebuildable, which since I will drive on the road may be needed more often. I think the Curries are also?