Critique my front end.. go ahead, please be harsh

[Mark]

Well, I put a new front end on. Chebby Tie Rod over, Dana 44 with ARB, 4.10 gears (planning on 35"s BFG's), put new JBG long arms on.... caster is spot on, road ride is great!
BUT!! I have a couple concerns about these arms on the trails.. who can read my mind?

 

[bknbronco]

with arms being straight wont that make going over something harder bacause force is directed straight back instead of being directed up making the axle want to go through instead of over? Or does having them flatter make it better?

I want to do the chevy TRE-TRO swap to mine this winter. Do you have problems with the bottom of the drag ling hitting the tie rod, or is there plenty of clearence there? Also what lift do you have? I have a 5.5 and was hoping the TRO and stock pitman arm would help reduce the drag link angle. Mine is terrable! Where did you source the parts for your chevy coonversion? Did u ream out them knuckles or do the weld in insert?

Everything looks great with what you got. I have drop brackets on my 5.5" and mine look like they hang way lower than yours do!

 

[bmc69]

Looks great to me. Having wheeled with dropped arms for so many years, I can say its not been a show-stopper of a problem..but I've avoided using them in builds done since.

The only other comment I would have is that I would weld the brackets to the frame and not rely only on the bolts..

 

[KyleQ]

If you are worried about it you can sacrifice some break over angle and build a spacer between he back of your radius arm brackets to your leaf spring hangers. That way you can slide over things instead of getting hung up on them.

Beyond that, everything else looks great - keep up the work!

 

[Mark]

Ok, good , you guys have alleviated some stress for me.
The cap bolts sit lower than stock and there is about 2" of drop on the radius arm mount brackets. I just foresee catching stuff there.
Think next fall I'll weld standard radius arm mounts on.

bknbronco, I reamed the knuckles. Plenty of clearance, drag link doesn't interfere with the tie rod. The radius arms have higher mounts for the springs by 2", so it's about 5 or 5 1/2" lift. I plan on raising my coil buckets in the near future to keep my center of gravity down. I also have a raised trac bar mount on the axle. That would help you. I sourced my TRE TRO parts from Mike Kirkus at extreme custom parts.. long time Bronco good guy.. http://extremecustomparts.com/

 

[bmc69]

Everything looks great with what you got. I have drop brackets on my 5.5" and mine look like they hang way lower than yours do!

Mine are dropped like that..and then reinforced with a rear 'sled ramp' out of 1/4" thick steel ange to boot. Still..one is cracked right now and both have evidence of incredible abuse. I would never use dropped brackets again on a seriously rock-hammered trail rig....but they sure do make steering much better with all the caster they bring to the game.

 

[72_EB]

They look too low, Mark. Better get some bigger tires.
You bringing it to Frenchy's? Looks great!

 

[frenchy]

He better bring it to my house! Mark your rig looks great and will probably wheel even better. I like it. That 77 you've had forever gonnna make it on the road? Or do you even still have it?
frenchy

 

[Mark]

Maybe! Gonna have to get the rear end done first guys.
I have all the goodies for that, just have to sand and paint the housing, and put it all together...
weld the spring perches on and shock tabs also.. remember that heavy duty 9" housing with the fish mouth welds I had laying in my garage years back Frenchy? finally using it!

 

[broncosbybart]

Looks good to me! The diff is going to be your biggest source of clearance problems, but you can't do anything about that. the caps will be fine. is that a spacer between the spring bucket and the radius arm? if so, i'd remove that, but i think you'll be happy with what you have.

 

[Mark]

Looks good to me! The diff is going to be your biggest source of clearance problems, but you can't do anything about that. the caps will be fine. is that a spacer between the spring bucket and the radius arm? if so, i'd remove that, but i think you'll be happy with what you have.

Well, the spring retaining buckets bolt into that spacer Bart. Otherwise I would.
BTW, me and my son took a trip to Charlotte about 6 weeks ago to watch the Panthers and Packers play. My son is a Panther's fan. Nice downtown area.

 

[addicted]

What is that spacer for exactly?

 

[Mark]

What is that spacer for exactly?

That spacer has bolt holes for holding the coil spring retainers.
You can get a better look at them in the first post of this thread...
http://www.classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194120

 

[broncosbybart]

A panthers fan outside of of the carolinas? Good to hear! It seems like 1/2 the people here hate them!

My wife just got a job downtown (or uptown as they say here). I guess it makes it sound better. Come on back in the dead of winter. I promise you won't want to go back home ;D

 

[frenchy]

Hey Mark you putting a hi-9 in the rear of it?

 

[turbotim2]

Well, I put a new front end on. Chebby Tie Rod over, Dana 44 with ARB, 4.10 gears (planning on 35"s BFG's), put new JBG long arms on.... caster is spot on, road ride is great!
BUT!! I have a couple concerns about these arms on the trails.. who can read my mind?

Is your axle a 76-77 or converted to disk on an earlier D44? What size wheels and backspacing are you running? It looks like you have plenty of room between your wheels and TRE's.

 

[Mark]

Hey Mark you putting a hi-9 in the rear of it?

Nope, not going that crazy yet Mike. That was nice to have on the cloud, maybe in the future ...
PUtting a heavy duty HRW housing, much stronger than the Strange Nodular housing as discussed in this thread..
http://www.classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82046

Is your axle a 76-77 or converted to disk on an earlier D44? What size wheels and backspacing are you running? It looks like you have plenty of room between your wheels and TRE's.

Those are F150 knuckles Tim