Extending stock radius arms vs new cage arms

[DanWheeler]

well after looking through all the pics and videos from our most recent trip it's painfully obvious that my front end has ZERO flex. Every picture shows my front axle perfectly level with the body while my rear axle is doing all the work. I have a 3.5" lift. The rear-end w/ WH leafs flexes nicely.

I need to do something - I see 3 options:

1) Buy a new set of Cage radius arms for $800

2) I have a spare set of radius arms I could extend using the Stonecrusher kit or just do it myself. Probably $100-$150

3) Build my own link suspension for the front-end using Ballistic fab components. I think I could probably do this for under $500 but a lot of time invested.

Obviously I want the most amount of flex and strength for the least amount of money and time is a factor although I like building stuff. I know the cage arms will help with turning radius. Will they flex better or worse than extended stock arms? Better or worse than a custom link suspension?

thanks,
dan

 

[gjrock]

Stock with stone crusher extenders.Bronco69 extended his and the flex is crazy.Cage arms are sweet but so spendy.

 

[DanWheeler]

and then there's the BC arms which look pretty sweet to and are $100 less than Cage.

The thing I really like about the cage and Duff arms which you don't get with any other solution is that little bit of isolation you get with those bushings where the arm connects to the cast unit.

Do those bushings make a noticeable difference in ride quality and flex?

 

[DanWheeler]

and if you want to split hairs - BC arms and extended stock arms would be double shear shock mount while Duff and Cage are single shear.

 

[JWMcCrary]

I have the BC arms and WH rock crawler coils and it flexes very well. The arms I have are standard length, plans are to do the WAH eventually.

Not exactly an answer to you question but since you had mentioned BC arms thought I would throw that out there.

 

[Tito]

Never had an issue with my shock mounts on my Cage arms. Talk to Jesse, he can get you info on his arms....super sweet and affordable to do yourself.

 

[broncotom]

I reciently put the Cage arms on and love them. They are a bit spendy but I try not to skimp on the bronco whenever possible. Just want to do it right the first time.

 

[Tito]

Dan, last I heard you can get the CAGE arms from J an M offroad for $675 and pick em up in your Festiva to save shipping and come down and meet Jim and the crew ;D

 

[bronko69er]

Burning ears.......
Just built some (extended about 10") for Justin (jpalmer) for his full width 44 with cast wedges.
He claims to have no tire rubbing running 35x12.50's on 15x8's with 4" BS.
Post up yer pics J-man!

 

[Tito]

Hahaha, yup ;D

 

[DanWheeler]

The BC arms are looking pretty sweet. If you come down on a rock and bend the arm you can just replace the square tube. Adjustable caster too.

JWMcCrary - how do you like the adjustable caster? Is it well done? The set screw thing seems a little weird.

 

[DanWheeler]

is there any difference between the cage and duff arms? they look identical.

 

[Tito]

Cage and Duff are basically the same.

Either of which you could drop your rig off a 10 foot cliff onto these things and all they would lose is some powdercoating ;D

 

[jpalmer]

Here are some pics of my setup. These wheels are tucked in about as much as possible being I have 15X7 wheels with 4" backspacing and I have ZERO rub lock to lock. As Jesse mentioned I even have cast in wedges and I kept the axle full width. When I get home from "work" I'll post some pics of the radius arm build and lock to lock clearances. I'm running a 5.5" suspension lift with no body lift.

 

[DanWheeler]

Here are some pics of my setup. These wheels are tucked in about as much as possible being I have 15X7 wheels with 4" backspacing and I have ZERO rub lock to lock. As Jesse mentioned I even have cast in wedges and I kept the axle full width. When I get home from "work" I'll post some pics of the radius arm build and lock to lock clearances. I'm running a 5.5" suspension lift with no body lift.

oh yeah, those look really familiar - I seem to recall seeing them on someone's yellow Bronco

Jesse, I can't remember - how did you say you were building those? boxing in the stock arms? or just welding the ends of the stock arms to some square tube? Did you do a build thread for those? you used heims, right?

 

[grauerfam]

This 69 I recently sold had very good flex with only minor mods. JD 3.5" coils, extended front shock mounts and rubber bushings at the frame end of the radius arms. Low budget. Of course, who doesn't dream of having the long arms.
http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125259

 

[bmc69]

These have worked well for me...they are 14" extended and include almost 2.5 degrees of caster correction in the design. Thus, with 7-degree bushings on the 'C's, no drop brackets are required for a 5.5" lift.

 

[broncotom]

Went out and took a couple of pictures real quick.;D

I have the Cage arms

 

[DanWheeler]

Went out and took a couple of pictures real quick.;D

I have the Cage arms

nice... thanks for the pics. I'd probably be able to change the driver's front tire on my rig if I did that with a high lift.

 

[JWMcCrary]

JWMcCrary - how do you like the adjustable caster? Is it well done? The set screw thing seems a little weird.

So far so good. 2 years and no problems. I eyeballed and measured everything during install, not a screw was turned when I took it for alignment. The caster was a little off between the 2 sides but very close and both within specs ...can't remember what the numbers were.