rear 4-link is starting to take shape

[ken75ranger]

Looking good! Keep the pics coming.

 

[mavereq]

i'm using coil spring pads from ruffstuff as well. they sell them for a 3" axle tube but my 9" is 3.25" so i had to open them up a bit. i want the spring pads to sit as close to the axle as possible since you can't have the upper coil buckets much higher than the top of the frame without hitting the floor of the tub. so i whipped out the hole saw and ear plugs and cut them out. after that i worked on the crossmember a bit. it might look odd because the frame is upside down right now. i'll post up more of that later.

 

[DanWheeler]

lookin good! do you have any pics of where and how you're putting the springs on the frame? are they going directly under the frame and how much lift do you expect to end up with?

 

[mavereq]

i'll be using duff coil buckets on the outside of the frame. not sure on the lift yet, but i'm planning to run about 4.5" of suspension lift when it's all finished.

 

[Bronchole]

Do you have any idea on how you are going to run your exhaust when you are done? That is the only thing keeping me from doing this. I like having my exhause run all the way out the back, but when I look at these rear link suspensions I don't see how you can fit a muffler and run it out the back.

Nice build thread, you really got me thinking.

 

[mavereq]

i haven't really decided on exhaust yet. i'm thinking about buying the flanges and some mandrel bent tubing and trying to make my own version of a fenderwell header.

 

[mavereq]

i got a little work done today but not much. i had a "friend" come over so half my day was spent doing something slightly more fun than welding. anyways, after she left i knocked out a little work on the crossmember. sorry for the crap pics but it is what it is.

 

[hartbronco]

Looks Good .... Real Good .

 

[mavereq]

i'm back home and started working again today. i needed to get some work done on my front axle housing while i'm waiting on my coil springs to come in. here's the thread for the front 3link with some progress pics:

http://www.classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1691326#post1691326

i'm taking my rear housing over to the machine shop to get the truss and link brackets finish welded since they have a jig for it and i'd hate to warp the thing. these rear houses just seem so thin compared to that front axle with 1/2" axle tubes.

 

[mavereq]

i finally started working on the rear again. i had some friends that build race cars put my housing in their jig and tig weld the truss and brackets on. it turned out pretty nice. i still need to finish the truss on the front side but that can wait. it was time to work out the coil spring mounts so i started by plating the frame with 4x4 1/4" angle iron. i'm raising these upper coil brackets a bit so i can run longer springs. the plan is to notch the floorboard for clearance since i'm only going to run a 1" bodylift. the upper and lower coil buckets are now tacked into place and i can put the springs in. unfortunately i don't have very much weight on the frame so it looks really tall.

i'm waiting on my 5.5" coils for the front and these are 4.5" coils on the rear. coil springs are relatively cheap so i might end up getting some shorter ones if it ends up sitting too tall. time will tell.... a lot more time than i originally planned for. these builds take forever.

and here's your daily dose of porn:

 

[airbur]

Very nice work man! I've contemplated a similar setup....your is looking great!

 

[mavereq]

thanks man. the thing flexes like crazy. i think the only thing that will limit me will be coil bind and shock travel.

 

[DanWheeler]

badazz dude. Can you tell if you're getting any rear steer with the 4-link?

 

[DanWheeler]

hey quick question - i'm running numbers trying to figure out different ways to get enough triangulation. Could you have mounted your lower frame side brackets right under the frame and then scooted your lower axle side mounts out further for more triangulation?

your rear crossmember is outstanding but thats more trouble than I want to go to especially since I'm not taking the body off. I'd like to make it work just mounting the lowers directly under the frame.

 

[mavereq]

you might be able to run the lowers out further. i didn't want them out that far figuring they would catch a rock easier being out further.

you could always make some outriggers for the inside of your frame (inriggers?). that would allow you to move them in a tad further.

something like this:

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/frame-outriggers-7-p-252.html

i should be good on oversteer. if i end up with any i'll just throw a swaybar on it... which i might do anyways.

 

[DanWheeler]

dude, great idea with the inriggers. Those combined with mounting out a little further on the axle will probably get me enough triangulation.


not oversteer - REAR steer. meaning, when the articulated, the wheel moves forward instead of down slightly rotating the whole axle perpendicular to its axis which causes it to steer or walk.

you could check it by looking down at it from the top and comparing the angle of the axle against the angle of the crossmember. Any difference between the 2 would be considered rear steer.

 

[66ALRIDE]

Looking good. Maybe I'll get another class up there this coming year and check it out in person.

 

[mavereq]

dude, great idea with the inriggers. Those combined with mounting out a little further on the axle will probably get me enough triangulation.


not oversteer - REAR steer. meaning, when the articulated, the wheel moves forward instead of down slightly rotating the whole axle perpendicular to its axis which causes it to steer or walk.

you could check it by looking down at it from the top and comparing the angle of the axle against the angle of the crossmember. Any difference between the 2 would be considered rear steer.

it does move a little but the links are pretty long so i don't think it will be an issue. i think you would get a little even from leafsprings since the shackle moves.

how can you avoid it? by design the axle is going to move back a little when the suspension is compressed.

 

[mavereq]

Looking good. Maybe I'll get another class up there this coming year and check it out in person.

let me know if you come up this way. my "shop" is pretty unimpressive but i'm getting some work done in it.

 

[DanWheeler]

There's a tiny bit about rear steer in the old Peterson's 4-link article

http://www.4wheeloffroad.com/techar...link_suspension_part_2/link_measurements.html

but not much. I think it just has mostly to do with link lengths and triangulation. I'm sure yours is fine was just curious if you noticed it since it would be easy to see with the body off.