wADVr
Adventurer
I'm sure you did your research on the long arm setup but I see some potential problems, especially for a rig that will see long trips into the backcountry.
1st:
I see you have a heim joint to mount the UCA to the lower arm and a RE flex joint to mount the lower CA to the axle. I assume the axle end UCA is using a factory bushing. With that assumption I would like to point out that with a Radius arm type setup it relies on the flex of the bushings to alow the axle to articulate. Now I understand you are not building a rockcrawling flex rig but over time those little factory bushings that are absorbing all the binding from the ridgid radius arms are going to get trashed and I personally would rather not want to replace one or both of those trailside. The other issue is by only having one set of bushings to absorb the binding you are putting alot more stress on the brackets, joints, bolts ect-again not something I would like to repair trail side.
2nd: Again those lower link to axle joints. Remember the MJ has no body mounts to absorb road noise/vibration and by having such a ridgid mount on both ends of the arm you have no absorbtion from those annoyances(sp?) Not really a big issue but after a few hours on a washboard road or shale rock trail you will wish you had some more rubber.
3rd: Adjustability. I would add some brackets with cam bolts to gain some adjustability on the lower arms. I have run into clearance issues with my pinion yoke and the header downpipe even when at static height and the axle was centered. On a lifted XJ/MJ the axle swings to the pass side slightly on compression. You can adjust the trac bar to account for this but then with out ajustable control arms you create some axle steer. Some simple cam bolts and brackets will gain this back without having to hack the arms up. This is probably something that wont be an issue but thought I would bring it up.
All that said the fab work looks great, very top notch build. I have built several front link suspensions for the XJ platform and have used/tested/fixed them over the past 6 years or so. With that experiance I thought I would share some info one a few things I have done myself and learned from.
1st:
I see you have a heim joint to mount the UCA to the lower arm and a RE flex joint to mount the lower CA to the axle. I assume the axle end UCA is using a factory bushing. With that assumption I would like to point out that with a Radius arm type setup it relies on the flex of the bushings to alow the axle to articulate. Now I understand you are not building a rockcrawling flex rig but over time those little factory bushings that are absorbing all the binding from the ridgid radius arms are going to get trashed and I personally would rather not want to replace one or both of those trailside. The other issue is by only having one set of bushings to absorb the binding you are putting alot more stress on the brackets, joints, bolts ect-again not something I would like to repair trail side.
2nd: Again those lower link to axle joints. Remember the MJ has no body mounts to absorb road noise/vibration and by having such a ridgid mount on both ends of the arm you have no absorbtion from those annoyances(sp?) Not really a big issue but after a few hours on a washboard road or shale rock trail you will wish you had some more rubber.
3rd: Adjustability. I would add some brackets with cam bolts to gain some adjustability on the lower arms. I have run into clearance issues with my pinion yoke and the header downpipe even when at static height and the axle was centered. On a lifted XJ/MJ the axle swings to the pass side slightly on compression. You can adjust the trac bar to account for this but then with out ajustable control arms you create some axle steer. Some simple cam bolts and brackets will gain this back without having to hack the arms up. This is probably something that wont be an issue but thought I would bring it up.
All that said the fab work looks great, very top notch build. I have built several front link suspensions for the XJ platform and have used/tested/fixed them over the past 6 years or so. With that experiance I thought I would share some info one a few things I have done myself and learned from.
