Steve is there any way you can give me the lengths and type of material used for your 4 link. I want to either run a coilover suspension upfront and 1/4 eliptical in the rear or if I cant find a 1/4 eliptical pack to support a full size I will run coilovers all around. But either way i need to begin the design for a 3 link. Also did the 70 or 80 ford 4 wheel drives have 3 or 4 links. Can I make them work . I know this is a complex task which takes money but I am willing to learn and spend in order to get my truck right the first time and prove that a fullbodied k5 can go where any jeep goes. Maybe with more body damage but it can still go. Any help will be appreciated.
CK5
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3 link
- Thread starter shaun
- Start date
Triaged
1/2 ton status
First of all you should e-mail Greg72 and pick his brain. He took a bunch of pic's of Watson's truck this summer that the Blazer-Fest and is working on a link suspension for the front (and maybe the rear) of his truck. Whenever Greg does something he does it right! He has contacted Watson and myself to get design hints and help calculating link loads. He has put alot of work into it (even making a nice excel spreadsheet to calculate stuff).
We can set you up with some of the bracketry if you want, we've got some of the the rear parts worked out, the front is a different story. The fabrication on the frame to get it to support the point loads is the biggest thing you'll have to work on I think. We can definitely give you some guidance but it's not anything I can type up, it becomes pretty involved. You're going to have to figure out your t-case combo and plan on the driveshafts being a major part of your design criteria. The T-case crossmember becomes pretty critical as well as what axle you're going to run and what wheel and tire combo will be on the ends.
The coiled fords ran a radius arm front end that really doesn't work that well in the stock configuration but with extended arms, can make a pretty good showing for itself. Especially when you consider that it's somewhat easy to mount up.
Some advice: be careful about building a buggy inside a truck, sooner or later it will want out. I had full intentions of keeping the body on my K5 but it became obvious that the body was becoming the biggest thing holding me back on the trail. Accepting some damage would take care of some of that but some of the harder stuff we do is pretty hard on important stuff like doors that open and shut, windshields, etc. Keep it in mind. I think coilovers on a K5 makes them a kick ass multi purpose truck in that you can cover some ground comfortably and you end up with excellent axle control, steering precision, etc, but if you want to follow a (built) jeep, you'd better shed the skin or shrink it down. I hate to be this way about it but size is size and weight is weight and that's the way it is. If all you want to do is outrun old CJ's, that's no so hard. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
The coiled fords ran a radius arm front end that really doesn't work that well in the stock configuration but with extended arms, can make a pretty good showing for itself. Especially when you consider that it's somewhat easy to mount up.
Some advice: be careful about building a buggy inside a truck, sooner or later it will want out. I had full intentions of keeping the body on my K5 but it became obvious that the body was becoming the biggest thing holding me back on the trail. Accepting some damage would take care of some of that but some of the harder stuff we do is pretty hard on important stuff like doors that open and shut, windshields, etc. Keep it in mind. I think coilovers on a K5 makes them a kick ass multi purpose truck in that you can cover some ground comfortably and you end up with excellent axle control, steering precision, etc, but if you want to follow a (built) jeep, you'd better shed the skin or shrink it down. I hate to be this way about it but size is size and weight is weight and that's the way it is. If all you want to do is outrun old CJ's, that's no so hard. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
THANKS I THINK I HAVE MOST OF MY TRUCK COMPONENTS FIGURED OUT AND I REALIZE THE SAD FACT THAT AS TIME GOES BY MY FIRST GEN BODY WILL DEMINISH BUT I CAN DEAL WITH THAT OVER TIME. I WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IT AS STOCK AS POSSIBLE TO PROVE THAT A FULL SIZE CAN DO WHAT A JEEP CAN. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP AND I HOPE FOR MORE SOON
SHAUN
SHAUN
VisionxOrb
1/2 ton status
[ QUOTE ]
SNIP....The coiled fords ran a radius arm front end that really doesn't work that well in the stock configuration but with extended arms, can make a pretty good showing for itself. Especially when you consider that it's somewhat easy to mount up.
[/ QUOTE ]
About a year ago I mentiond this on the board because I was looking at my sergents( was in thye army at that time ) mid 70s F-250 that had radius arms on a solid axle.
I asked people what about doing a setup similar to that but with longer arms, and may coilover shocks in place of coils if u wanted to go all out, as a cheap way of getting good up and down travel in the front ( high speed stuff ) and people just kinda laughed at it sand said its not worth it, might as well do a 4 link, but I dont have the cash for that. Maybe ORD could looking into a radius arm kit im sure that wouldnt be that hard to build or that exspensive for experianced fabricators.
SNIP....The coiled fords ran a radius arm front end that really doesn't work that well in the stock configuration but with extended arms, can make a pretty good showing for itself. Especially when you consider that it's somewhat easy to mount up.
[/ QUOTE ]
About a year ago I mentiond this on the board because I was looking at my sergents( was in thye army at that time ) mid 70s F-250 that had radius arms on a solid axle.
I asked people what about doing a setup similar to that but with longer arms, and may coilover shocks in place of coils if u wanted to go all out, as a cheap way of getting good up and down travel in the front ( high speed stuff ) and people just kinda laughed at it sand said its not worth it, might as well do a 4 link, but I dont have the cash for that. Maybe ORD could looking into a radius arm kit im sure that wouldnt be that hard to build or that exspensive for experianced fabricators.
sled_dog
1 ton status
I know the bronco boys have that thing that allows the axle to pivot and creates better articulation too. I can't remember what its called off the top of my head or where the article is /forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif
84_Chevy_K10
Banned
It's called twin traction beam. I won't comment on it because everyone told me off about my opinion on it a while back...but yeah, that's what its called.
Nope, your thinking of the wrong thing. Thats not what he's talking about. It's a kit you buy where you cut the long side axle tube and put in a bearing setup that allows the axle tube to rotate independently of the rest of the axle thus reducing the binding associated with articulation.
Hardcore
1/2 ton status
http://www.broncohq.com/rmts-twisterfrontlinkage.html
Axle "Wristing" /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
Axle "Wristing" /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
I have considered a radius arm setup, they are easy to mount for sure and offer a good road ride and with longer arms, they do OK for articulation. If you wrist them, you can have a little be of funny behavior due to the different castor change curves depending on which way the axle is articulating. I don't like the fact that articulation with radius arms depends entirely on bushing deflection. I like the idea that you should be able to replace any pivot in the suspension with a heim (no deflection other than rotation) and have it work properly.
