PDA

View Full Version : Suspension questions (LA's and drop brackets), advice needed



Gus
10-06-2004, 04:16 PM
The short arm lowering brackets that Rusty and RE uses is just for the lower front arms right? So would having brackets be almost the same as having long arms on the bottom with exception of length and arch of travel. Seems to me that the brackets would drop the angle of the lower arm as much as say 33" long arms would. Has anyone just put lower long arms on the front and rear and had success on and off road?

If I were to put only longer lower arms on the front and rear, it would bring the angles of the upper arms and the lower arms more parallel. They would not be exactly the same angle; the lowers would be a little less. It is my understanding that the uppers do not move as much as the lowers.

Also what limits droop the most on ZJ front suspension beside shocks? Track bar? Brackets? How does Claytons long arm kit on the front get my flex? Mostly arm length? Seems most people that have long arm suspension on their ZJs get most of the flex from the rear.

Kraqa
10-06-2004, 05:02 PM
ok the drop brakets drop the uppers and lowers. they do -sort of- act like LA's for the angles. but they do not act like slider liek LA's do.

adding a onger arm will greatly increase your flex due to the acted path of trvelle.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Kraqa/SALA.bmp
look at the anlge of the two arms in both positions. the LA is at a les sevear angle then the SA

this is a major reason the LA's provide more flex.

as far as limiting the front flex, yes the track bar, the stearing, shocks, brakes lines even how the suspention is tured will limit the flex.[/img]

Gus
10-06-2004, 05:45 PM
I graphed out my suspension as it sits right now. 5" front and 5.5" rear lift. I used a compass to map out the arm travel. As of right now it seems that my lower arms are at more of an angle then my upper arms.

What I WAS thinking was to add a 33" LLA to the front and rear. This would make the lowers less of an angle. My reason would be to make the arm longer so that the suspension would travel more vertical while keeping the castor the same and ride better.


Another question I had. Do the upper arms travel less then the lower arms? If so would it make since to put on just longer lower arms in a 5-link setup?

I graphed out what a 33" LLA would look like. Way less forward movement of the axel and the pinion would almost stay the same using the SA uppers?

If I built a 3" drop brackets For the UAs they would almost be level with the ground. The 33" arms would not be level though. In your opinion would this be a good 5-link setup? Do you want your upper arms to have a little more angle then the lower arms to keep pinion angle? This setup would not lower the ground clearance and you would still have arms that are not long enough to get to much skid action. This would be used with the same 5" to 5.5 of lift that I have now.

In other words I do not have or want to spend thousands building or buying a suspension.

I figure if someone has a pic of the drop down brackets I can build them. For the uppers I can extend the lower arms 16" with some pipe. I am not sure that you can cut and extend the Tera arms. If so this might be a cheap way to build or add on to what I have and get some decent performance on and off road.

ATL ZJ
10-06-2004, 07:56 PM
Make sure you've read this whole thread regarding the drop brackets:

http://mallcrawlin.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=494

I'm very against them. :evil:

MaineZJ
10-06-2004, 08:10 PM
if both links are connected to the axle, they both travel the same verticle distance

Alaska ZJ
10-06-2004, 09:19 PM
Drop brackets are stupid. Do it right the first time. This is coming from experience gained watching many a club member make the mistake you are about to.

If you don't want to do a radius arm design simply do a long lower and short upper.

It will improve the shit out of your ride, but equated to some funky ass pinion movement and caster change during the cycle.

33 inches is to short for a front arm IMO. Mine are about 36 and they are Almost to short. My next iteration they will be about 40.

Kraqa
10-06-2004, 09:40 PM
ya my first arms were 28 i think my new ones are 46". Nate cannon ran long lowers with short uppers and it drove, but i wouldn't recoment it. but just cause nate did it doesn't mean it is a good thing. nate has done alot of stupid stuff. most of which has inspired myself and others to take that thoguht and elaborate on it. i would recommend reading ALOT and looking at alot of pictures befor you start building LA's. you obviously don't know alot about it, not a bad thing, but it is one of those things that if you think your ready to build em, wait another 6 months and keep reading, then after that build em once and then you;ll realize what you did and what you want to change then you'll end up bulding them again. thats what i did. there is more then just cut here weld there.

Like alaska sayd the easyest thing to do you be radius style front arms to start. forget a 5 link. the radius style will be better and easier then trying to run short uppers and long lowers. plus you might even be able to use your existing upper arms for the upper arms in your radius setup.

Kraqa
10-06-2004, 09:41 PM
read this it will give ou some ideas

http://mallcrawlin.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=50

Gus
10-07-2004, 04:09 PM
I have read your post and many other forums posts on long arms. I really like your long arms setupo and do not talk anything that I say personally. Also saying "you obviously don't know alot about it" may or may not be true. I understand more then you might think. I can also look at what you and others have done and realize that it does not seem to be working as well as it could.

If you look at the pic where you are flexing out. The front of your Jeep is not drooping as much as it should. This proves my point that most of the flex with current long arm setups gain most of the flex in the rear. Most of the flex is useless. You are either going to have to put limiting straps on or roll your rig.

What I am considering is not that far off. I would rather gain flex in the front more then the rear and do it cheaply. I am not looking to have a setup that drops coils. I am looking for a setup that flexes the front more vertically and drives better on the road with about 5" more droop. In the back I do not really want it to flex that much more. I would rather have a setup that travels more vertically.

I really just want a setup that performs decent on road and better off road. I realize that to have the setup travel more vertically I need to drop the angle of the arms via longer arms

chadjans
10-08-2004, 03:24 AM
Long lowers and short uppers tacos the uppers. Ask Trango.

CHad

Kraqa
10-08-2004, 11:06 AM
my front doesn't unload because i am running two upper arms. i remove one when i go off road. two for the street. its much safer that way.

Gus
10-11-2004, 06:31 PM
my front doesn't unload because i am running two upper arms. i remove one when i go off road. two for the street. its much safer that way.

I see.