Trailing Arm or 4 link?

[ratterman]

I tend to stray from FBI, their CS sucks... I like SD but then again, rumor has it they aren't making their own stuff anymore... FBI, SD, Cando, and a few others order the majority of their stuff from the grand daddy of minitruckin, Grant Kustoms...

Suicidedoors does build all their link kits and a-arms in house although they do sell other manufacturers kits as well. I live less than an hour from their shop and have been there many times buying stuff. I'd stay far away from FBI, I've had friends use their link kits and the cheap heim joints wear out quickly and one local guy even had the threaded part of the heim break off on him.

 

[Cyanide Jello]

Suicidedoors does build all their link kits and a-arms in house although they do sell other manufacturers kits as well. I live less than an hour from their shop and have been there many times buying stuff. I'd stay far away from FBI, I've had friends use their link kits and the cheap heim joints wear out quickly and one local guy even had the threaded part of the heim break off on him.

I stand corrected...

A friend of mine is running a link setup from FBI and hes had nothing but problems out of it... Of course its an crappy setup due to the fact he has air ride... Its a 4link alright, but its 2 forward and 2 rearward links... He breaks welds constantly... B/c if ya think about it, if you set the link setup up at stock height, when you set the truck down, the axle goes up and the bars are gonna push outward... Or if you set the link setup up with the truck layin frame then when you raise the truck up, the bars are gonna pull on the frame... Anyone understand this but me? Or am I just putting too much thought into it?

 

[Psycho Kustoms]

I stand corrected...

A friend of mine is running a link setup from FBI and hes had nothing but problems out of it... Of course its an crappy setup due to the fact he has air ride... Its a 4link alright, but its 2 forward and 2 rearward links... He breaks welds constantly... B/c if ya think about it, if you set the link setup up at stock height, when you set the truck down, the axle goes up and the bars are gonna push outward... Or if you set the link setup up with the truck layin frame then when you raise the truck up, the bars are gonna pull on the frame... Anyone understand this but me? Or am I just putting too much thought into it?

nope...your right. take SDs 5-link for instance....the two rearward link bars have a shackle connecting them to the axle mount.when the axle goes through its motion you can watch the bars moving towards and away from the axle,reliving the "stress" it would create if the bars were mounted directly to the axle.

 

[Cyanide Jello]

Thats why I don't understand how the guy that build my friend's truck screwed it up so bad... S10s have stock shackles back there... He just didn't use them apparently...

 

[Psycho Kustoms]

Thats why I don't understand how the guy that build my friend's truck screwed it up so bad... S10s have stock shackles back there... He just didn't use them apparently...

well....there is a right and wrong way to do things,inexperienced "builders" just do what they think looks "cool" weather it functions properly or not.they just dont understand how extremely important these things are.i get alot of customers at my shop wanting me to fix others work,i could go on and on with some of the things iv had to fix,but i wont bore you guys....LOLOL....

 

[born loser]

what about the lenght of the links on a truck? Offroad...well, long and flat was always a good start. But whats ok for the street?
Is 2 ft. too short? or should I shoot for longer........??

 

[Psycho Kustoms]

what about the lenght of the links on a truck? Offroad...well, long and flat was always a good start. But whats ok for the street?
Is 2 ft. too short? or should I shoot for longer........??

If your not running air ride short bars are good.but if you are, usually we try to run the longest bars we can.Rule of thumb is ,the longer the bars the less pinion change you will have,BUT,the bars need to be properly placed for any set up to work.

 

[Cyanide Jello]

*takes notes*

Nah, lets hear bout the screw ups... I could use the experience...

 

[boaski]

Here's a link that gives some formulas for a decent starting point on laying out a 4 link. It's an off road page, but I'm assuming the basics are the same.

http://www.muddtanks.com/4LinkSuspArticle.htm