Greetings all.

Was looking at a friends f150 truggy suspension and saw it was (what I think is called) a 1-link. Basically, it's two steel tubes welded to the axle near the outer ends and coming together in the center near the t-case. At the point, it's connected to a cross member like the radius arms are with a radius arm bushing. Basically it's like the tongue of a trailer and a hitch ball. At the axle, there's a track bar keeping it in place left-to-right, and jeep tj front coil springs.

I've seen the rig in action several times and am very impressed with the flex it has.

My question is: Is there a down side to this setup?

Any thoughts?

TIA

Kevin K.

 

This is a wishbone set-up.

4-link is better...but a lot harder to get right, as well as mucho $ dinero $

Wishbone links are easier to get right, usually the first try. Id say the only real downside is the trac-bar that they employ. Like all trac-bars, they dont have a truely straight travel path. They travel in radial pattern, ie- circular motion...

The hella-stout wishbones that I have seen also weigh an a$$ load... a good, stout 4-link would be 3/4 of the wieght.

 

lmfao, a one link could be pretty much the driveshaft and some shocks.. lol


no offence KJKozak2, im not laughing at you per-se just the 1-link thing..

 

I have been thinking about doing this to my jeep, I already have the rear setup with a three link, and I think I am going to ditch the bottom links a use basicly what you described but have it atach to the axle with two heims and keep my wishbone top link to keep the axle centered and to keep the pinion angle adjustable. And I will probably do the same thing on the front. I want to do it so I can armor plate the whole bottom of the jeep with the 2 links meeting in the middle. then all I have to do is point the jeep where I want to go and nail it, no worries about bending driveshafts or knocking holes in the oil pan. The only thing stopping me is the fact that it is kind of ghetto to use trailer hitches, I have been looking for some grader ***** but havent found any yet.

 

Hes right, it sort of is a one link system.

Since we all know that linkages are for supportive purposes (at least the ones we are discussing) we may conclude that, no, neither of those are in any way a form of a link.
No, a driveshaft = driveline
No, shocks = suspension

nice try, have a good day

Edit: Jesse, you dont use a trailer hitch ball... He was just saying thats what it looks like. Id use heims at all 3 ends of the wishbone. It would still work fine, but would be as supportive as a wishbone that was welded to the axle. If you are running leaves in the rear, you must use heims on hte two axle connections. If you use heims at all 3 corners, it (in a way) becomes a 3-link.

 

Where's Amtek with his little visuals for me to undestand this 100%. I'm only getting it about 80% of the way...

 

Imagine a front a-arm of a car suspension with the wide end connected to the axle and the other end connected to a crossmember with a bushing up on the frame somewhere.

 

People are actually using trailer couplers and *****, I want something stouter I have been looking for a place to buy a grader ball. My jeep doesent have leafs, right now it has a three link in the rear( a top whishbone and 2 regular straight lowers) and it is suspended by king coilovers I ran it like this for a while with leafs up front, but right now I am doing coilovers in the front too. Also going from 44s to 52. There are some pics of it in my gallery from when I did the rear, only difference is I ditched the airbags and went to the coilovers

 

I was just joking around, sorry for sharing. There is no such thing as a one link end of arguemnt. I have help build many 4, and triangulated 3 links in my day.

 

Thanks guys.

I've actually heard of people using hitch *****, but I don't plan on it.

In the setup this guy has, the arms have to be welded or bolted to the axle. Heims wouldn't work because there's no top link. The whole axle & arm setup is a solid triangle with the only other connection to the chassis being the track bar (well, shocks & coils, too).

Saurian, to visualize this, think of a D44 radius arm setup. Extend the radius arms about 2 feet, turn them into the center and weld the tips together. Connect them to the frame in the center at a single point and you've got it.

Kevin K.

 

I got it with Mustang's description. ^_^

I'm a visual guy, always nice to have a visual to look at.

 

Heims would work... Especially on the upper end of the wishbone link that is connected to the crossmember (not the axle end). Theres no real purpose in heims as the triangulated link is fixed in itself, so its joints may as well be. That is, if you have coilovers you dont need heims. With leaves, you will need heims due to the path that leaves compress/droop in. IE- on leaves the pinion stays relatively at the same angle at full droop as at full compression, but maybe not exactly. In order to allow travel, there must be a joint that allows the pinion (and axle with it) to stay pointed in the same direction. On coils, the radius arms, 4-link, or wishbone/trac-bar combo dictates the path which the axles follows during compression/droop. Make sense?

Ball Hitch sounds like big trouble down the road.

99bajakid, I was just being an a$$, dont be offended

 

heres some good pics and a buildup of a blazer with rockwels and trailer ball 1 links front and rear

i think the other blazer in there uses a trailer ball as a top wishbone as part of a 3 link

 

Raw power,

That's exactly what I was trying to convey. With coils only, there's no way heim's would work at the axle. Would work nicely at the front though.

Kevin K.

 

Yeah... I wasnt sure if you had coils or not...

With coils, there must be some sort of stability to hold the axle in position. And with leaves, they have to be allowed to move. However, simple heimms wouldnt alow enough flex to prevent binding. It would be interesting to see a wishbone link witha shackle on the crossmember end .

RA