check out this "custom" suspension!!!
#18
well at least he put some form of radius arm to help keep that massive block in there
regardless of how you do it you should NEVER and NEVER EVER put any shape sort or size of blocks on a front axle
those steering links look like they have survived a world war but just barely especially the cobbled up drag link and knuckle mount he "created"
and the trac bar looks like its MAYBE a foot long so there will be next to no articulation but it will help keep the axle under there
what pisses me off is why this guy would spend all that time/money to create all the links and stuff to help secure that massive block, all those ok ideas cant fix the horribly stupid idea of blocking a front axle...not to mention after he wasted all that time and money it wouldnt have cost him much more to just lift it properly
this is something for the scary steering web page...and any one who buys this truck is as stupid as its current owner
regardless of how you do it you should NEVER and NEVER EVER put any shape sort or size of blocks on a front axle
those steering links look like they have survived a world war but just barely especially the cobbled up drag link and knuckle mount he "created"
and the trac bar looks like its MAYBE a foot long so there will be next to no articulation but it will help keep the axle under there
what pisses me off is why this guy would spend all that time/money to create all the links and stuff to help secure that massive block, all those ok ideas cant fix the horribly stupid idea of blocking a front axle...not to mention after he wasted all that time and money it wouldnt have cost him much more to just lift it properly
this is something for the scary steering web page...and any one who buys this truck is as stupid as its current owner
#19
here is the messages from ebay between me and him....lol
ME: are you serious about that suspension lift? that should not be allowed to travel down the same street as my family.
HIM: your obviously retarded there is no reason why it wouldnt be safe so suck a d*ck and dont talk about what you dont know
ME: i can just imagine what would happen if u were to lock up the brakes. the ****ty ars stacked front blocks u have rigged up would bust the 2 foot long u bolts and the truck would come crashing down on some imbreded cousin of yours. not very safe. you shouldnt half ars **** that is going to be on the road. other people depend on your truck being safe. im glad ur in hill billy land not around here were i stay.
HIM: well FYI i have locked up the brakes i have hit **** and mudded the **** out of it and it has never broken. my buddy was drivin it and both front tires blew out and it was skidding on only the front axle and it still didnt break so thats all the reassurance i need.
ME: are you serious about that suspension lift? that should not be allowed to travel down the same street as my family.
HIM: your obviously retarded there is no reason why it wouldnt be safe so suck a d*ck and dont talk about what you dont know
ME: i can just imagine what would happen if u were to lock up the brakes. the ****ty ars stacked front blocks u have rigged up would bust the 2 foot long u bolts and the truck would come crashing down on some imbreded cousin of yours. not very safe. you shouldnt half ars **** that is going to be on the road. other people depend on your truck being safe. im glad ur in hill billy land not around here were i stay.
HIM: well FYI i have locked up the brakes i have hit **** and mudded the **** out of it and it has never broken. my buddy was drivin it and both front tires blew out and it was skidding on only the front axle and it still didnt break so thats all the reassurance i need.
#21
HIM: well FYI i have locked up the brakes i have hit **** and mudded the **** out of it and it has never broken. my buddy was drivin it and both front tires blew out and it was skidding on only the front axle and it still didnt break so thats all the reassurance i need.
AHAHAHAHAHA now we know why he thinks its safe...he is probably the first guy to drive a truck on its axle, but i wonder, where did the rims go during the tire blowouts that coincidentally happened at the same time?
thats a scary piece of **** to say the least, id love to see what the scary steering guy would say about this LOL
that truck should be condemned until it is road worthy haha, he might be able to sell it...for scrap metal
#22
#23
Not true, if you do build the traction bars (or radius arms, as you called them, same thing) right they will locate your axle fore-aft and will also prevent axle twist upon heavy accel or decel, then you do your panhard bar nice and strong, and you end up with springs that only support the truck's weight, and do nothing for locating the axle. That's how Bronco guys can get away with those long Superflex coil springs, and it can be applied to a leaf-sprung truck too. Again tho, traction bars need to be built strong, same with the lift blocks to be used...
#24
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#25
Look at how screwed up the front steering geometry is. In pic #7, the driver's side tire is cut WAY to the left, and the passenger side isn't nearly as far. I bet it scrubs around every corner. When you have a steering system made of bent drag link, galvanized pipe fittings, booger welds, and whatever the hell you call that attaching the passenger knuckle to the link, you KNOW it's redneck engineered.
#26
#27
Not true, if you do build the traction bars (or radius arms, as you called them, same thing) right they will locate your axle fore-aft and will also prevent axle twist upon heavy accel or decel, then you do your panhard bar nice and strong, and you end up with springs that only support the truck's weight, and do nothing for locating the axle. That's how Bronco guys can get away with those long Superflex coil springs, and it can be applied to a leaf-sprung truck too. Again tho, traction bars need to be built strong, same with the lift blocks to be used...
and the traction bars from what i can see in the pics will not do much to prevent the axle twist and it looks like they are basic heim joint on both ends leaving both ends free to move, in order for traction bars to prevent axle wrap they have to be completely stationary at the axle and have only one pivot located at the frame, same thing as the traction bars on a rear end, set up like his they dont do ****...there was a good little sketch someone did a while back to illustrate this point ill see if i can find it
#28
You are entirely correct, these suspension links will not prevent axle wrap alone, what they do is preventing the axle from walking fore-aft due to the torque applied to the wheels and the height of the blocks. Actually if the U-bolts were any better that's a pretty darn decent setup, as any torque causing axle wrap is converted to horizontal forces at both attachment points (spring and traction bar) - upon acceleration at the traction bar mounting point you will have a purely horizontal force directed towards the front of the truck (basically trying to pull the traction bar apart), while at the spring up top you have another purely horizontal force but this time directed towards the back of the truck. Both of these are a piece of cake to deal with just as long as the lift block things are firmly and securely attached to both the axle and the spring - which, as you pointed out, can't happen with the mile-long U-bolts used on this truck.
By the way, heim-joint single-link traction bars can work well against axle warp in the rear as well, but you need to give them some leverage at the axle by welding brackets to the axle tubes that move the traction bar attachment point away from the axle shaft's axis - if your springs are on top of the axle you want the brackets to hang below the axle, and if the spring is under the axle you want the brackets to position the traction bars above it - basically the more distance you get between the spring pad and the pivot for the traction bar, the better job the traction bars will do and the easier it will be for them to handle the axle-wrapping torque.
By the way, heim-joint single-link traction bars can work well against axle warp in the rear as well, but you need to give them some leverage at the axle by welding brackets to the axle tubes that move the traction bar attachment point away from the axle shaft's axis - if your springs are on top of the axle you want the brackets to hang below the axle, and if the spring is under the axle you want the brackets to position the traction bars above it - basically the more distance you get between the spring pad and the pivot for the traction bar, the better job the traction bars will do and the easier it will be for them to handle the axle-wrapping torque.
#29
By the way, heim-joint single-link traction bars can work well against axle warp in the rear as well, but you need to give them some leverage at the axle by welding brackets to the axle tubes that move the traction bar attachment point away from the axle shaft's axis - if your springs are on top of the axle you want the brackets to hang below the axle, and if the spring is under the axle you want the brackets to position the traction bars above it - basically the more distance you get between the spring pad and the pivot for the traction bar, the better job the traction bars will do and the easier it will be for them to handle the axle-wrapping torque.
true enough but when the mounting point is a 12" lift block held in place by two stupidly long u-bolts id be willing to bet that traction bars in this case would punch those blocks right out of there giving the right force in the right direction...then you eat pavement
i would load this thing up on a flat be and pull it home with a hot pink lawn tractor in the nude before i ever drove it home...no matter how safe it appears to be and it may be a pretty decent set up in theory, it was very poorly executed on the hillbilly's part HAHA