radius arm mods

mudbug
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radius arm mods

Postby mudbug » Wed Jun 24, 2015 8:13 pm

hey all, im in the process of doing a solid axle swap on my hilux im going to be using radius arms and coil over shocks.

i was thinking that i could extend the length and put some rod ends on the end of the radius arm that mounts to the chassis to get a bit more movement and adjustment, are there any rules with certification that you know of that wont let me do this?

cheers

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby KIWI_TERRANO » Wed Jun 24, 2015 8:27 pm

Have look at clints cruiser build up

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby Checkerhead » Wed Jun 24, 2015 8:30 pm

If you are going to use rod ends make sure they are teflon ones. Greaseable ones are not certifiable as the are classed as a "serviceable joint" or something (ie you have to grease it, but teflon ones are self servicing).

Might want to talk to Darinz, re extending them. Think he extended some GQ ones and had problems breaking them, not sure what he has done to fix it. If you are looking to extend them to increase flex, maybe consider a 3 link? (with panhard).
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Re: radius arm mods

Postby derk » Wed Jun 24, 2015 8:38 pm

2x on the 3 link it'll work out a lot easier in the long run and flex much better than radius arms they are as stiff as old boots when it comes to articulation :D

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churchill
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Re: radius arm mods

Postby churchill » Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:00 pm

^^ 3 link is the way to go. The 2 rubber bushes on the end of the radius arm that connect to the diff make it harder to articulate.

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby mudbug » Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:12 pm

i had the radius arms sitting in the shed so thats why i was gonna use them.

with making 3 link arms does one end have to be a rubber bush or can both ends be rod ends?

at the end of the day ill make what will be best.

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby mudlva » Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:24 pm

?? Would a three link plus panhard be legal???
just looking at o.e stuff and they all use either a radius arm or a full 5 link.

Just asking

I understand why a 3 bar system works better.

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De-Ranged
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Re: radius arm mods

Postby De-Ranged » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:28 pm

Packaging is the main reason... for the three link
Yes it can be made legal, depending on the certifier, it may have to have the top link mounted to the diff pumpkin and the link must be solid, with heavy duty mounting.... not certian on if your allowed to use rubber bushes, I've only ever dealt with rod ends.... think I may have seen some of Toms trucks with rubber but this is one of those things that is very dependent on the certifier, ring and talk to the one you plan on using before you start lol

Some thing alot of people overlook with radius arms is they are very good at generating anti-dive (stop brake dive)...

From what I've seen online if your interested in modifing radius arms probably better starting with Landrover Disco or Range Rover ones, from what I've seen they weld better than any other brand
If you are playing with the rover stuff.... I did a bit of measuring a while back there is enough meat to bore out the axle bush mounts on the arms and mount cruiser/safari bushes (they are the same part) this will allow you to flex out a 15" shock...
If your not keen to bore them then press out the later model bushes (they are only good for a 10" shock, they have a steel ring inbetween the inner sheath crush tube and the outer mount tube) and fit the narrower early model Range Rover Classic ones that are straight rubber from the crush tube to the mount tube, these are good for a 12" shock they can be pushed further but will compress that much they cut the rubber bushing

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby lax2wlg » Thu Jun 25, 2015 3:20 am

^^
Thats the type of qualified expertise that makes this site worth visiting.
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Re: radius arm mods

Postby mudbug » Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:53 pm

ill mock my arms up and see how i go for articulation, if they really are that bad ill play around with the mounting. if all else fails ill see what the cert man has to say and go from there.

what ever i do i just need it to be king kong ill be driving up alot of rivers etc so it will be getting a hammer.

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby Checkerhead » Fri Jun 26, 2015 12:36 am

It's not that radius arms suck the big one. The are good for bump compliance and great for brake anti dive (as said earlier). It's just that they don't articulate amazingly well. That said, every factory coiled cruiser, patrol and rover uses them i the front. So they must be ok.
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Re: radius arm mods

Postby Big » Fri Jun 26, 2015 8:58 am

K.I.S.S :wink:

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby mudbug » Fri Jun 26, 2015 6:15 pm

Big wrote:K.I.S.S :wink:


that is the plan

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby y60 safari driver » Sat Jun 27, 2015 9:36 am

if you are lucky enough to have some spare funds these are meant to be good. not sure what axels you are using but they have them for a range of axels
http://www.superiorengineering.com.au/r ... lex&page=2

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby Big » Sat Jun 27, 2015 9:49 am

y60 safari driver wrote:if you are lucky enough to have some spare funds these are meant to be good. not sure what axels you are using but they have them for a range of axels
http://www.superiorengineering.com.au/r ... lex&page=2

If its for a street legal truck then there will be added costs of crack testing and making sure they comply for NZ(you'll have to buy then send them to lvvta) as I went down this road and there is no truck in the lvvta system that has been cert'd with those arms at all, maybe after cert there are a few but certainly none when going through for cert.. considering that they are around the 1600 mark, costs start to ad up real quick.. Which is why I stayed with factory trailing arms..

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby y60 safari driver » Sat Jun 27, 2015 12:18 pm

that is interesting to know, just looking down this path myself now. planning to use drop boxes though so then you only need one arm on the passengers side. brings that cost down to around $800.
will look in to cert issues now though. cheers

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby Clint » Mon Jul 27, 2015 8:42 am

I put the rod ends on my front Safari arms as above. No extensions though, just trimmed down the pin & cut a thread on it. Mines done a bit of thrashing now with no worries, a mate has the same setup that has been offroad raced quite a bit with no probs. No worries for cert as long as they are Teflon type, non greasable as per above.

Articulation is a little better but the other big reason to go this way was to get rid of the std Nissan pin through bushes setup at the chassis as once you add big tyres etc these get a hammering & will often split the bushes out the side. Road manners were important for my build so I tried to copy the Nissan geometry as much as possible, kept the mounts on the chassis fairly low so the arms sit at the same angle as std Nissan, it handles better now than it did with 40mm spring lift on the std LJ71 suspension.

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby darinz » Sun Aug 09, 2015 4:01 pm

Been running gq radius arms with a rod end on the end. Threaded where the bush normally is and put an adapter on there so can run same male rodend as rear 4 link.
I've now snapped 2 of these arms so has had 40mm thick bisalloy arms cut. No welding just solid plate water cut to match gq shape with 7/8 rodend threaded I to the end a factory gq bushes at the front.

Can get more made if you want as now have the plan for the water jet.
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Re: radius arm mods

Postby Mattman » Sun Aug 09, 2015 8:21 pm

Great thread

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby slidenyo » Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:17 pm

darinz wrote:Been running gq radius arms with a rod end on the end. Threaded where the bush normally is and put an adapter on there so can run same male rodend as rear 4 link.
I've now snapped 2 of these arms so has had 40mm thick bisalloy arms cut. No welding just solid plate water cut to match gq shape with 7/8 rodend threaded I to the end a factory gq bushes at the front.

Can get more made if you want as now have the plan for the water jet.
hey darin , how much longer are they? been looking at the buds customs ones and possibly dragging my wheel base out before the cert. so its long arm front and rear.
can you get me a price to have a set cut?
cheers jase
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Re: radius arm mods

Postby slidenyo » Thu Mar 10, 2016 6:14 pm

cheers to nathan at kaiapoi repowers buds long arm kit arrived the other day
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Re: radius arm mods

Postby Checkerhead » Fri Mar 11, 2016 11:12 am

Pics?
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Re: radius arm mods

Postby skidmark » Fri Mar 11, 2016 10:37 pm

Big wrote:
y60 safari driver wrote:if you are lucky enough to have some spare funds these are meant to be good. not sure what axels you are using but they have them for a range of axels
http://www.superiorengineering.com.au/r ... lex&page=2

If its for a street legal truck then there will be added costs of crack testing and making sure they comply for NZ(you'll have to buy then send them to lvvta) as I went down this road and there is no truck in the lvvta system that has been cert'd with those arms at all, maybe after cert there are a few but certainly none when going through for cert.. considering that they are around the 1600 mark, costs start to ad up real quick.. Which is why I stayed with factory trailing arms..


Just as a note for people potentially searching, I've just had a set of superior superflex go straight through cert without Crack testing etc
modified surf, hardly drive it seem to keep modifying it....

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby Big » Sat Mar 12, 2016 4:01 pm

Yea that is awesome.. Not what LVVTA head office said to me.. but hey you gotta win somewhere and now it can be done easily

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby slidenyo » Tue Mar 15, 2016 2:48 am

Checkerhead wrote:Pics?

going together this week
problems are only a problem if you not willing to learn how to find solutions

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby slidenyo » Fri Mar 25, 2016 7:45 pm

works going well massive birthday for orange
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Re: radius arm mods

Postby NJV6 » Fri Mar 25, 2016 9:22 pm

Thats quite a big whirly blowey sucky thing on the side of the motor!
SWB V6 Paj with one or two mods ;)

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Re: radius arm mods

Postby slidenyo » Sat Mar 26, 2016 6:29 am

yeah it is my concern at the moment. its .55 ar cold side an unknown hotside. smallest t3 twin scroll i have though. guess ill find out tuesday when wheels go on.
the buds kit is awesome to look at and has completely nailed my front driveline alignment castor issues. gearbox dropped a tad but longer lower arms to go on ( both mine slightly bowed)
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