bigins18

Call me stupid if you want but can someone explain to me in lamens terms what a 3 link or 4 link suspension is and the pros/cons for it on 35s soon to be 37s I found them using google but they dont give a very good description of what they are and how they function I need to change my short arm and was wondering if this is a good option cause short arms wont cut it for the tire size I need 37s to 40s would be nice

bigins18

bump

89eliminator

here is a good thread to read up on.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/let...ng-arms-33331/

Mike H.

well, I scan'd that link and did not see 3-link vs 4-link.

to put it short and sweet...
3-link, think rock crawling.
4-link, think JeepSpeed.

If you need 40" tires, you've got a tonne on engineering/fabrication to sort out, and I doubt you'll find a typical off the shelf kit that is going to suit the needs of your rig once the wheelbase has been stretched and most of the typical suspension mounting points are no longer availible to you.

bigins18

thanks that thread answered any question i might have about suspension there should be a link to that thread on the home page so there will be no more questions

bigins18

were im from we dont rock crawl we mud and flatten sand bars so suspension durability is important some flex is nice but i dont need 14 inches of flex i would bet my eye teeth that i could get away with half that i had a dodge durango stock with 32s in the front and 33s in the back and never rubbed once what im trying to figure out is can i take a long arm to the point of 37s and would it handle the work 40s would be a best case scenario but not 100% necessary

Iant333

On 40's your long arms aren't going to be the weak point, not even close, its your stock axles. I'd say 35's is pushing it for anything that came under an XJ stock and 40's will snap your axleshafts like twigs as soon as you put your foot into the gas at all. Not to mention your hub bearings are going to wear out in a few thousand miles and its not even possible to gear a Dana 30 or either one of the XJ rear ends low enough to be decent on tires that big.

I'd either run smaller tires or look into putting some fullwidth truck axles under it.

As for the long arms it doesnt matter what kind you go with really if you just do mud, all the different setups will perform about the same.

bigins18

im in the process of getting some full widths as we speak i found some d44s out of a old grand wagoneer and was wondering of they would do the job and what is the problem the axles themselves or the housing that go's away and 40s is best case scenario 37s suffice

Iant333

Just about everything on them is designed for running like 30 inch tires, Housing, gears, u-joint's axleshafts etc... you can get away with like 35's on your stock axles but its not really ideal.

If you stay mostly in the mud waggy 44's should be just fine for 37's and will prolly still hold 40's for you if you dont drive like a madman.

bigins18

would you recommend chromos front and rear of would i get away with stock wagoneer axle shafts

Iant333

I think the waggy D44 has shafts that neck way down to smaller than the ones on a D30, but...

My best advice is to drive on the stock ones and if you break one then upgrade it. Breaking an axleshaft isnt the worst thing that can happen.

bigins18

and what would be the worst

Iant333

Breaking other stuff that cant be fixed on the trail.


I really wouldnt worry about upgrading your 44's until you try them and see how they work for you.

bigins18

all right thanks preciate the help sir

fantic238

When you have coil spring suspensions like in the front of the cherokee you need a number of control arms to avoid the horizontal movement (front-rear and left-right) of the axle.
The stock configuration of an XJ is a 4 link +1, that is: two lower control arms, two upper control arms and a panhard bar (track bar). The two lower control arms limit the front-rear movement of the axle and the two upper ones avoid rotation. Track bar takes care of left-right.
Now the only direction that is possible is up-down, and is called suspension travel.
Problems start to come when you take the rig off road and twist the axles. What happens is that one side goes up and the other goes down, and the arms start to bind.

Since the control arms are linked firmly to the frame they will perform a semi circular movement and try to pull the axle to the rear at big angles.
If this happens when in twist, the lower left will pull and the upper left will push, exactly the opposite on the other side the lower right will push and the upper will pull. The result of this is an enormous amount of stress on the axle tubes and the rubber bushings.

To give a little more freedom to the axle you can remove one upper control arm and call it a 3 link, but the side you have removed the control arm will be less strong.

Long arms= longer radius and less semi circular movement, therefore less binding.