i have been building and selling jeeps (mostly xjs) for about 13 years now and am finally gonna build one for me to keep.

i am not a fan of y-link setups because you only have two joints holding your axle in place. i beat the crap out of my jeeps and then drive them home. it would be nice to know if a joint lets go, i still have three other arms holding my axle in place. i also dont like the unloading characteristics of y-link.

i am not a fan of 3-link pretty much for the same reason as y-link.....they dont unload like y-link, but you only have 3 links holding your axle in...a joint fails, your s.o.l.

the last arms i built were "long arms" that mounted to my custom tranny crossmember. everyone says, how many times will you actually have to take your t-case out?..............Well, two times the week after you put the long arms on if you are me!!!! (front output seal went out twice). so that design doesnt work for me.

so on to the build......i didnt want to have to drop my suspension for any reason other than suspension work, so i started researching mid-arms. i took most interest in ktmracer 419's build, and poly performances new kit. they seems to work very well.

i will post up some pics here in a bit, my camera is out in the garage and im not waking up the lady!! im not the best at taking pics while i work, but you will get the idea. right now, i have all the mounts built and welded on the jeep. i had some "throw away" long arms that i am using for mockup and will be building new ones with ballistic joints.

sorry for the long *** intro, but i like to explain myself! and i cant sleep.

 

well get going on the pictures. ive been thinking about doing one

 

here is a few shots of the mounts....i used ballistic fab lower link brkt and built my upper brkts





welding to the unibody sucks.....i found that using flux core i tend to burn thru less and it is way better to weld overhead.



gonna have to do something about my exhaust here on the pass side. cant get a bolt in the mount. im gonna make some tabs and make this section removable.




drivers side is good



here is a sneek peek at my new front diff....what are those wires??





i got the uppers built also today....paint is drying.


hope that enough pics for now!!

 

nice start..

 

here is a pic of the uppers. they were the upper links on my old xj with a high pinion dana60. the drivers side has a bend to clear the driveshaft and the uppers were more trianulated than stock. im a cheap **** at times, so i just cut one of the hiems off and welded some ends from some old rustys arms i had layin around. the arms are 1 1/2'', 1/4 wall dom.

 

id be worried about those heim joints breaking

 

do you know what the shear strength is on one of those? itll be fine.
those are far stronger than your sheet metal stock uppers

 

The heims I use are rated at 40k lbs before they start to deflect, not before they break. You won't have any issues if you use good heims.

 

thats why im building it and not you......3/4 x 3/4 heims are 10 times stronger than a jj or stock bushing. here is the descrption right off ballistics website........

"These joints are simply the strongest and best available with superior load ratings and a self cleaning Kevlar/Teflon liner. Body is built from Chrome Moly alloy steel, heat treated and coated for protection. The race is self lubricating and self cleaning. The ball is 52100 hardened bearing steel, heat treated, hard chrome plated and precision ground. For top notch performance at a good price the XM series should be your choice. Static Load Rating: 28,081 lbs."

i will have 3/4 bolts holding in my uppers.....stock has tooth pick bolts and stamped sheetmetal holding in the front axle. im way more scared of that crap breaking than a heim. in fact i bent one of the stock uppers with my prybar

i use QA1 heims....my buddy with a 1000 H.P. (460 bb, bored, stroked, blue printed, superchrged w/200 shot of n.o.s.) foxbody mustang is running the same heims in the rear 4-link. he launches the holy crap out of that car and pulls both front wheels off the ground, and has never broke a heim. i think i trust that.


thanks for your concern, but i have been researching this build for 2 years, built a few 4-links and otk steering setups with the same joints without a hiccup. not trying to be a jerk, but i do my research before i build and post. i learned from being a member on pirate.

 

Looking good. What's the additional length that you're getting out of the arms?

 

Seems like a hell of a nice build. You ever send bds-suspensions long arm kit? It's kinda like what your building only the frame mount is the crossmember.

 

would a 3/4" heim be good to use on a radius y arm upper on a set of long arms?

 

will have to measure the stocks to see. the new ones are right around 22 inches if i remember correctly

 

yup....i copied it for my last long arm build

 

im sure they would be fine but i would never build a y-link. too much bad and not enough good. 4-link is where its at for me.