haha. well now that we've moved on and the OP is no where to be found
can I get some input on building my own 3 link? just a feeler. probably wont do it till next year but here's the plan

clayton 3 link x-member $350
clayton 3 link bridge w/ mount $75
then do you think I can get ruffstuff heims and tubes and get some help building the arms for $250 including some labor?
I want to do this on a $750 budget because that's how much the serious offroad LA upgrade costs

then if I ever want to go 4 link rear I can just attach the clayton belly pan and get their 4 link truss

my only concern is the clayton cross member doesnt have a tcase skid

 

The expensive part of that is going to be purchasing the DOM. Unless you know of a shop that deals with DOM regularly then you're most likely going to have to buy a whole stick of DOM. That's not cheap. You'll have 200 bucks in JUST the material for the lower links...

The trick is to find somewhere that will sell it by the foot. I have yet to find this place.

Now, Ruffstuff sells DOM but I don't know if they sell 2" stuff. They mostly sell it for steering links.

You're still going to be pushing your $250 limit.

The Clayton stuff sounds great.

Make sure you reinforce your LCA mounts when you do this.

 

I'm building my own 3 link kit right now it's not that expensive.. Considering I got about 300 in dom for my links and steering another 300 in heims and Johnny joints another 250 in 6.5 coils and shocks but there's lots of customizing .welding and u gotta know someone with the suspension program to figure out the length of ur arms. Then u will b set up.. Here's a.pic of my buddies jeep with custom link and steering

 

Exactly.

He was hoping to spend no more than 250 on the three seperate links.

I'm afraid they're going to be much higher.

Cost me two arms and my 3rd leg.

 

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...ht=link&page=2
specifically, post 50


And you would be the rig featured in that post, yes?

 

there's a place in west sac that sells by the foot. and there is a small business owner discount. so I get metal fairly cheap. and my buddy is a professional fabricator so if I bring him everything he'll put it all together for pretty cheap. so that just leaves heims but Dan at ruffstuff is really reasonable when you go talk to him in person. so I'll check it out.

if I can get it all done for less than $800 that would be worth it to me. otherwise I might just buy the serious LA upgrade

thanks for the tip on beefing the lca mounts. so what about using square tubing like clayton? any cheaper?

 

thanks for the link. looks like a really good read I'll check it out when I'm off work

 

just preference, i dont have a real issue with that kit

id rather run a true 3 link

 

yes, using square tube is much cheaper than DOM

 

X2!! Clayton sells threaded weld-in inserts for square tubing. 2x2 .25 wall would work really well for long arms imo

 

so at this point I'd be buying everything from clayton and I might as well just buy the pro series 3 link.
I'll ask my fab guy and see what he says. oh well thanks for the input guys.

oh and here's that place in sacto that sells metal. last time I was there they were cutting tubing and selling it by the foot
was it DOM? not sure. but it's worth a call maybe they even ship

metal craft wharehouse http://sacramento.citysearch.com/pro...warehouse.html

 

I kinda browsed through it and didn't read each word for word but the most expensive part in most 3-links are the joints. I'm running a set of Ballistic Fab joints on each end of my control arms (6 joints total) with the optional 5/8" upgraded hole and love them. Total I have about $600 into my long arms but everything is upgraded, made of 1/4" and have tons of time into it to keep everything above the frame rails (reclocked the transfer case and built all the control arm mounts from the cross member up.

If you're running a 3-link, you'll want to run 2"x0.25" wall DOM at the smallest, which runs around $15 a foot. I still say to go with atleast 0.25" if running square also as you don't want any of the links to bend or really fail in any way.

 

Would it make you sick to know that when I bought my Rock Krawler 3 link kit I paid $295 for the 3 link add-on brand spankin new from RK? They've gone up... a LOT!

 

That rubbed me the wrong way a little. That's the kit I want. How do you like it?

 

Just read over the 3 link part of your build thread. That's exactly what I'm planning on doing. I've already got HDO stiffeners on and some spare 2x6 in the garage. Need to get around to cutting some side mounting feet and planning on sleeving the rails for the mounting holes.