Did any of our members tried this modification?

http://www.d-90.com/prod/hinge2.html

http://www.d-90.com/prod/hinge.html

 

I want them! Dont know what I would do with them, but I want them.

 

Good idea, wonder how long they will hold up to a hard trail though.

 

I think that those arms will give problems because they the hinge allows the arm to modify its lenght, and that is the main reason of the existence of the radius arm: to prevent the axle to move back and keep it in at the same distance of the base of the radius arm.

What happens every time that the front axle hits a rock or an obstacle? it will keep in the same position in the ground and the chassis of the car will continue moving forward. The propeller shaft will shorten and then bang! a direct hit on the propeller shaft transferred to the transfer case. At the end, the transmission will be the one that will prevent the axle to continue moving backward. After a couple of rides in a hard trail, in the best case, the propeller shaft will be garbage, or even worst, the transfer case will be blown.

I think that if you want to improve the articulation of the radius arm you must modify the way it attaches to the chassis and there you can put something like a hinge. Look at this picture:



The radius arm has a pin that will allow the axle to freely go up and down. I will try it on my Disco.

 

The frame end bind isnt the issue it's how the radius arm connects to the axle with two mounting points. This limits the axles ability to flex on an angle.


A good explanation/experiement.
Try jacking your front axle up with radius arms.. The whole thing lifts no matter how close to the hub you jack. Try jackig it up with a 3-link it will raise the side you're jacking a lot before the otherside starts to rise.

 

I've seen a few variations in that Australian 4x4 magazine, which was just yesterday. I really didn't understand the need until I read the ad. Looks like "hinged" radius arms are nothing new....

 

Nothing new at all, have been used on Broncos and the like for decades...

My point in my last post was why hinge and pin or add an orbital on the frame end? Why not just do it right and link it? For the effort and the performance it's king.

The only nice part about the hinged radius arms is you put the pins back in and it rides like stock on the street. The downside in my eyes is your radius arms take a TONs of torque (literally) when stopping your truck, do you feel comfortable with a hinged and pin arm taking that stress? Or would you feel better with 2.5" .250 wall DOM taking that stress?

My 3-link is a little soft on the road BUT if you make it custom and run the numbers thru a calculator you could get the ride pretty much back to stock.

Thanks is all

 

those things look terrifying, no thanks