Yay, new arms ! TnT Long Arms that is.

[Rob D]

Here is a pic.

I know I'm getting old and my eye sight ain't what it used to be, but I'm not seeing the slack in your limit strap you speak of Bryan.

Thanks everyone for the heads up about the unloading. I had other things I saw as a negatives for radius arms, like added stress to the axle housing when flexing or the lack of being able to remove my cross member without needing to control the front axle. But I still gave in, so now I might as well just use it and see how I like it.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

enjoy the clearance under the arms and belly and run it.

 

[EricsXJ]

No reason for you not to run them at this point. Put it on, run the same trails you did before and compare. I didn't think the unloading was that bad on the trails I've run. If you think about it, ANY suspension will unload when you get steep enough because no weight is on the springs at that point. IMO its more of a long-arm vs short-arm debate and weight transfer.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

I ran em for years . Whatever they are great for your build rob. You'll be happy

 

[TORX]

Congrats, Rob.

It's always nice seeing raffle prizes being put to use. That's going to be a slick setup.

 

[Rob D]

Thanks gentlemen. Since my heep is also my dd, I'm kinda lookin forward to seeing how it drives on the road too. All the joints in my FT suspension are flex joints (heims and jj's on the lowers) and somewhat noisy. I know, it's a lifted jeep it's gonna make noise. But the Tnt's have rubber on the axle end to isolate some of the noise. Plus I'm sure it'll be better than having 2 worn out uca joints with the axle caster floppin back and forth. I'm hoping I can get this done next weekend. Then maybe I'll see about doing a Hollister or Prairie City run to test it out.

 

[XJensen]

Plan On A Full Day To Drill The Holes. It Is Rough But Worth it

 

[Rob D]

Plan On A Full Day To Drill The Holes. It Is Rough But Worth it

Yeah, what fun it should be. And I'm sure the frame stiffeners are going to add that extra level of fun to drilling all the holes too. :gee:

 

[GordoSmasho]

go slow and use lube......TWSS

 

[Rob D]

go slow and use lube......TWSS

Is this a lastara reference or installing my long TnT stuff? Just makin sure

 

[bmikes]

After reading this it's good to know TNT has a good customer service reputation. Also, Congrats on winning the gift card!! I do have one question though, will someone explain what unloading is?

 

[rockclimber]

After reading this it's good to know TNT has a good customer service reputation. Also, Congrats on winning the gift card!! I do have one question though, will someone explain what unloading is?

search anti-dive/anti-lift.

basically, its when the radius arms "release" at steep angles

 

[Bryan C.]

After reading this it's good to know TNT has a good customer service reputation. Also, Congrats on winning the gift card!! I do have one question though, will someone explain what unloading is?

Unloading happens when your rig gets vertical enough on a steep climb that the weight of the engine is no longer pushing down on front suspension. As the weight is transferred to the rear wheels the front end tends to push off the obstacle. If the unloading is severe enough it will cause your rig to roll backwards and land on its roof. All suspensions will do this, but the radius arm set-up tends to do it more. A center limit strap will still allow the suspension to cycle side to side, but will limit how much the axle moves away from the body on the steep climbs.

 

[bmikes]

Cool thanks for the explanation. That's what I thought it was but I just wanted to make sure.

 

[Westernhunter]

http://youtu.be/TCLhFpScm5Y
This is what it looks like.
This was not that steep but, I did have 3 days worth of camping supply's and gear including a fridge in the back.
3 Toyota trucks went up this right before I tried.

 

[Rob D]

Got started with the swap on Friday. It's slow going for sure. Friday I got all the Full Traction stuff off and tried and initial fit of the cross member and saw some of what needed trimming and then gave up for the evening. Spent this morning fitting the cross member. Had to trim off a bit and found I still need to trim some more. I also ended up putting a 1/2" spacer between the tranny and the tranny mount to lift the transfer case up away from the TnT cross member. Then spent the afternoon drilling holes. So now all I need to do is trim a little more from the cross member to clear the exhaust and some of the exhaust bracket then trim the t-case skid to match the cross member, throw some paint on the exposed parts and start putting things back together. I'll take a few pic's of the areas I had to trim and post them in case anyone else is going to try this with an Atlas too.

 

[XJensen]

Yes Pics Please. IPlan In An Atlas In The Next Year Or Two And Have The Same Long Arm kit

 

[Rob D]

Yes Pics Please. IPlan In An Atlas In The Next Year Or Two And Have The Same Long Arm kit

I'll try to get some posted up tomorrow since I got nothing done today, except running around town with my wife. By the way, is your belly pan/x-fer case skid all one piece? The one I have is 2 pieces that bolt together. The lip where they bolt together is what I had to trim. So if you have the older 1 piece it may not apply to you and there may not be any trimming required for you. But you'll be able to get a better idea after I post the pic's.

 

[the_weirdo]

From what I have seen the belly pan and Tcase skids are always 2-pieces so that you can choose between the 231 and 242 Tcase skid. The 242 Tcase skid hangs a little lower.

 

[XJensen]

Mine is the newer 2 piece design. They were not always this way, Rob is right, the older ones are a one piece design and offer a little more clearance but are a PITA to work with some times.