Progress on my attempt at a hidden LA 3-link

kid4lyf said:
Cool, simultanious 3 link buildups.
Wanna race?

WEll, how far along are you? :) I'm pretty slow. Just ask Jes who was trying to run me over in the dark comeing back to camp out by Florence Junction. :) I would suggest you take my insight to heart if you are in the planning stages of the crossmember.

For Jes and Andy, do you guys know the vertical separation of your upper and lower links? Oh, and will you post it here? :)

I was eyeing up the upper link area on my juice box '98 and I'm going to HAVE to do something about the tranny shifter. I don't know what yet though. Jeff
 
kid4lyf said:
Cool, simultanious 3 link buildups.
Wanna race?

pics.gif
 
Jeff 98XJ WI said:
I would suggest you take my insight to heart if you are in the planning stages of the crossmember.
You mean the hoop thing?
 
CRASH said:
Here's my finished X-member:

picture.JPG


I'm using the middle hole here.

Arm length is right at 40". Vert seperation at the axle is 8", at the member, 6".

Jes uses 34" long arms and he is 8" at the axler and 7" at the member.

Kind of makes sense, since the links are converging, that mine are closer together at the frame. They both seem to act very much the same on climbs. Very neutral.

CRASH
 
kid4lyf said:
You mean the hoop thing?
I mean by locating the drivers side lower control arm just under the front driveshaft in the crook created by the joint between the shaft and the double cardon joint with the shaft fully drooped. Crash moved his in towards the center of the rig so that the mount was offset about halfway on the driveshaft, but the point I am making is that in order for the control arm to be mounted flush with the bottom of the frame rail, the best place is to mount it is in that crook. Then move the t-case/tranny up as much as you want plus clock the t-case enough so that the driveshaft clears the lower control arm with the shaft fully drooped...AND is flush with the bottom of the frame. THEN, build the rest of the crossmember to fit these parameters.

As for my upper arm, I do think I am going to use a mount coming off the crossmember between the driveshaft and the tranny just like Crash and Jes did. The auto tranny shifter tab and cable are going to need to be moved for upper arm clearance though. If you come up with a good way to do this, please let me know. Jeff
 
CRASH said:
I'm using the middle hole here.

Arm length is right at 40". Vert seperation at the axle is 8", at the member, 6".

Jes uses 34" long arms and he is 8" at the axler and 7" at the member.

Kind of makes sense, since the links are converging, that mine are closer together at the frame. They both seem to act very much the same on climbs. Very neutral.

CRASH

Thanks for the numbers. Jeff
 
Jeff 98XJ WI said:
I mean by locating the drivers side lower control arm just under the front driveshaft in the crook created by the joint between the shaft and the double cardon joint with the shaft fully drooped. Crash moved his in towards the center of the rig so that the mount was offset about halfway on the driveshaft, but the point I am making is that in order for the control arm to be mounted flush with the bottom of the frame rail, the best place is to mount it is in that crook. Then move the t-case/tranny up as much as you want plus clock the t-case enough so that the driveshaft clears the lower control arm with the shaft fully drooped...AND is flush with the bottom of the frame. THEN, build the rest of the crossmember to fit these parameters.

As for my upper arm, I do think I am going to use a mount coming off the crossmember between the driveshaft and the tranny just like Crash and Jes did. The auto tranny shifter tab and cable are going to need to be moved for upper arm clearance though. If you come up with a good way to do this, please let me know. Jeff
I'm a couple weeks behind you. I'm doing the inner frame rails now and starting the X-member next. That upper mount does look like the bitch-o-the-bunch though.
I'm thinking about cutting a hole in the tranny tunnel and bolting on an access panel to get to it easier.
 
kid4lyf said:
I'm a couple weeks behind you. I'm doing the inner frame rails now and starting the X-member next. That upper mount does look like the bitch-o-the-bunch though.
I'm thinking about cutting a hole in the tranny tunnel and bolting on an access panel to get to it easier.

An access panel for the front driveshaft CV bolts is nearly a must. Jes executed his quite nicely.

CRASH
 
CRASH said:
An access panel for the front driveshaft CV bolts is nearly a must. Jes executed his quite nicely.

CRASH
Jes, more pics?
 
Here's a shot of the access hole...
picture.JPG

...I think I used a 3" holesaw for it. You can also see the plate welded to the tunnel that the upper link mount attaches to(as well as a bunch of silicone holding my twin stick shifter boot on :D ).
I would say at this point that the upper link mount reinforcement is necessary, there's a lot of torque load through that upper link.
 
Paul S said:
I think 3 link'n is going to surpass sheetmetal hack'n in 05 :)

Jeff, you need to move to the West Coast :cheers:

Paul


Did I miss sheetmetal hacking in '04?

Oh, right, i only had half a Jeep in '04.

CRASH
 
Paul S said:
Jeff, you need to move to the West Coast :cheers:

Paul
Jeff, like any real man, prefers to stay in the MW, where men are men and sheep are scared.
 
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