radius arm question

[blh0007]

hey guys, i'm thinking of putting some extended radius arms on my ranger. I have 2inches of lift up front. (still my daily driver and i'm staying conservative with my suspension). my question is is it really going to be any different than stock radius arms with only a 2 inch lift (flex...ect), will it cause problems, or will it be worth it. i do plan to get some 32x11.5 tires here soon if that even matters. thanks

 

[4x4junkie]

No the gains aren't really worth it with just 2" of lift. Once you're at 3" and up though, then you'll start to see their benefits much more clearly.

 

[F150hybred]

Junkie, just a thought here... but why not explain to this person and the rest of us out there just what the gains are and how much of a difference there would be when compared to being used on a 2" lift or more extreme, a six inch life.
I'm not trying to stir the pot here, I just believe it would be a worthy extension to this topic.

 

[CopyKat]

The Castor change is dramatically reduced. and it will allow the suspension to cycle freely before the bushings start to bind.

So F150 hows that bumper coming along? I know that's a low blow. Any time you want it done swing by with the material and I'll hook you up.

 

[F150hybred]

CopyKat, as you know, I have another issue to deal with at this moment... like a blown up a transfer case for the second time in less than a year. As far as the bumper goes, we have some real nice manufacturing tools (plasma cutter... 240V mig... 100 ton press etc) at work and my boss likes to see them get used. So who am I to complain???

 

[4x4junkie]

Copykat nailed it. Although with a short 2" lift height the suspension isn't really able to move enough to where the change in caster would be that significant, as there's only so much space between the axle and the bumpstop at that height.
Once you start dropping the axle down on lift brackets, things change dramatically and the benefits of ext arms become much more apparent.

 

[F150hybred]

OK, I',m gonna play devils advocate here... so lets say someone was running three stage bypass coil overs and had it set to a low COG ride height and needed 2" brackets for proper suspension adjustment. This same person also allowed for some insane amount of droop by running real soft / long springs with long travel dampers and some air bumps... say, 18 inches of total travel, would there still be no benefit of running longer radius arms?

 

[CopyKat]

You are not likely to be pulling 18" travel on the stock arms. The rad arm bushing will get in a bind. The longer the arms the less angle the bushing will see. For full travel on my setup the bushing maybe see's a total of 20°.

Now if your throwing money into coilovers, air bumps, bypass shocks, and 2" brackets, you will have the smarts to install a set of extended arms.

The Desert racing guys normally run a combination of STX brackets and a cut and turn, on about a 5.5" lift. The Brackets allow just a bit more uptravel and then they don't have to cut and tun as much to get the ride height they desire.

 

[4x4junkie]

OK, I',m gonna play devils advocate here... so lets say someone was running three stage bypass coil overs and had it set to a low COG ride height and needed 2" brackets for proper suspension adjustment. This same person also allowed for some insane amount of droop by running real soft / long springs with long travel dampers and some air bumps... say, 18 inches of total travel, would there still be no benefit of running longer radius arms?

Completely the opposite of what the OP wants to do (stay conservative with his suspension 'cause it's his DD). I strongly suspect all he has is a set of leveling coils (or spacers) under the thing. Ext arms are simply of little use on a setup this simple.

 

[F150hybred]

Granted, But you know just as well as the rest of us just how things snow ball.