DIY Mid & Long LCA's / UCA's.....and everything else you'll need to have and know

[5StarCustmSolutns]

[ Mod: feel free to move this to a different place if you think it needs to be somewhere else? ]



WELL....for what seems like FOREVER now (since August '24), I've been collecting parts and trying to digest all that is Off-Road Suspension Geometry and the pro's and con's of all the different setups man has come up with over the years. All my front end time revolved around Mid and Long Travel IFS. Didn't really spend any time on solid axles, with exception of the few parts the two systems share..

For the 1st couple months I was kind of taking in everything re: the rear end. Mostly for the purpose of trying to decide what system might work best for my (overweight) Pre-Runner build. Sometime around Halloween I discovered the Reverse Triangulated 4-link system. I knew almost instantly that That was the route best suited for what I was trying to do back there. Why?? The gas tank! W/o moving the tank there is just no way to run a normal 4 link rear suspension under the back of a GMT900 platform vehicle. A little later on when I get into build specs, I'll show how discovered the Rev Tri 4-link!

So why start this now?? Bc I got my tires yesterday. ....and rarely in my life have I been this excited about tires......simply put, they're the best looking off-road tires I've ever seen, and they were my last big purchase needed to go full tilt at this thing.....and away we go

Kenda Klever M/T2 in 35 x 10.50 x 17LT
34.76" t x 11.06" x 17. Triple threat three layer sidewall. New Blockchain sidewall lugs. Havent found too many people saying anything but great things about them?!?!

I guess we'll see??

Looks like somebody's got their work cut our for them....

 

[Charlie207]

So... what about the front control arms?

 

[5StarCustmSolutns]

So... what about the front control arms?

It was this video

back in August (and the co$t of all the LT kits) that motivated me to build my own. More specifically the 80 second monologue about "Why" he built his own that starts at the 14:05 mark. I've been teaching myself how to weld for a couple years now and felt like I was up to the task? To best of my recall, I've never put to words what Phinn describes in his monologue, but looking back on the last 10-12yrs as a Gen Build Contractor, I've gone from one challenge to the next...

One of the first things that got my attn in the video was when he described how much trouble he had trying to extend the rounded square shape of the factory Lower's vs the ease with which he was able to extend the aftermarket tubular Upper's he installed a few months earlier. He just cut the tubes and used sleeves that matched the i.d. to extend the ball joint out 3" and forward 1.5". My immediate thought was I needed to find some aftermarket tubular LCA's!

The only three I could find in the next two weeks were all lowering, "drop" LCA's. After a couple weeks of looking at them, seeing them show up in search after search (a lot of times I'll search then go to images and scroll to find _____(whatever it is), I had the thought "Why can't a guy flip the ball joints over on these and run them upside down, on the opposite side they were designed to be run on, and get 4" lift out of them???

So I asked a dude that I thought might be in the know, someone I assumed might be an outside the box thinker, and he said "nope won't work" before I even sent him the pictures lol! These things are mirror images of each other. I could not see how it wouldn't work?

That just motivated me more. So I called one of the manufacturers and asked for someone that could answer technical product questions? ...annnd I might as well have been speaking mandarin chinese to this guy lol.. He was completely unable to grasp what I was asking, suggested I call skyjacker or a lift company....smh. So I called the next one....and got basically the same result. Then I called the third, Wulf Suspensions, and got a design engineer on the phone. I asked the same queston, he paused, then replied: "Well yeah Dan, that could work just fine" So, I went with Wulf Suspensions 4" drop, lowering Upper and Lower Control Arms. Made a deal with them for two sets of uppers and lowers, for like $600? Gave me like 40-45% off? One set was returned and scuffed up a bit. Plan to powdercoat them white anyways..

Now I needed a jig... So.... bought some OE Mevotech replacements from O'Reilly's, ripped off 2- 2'x2' pieces of 3/4" plywood, fab'd some "L" brackets, bolted the OE LCA's to the boards, made sure the ball joint was in a central / neutral position, marked the tip of the ball joint shaft on the board, and drew a 5" x 10" grid centered off the ball joint location. Then swapped out the OE's for the Wulf's, and that's where they've been waiting for 6-7 weeks now as I've been sourcing the rest of the parts necessary to attempt to pull this off..

The Wulf's are 1.5 dom tube with .120 wall. That leaves a hollow center of 1.26" Ordered some 1.25" dom tube for the inner sleeves and some 1.50" to go around them. The plan is to sleeve them inside with three inch extra on both ends, and make three linear plug welds at 12, 4, & 8 o'clock(every 120 degrees) around the circumference, then clam shell over the section of exposed sleeve... I made that plan up in about 30 seconds a couple monts ago and, so far, nobody (that knows how to weld) has hinted that it was a bad plan so I'm rollin w/it

Before I returned the OE replacements I bought a couple magnetic digital angle finders and went over them at all the important locations. They've got about a 6 degree kick up after the shock perch. Sometime in the next 10-12 days I'll bring the truck in and start figuring out the geometry for my LT LCA's...



So that was kind of a long answer, but I was gonna have to explain all that sooner or later anyway, now it's done.. I probably could've waited a few more weeks to start the thread? Got excited because of the tires lol..


If anyone has any suggestions on the LCA's or the weld plan, I would love to hear?

Next post should be parts list and what I'm doing with CV axles... ttys

 

[Geotrash]

Love it! Ingenuity and skills all on hand to get something interesting done. Thanks for sharing your journey on it with us. Looking forward to future installments.

 

[Grady_Wilson]

I second that, I would love to see the progress and the outcome of your project.
Alignment specs after you're done would be great, too.
You may have found something needed in the general market for suspension pieces.

 

[Scrappycrow]

AWESOME! This is outside of what my usage for my Tahoe would be, but I'm always interested in seeing stuff like this. FWIW, here's an example of suspension geometry mods I've done.

What ball joints did you go with? If stock, why did you not use something aftermarket, such as components from Howe Racing, as I did in the link above?

 

[5StarCustmSolutns]

Love it! Ingenuity and skills all on hand to get something interesting done. Thanks for sharing your journey on it with us. Looking forward to future installments.

Ingenuity, skills, mid-life crisis....all in the same family, right?

Im jus kid....although that did cross my mind when I put truck in Reverse in the in-laws driveway during white-out snow conditions yesterday. No wonder Amanda was suggesting we get going every 30 sec I thought. I cant even see the driveway I thought. I was too caught up in the classifieds for the Akron, Canton, and areas south, looking for off road bumpers and 2.5" coilovers and spare tire carriers... Have to take advantage of my time in more densely populated areas lol...

Thanks Dave.. Next 3-4 days going be taken up with a tree removal job, two huge trees to be exact.. After that I'll need to be on it pretty hard to get the geometry worked out, and at least the mid-travel arms done and trail ready by 3/7 for our next 24hrs of Appalachia event...

 

[5StarCustmSolutns]

You may have found something needed in the general market for suspension pieces.

Crossed my mind more than a few times.. Had that talk with the manufacturer also.. imho, it will all come down to how well they function.. Be cool to be able to offer a more affordable bolt-on package with CA's and Coilovers....just so more people can get out there and enjoy the experience

 

[5StarCustmSolutns]

AWESOME! This is outside of what my usage for my Tahoe would be, but I'm always interested in seeing stuff like this. FWIW, here's an example of suspension geometry mods I've done.

What ball joints did you go with? If stock, why did you not use something aftermarket, such as components from Howe Racing, as I did in the link above?

AWESOME link! ...and nice work on a sweet ride! My dad used to lament about an AMX (Animal) that had his, and everybody's, number in WV-KY-OH Tri-State area's number on the local bracket racing scene...

What you did was genius.. Looks to me like that +1.1 increase in caster put you right in the sweet spot for those CA's. You could've addressed that a couple different ways, curious why you went with moving the ball joint? Did you account for KingPin angle, scrub radius, Ackerman, Jacking, etc.. or just kinda wing it based on the known positive caster = better straight line tracking? Did you know how much caster/camber moving the ball joint xx.xx" would create beforehand or just wing it?

Part of me wants to do all the calculations and project exactly what the numbers will be up front, in the hope of getting the best possible setup, but Im really short on time now, and based on the feedback Ive received from others and what Ive gathered over the last months, I feel like my plan is pretty solid? 1.5" forward on the LCA's and 1.125" forward on the UCA's should give me +5-7* of caster which is even more important for the outside tire trying to turn uphill on an off-camber slippery sloped trail...

Edit- I guess maybe I've already run the numbers a little.....lol......smh

 

[5StarCustmSolutns]

Tire fitting and Approach Angle:

So the Kenda's went on some MB 352 17x9 +18 off-road wheels that used to live on an H2 Hummer. Bought them back in August and they've been collecting dust so long now that I've misplaced the center caps.....smh
I'm sure I'll find them as soon as I finish the garage reorganization project, which will be as soon as this tree job is finished.....weather permitting, Wednesday? I'll be full time build from then until the 5th or 6th of March

Just like every other manufacturer Kenda's 35 x 10.5 x 17 means something else in the real world. In this case it means 34.76 x 11.06 x 17. And thank God I did not get the 35 x 12.50 x 17! I had enough trouble with the 10.50(aka 11.06)! The 12.50 is actually a 13.10 ....I honestly don't know if they and the inner fender liner can physically co-exist under there? I really want to keep as much of the liner as possible in the front. So far I've managed to keep it all. But it's still rubbing in a couple scenarios...

Thought I had it right until I got on the Interstate to go to Cleveland Friday night. And by had it right, I mean: with the washer fluid reservoir laying in the back of my truck lol. After the 2nd 80mph hard rub of the left rear during shock compression from a bridge seam, I was in the Love's Truck Stop parking lot w/my grinder and spud bar prying and cutting. In two hits it had rubbed a 10mm bolt head from black to silver. There was good news though.....no visible sign of the impact on the tire lugs! Plus watching the massive 2"+ x 2"+ lug flex all around while being used as a fulcrum to bend the pinch weld on the front side of the wheel well forward was rather confidence inspiring...

In preparation for some type of front Crash Bar / Stinger, (hopefully like this beauty from this forum!)






(only, maybe with a second bar below it that extends around to protect the fender corners?), I went to work on the atrocious 21.6 degree approach angle our vehicles have.. Made this cut with an angle grinder in less than 60 seconds....




I was honestly concerned about screwing it up for weeks. Just rolled with the body line. Also attached the 3" wide 10' long 1/8" rolled rubber behind the bumper skin to hide the actual bumper(pics below)


The fog lights got a quick zip tie onto the back side of the grill until I find some suitable lighting for what I'm going to be doing, and they actually still function as intended...

Just being excited and caught up in the moment I asked a couple of my buddies what to call this. No disrespect to NorCal, but this was much more than a NorCal lol.. I think we settled on: West Virginia Whittle Job... (yeah, I know we probably need therapy of some kind)


In retro, that's not the best angle to show it, but this opened up 4.5-5" more clearance at the firewall...and I didn't take a pic of the cuts in the top and front section of the well....oops


On the front I scored the backside of the front of the inner fender liners and folded them forward vs cutting them off. Thought it wiser to add another layer of protection under the headlights / intake /coolers. This looked like a great idea in the moment, but there's still contact being made with shoulder lugs in reverse at lock....both ways, so it's going to have to be addressed somehow? Hoping the slight lift I get from the +3" longer Fox 2.5 Coilover's will do it?? We'll see? I'll get it right though! As soon as I'm out of Contractor mode and into fabricator mode. When I'm able to get the full truck inside the garage and slow down and go to work (aka: slow down and think)...

When finished (for that session) I was able to increase the approach angle from 21.6* to 44.9*! And it will get even better when the Control Arms move the wheels 1.375"(ish) forward.







to be cont... gotta go to work