radius arm setup for yj

curt87yj

New Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2008
Location
new london
how much trouble would it be to put a 78 hp dana 44 from a f 150 into my 87 yj the 44 has the radius arms are still bolted on and the coil spring buckets intact and i have a set of flat tops from a dana 44 gm to use for crossover steer
 
yeah, you could probably knock it out in a weekend. Radius arms are pretty simple
 
just got home and found out my hp 44 has got weld on radius arm wedges not cast so it cant be a 79 but the dana expert site doesnt have my bom# listed and i know that the number i have is right because it is stamped very well the# is 610024-1R and the date code is 5 10 7 A5 do you think it would be better to cut off the wedges and go leaf spring or just mount it using the radius arms and coil mounts welded to my frame i am kind of on a budget and want to get it done as fast as possible also any info on the bom # would be appreciated
 
I took my 4 link out of the front of my XJ to run an extended radius arm setup. I'd personally stick with the radius arms, just plate them and extend them. You don't have to worry about axle wrap up front and it's a pretty simple design.
I plated mine with 1/4"

If you can see it, I bent the radius arms inward 15* each before I plated them, it eliminates most of the bind associated with a radius arm setup. Here's my crappy bellypan/crossmember link mounts.

Here's it mounted, you can see how long the mounts are and how it's triangulated.

I haven't really gotten to take it out yet, so I have no flex shots, but I do have 18" or downtravel and working on getting 5" uptravel. The radius arms are 48 1/2" long, kind of REALLY excessive, but they work well. Just my $0.02.
 
I have a 78 Bronco and am considering doing the same. It looks like the radious arm mounts on mine are cast though.
 
i dont even want to go to their site ,like the old saying goes a poor man has poor ways but that doesnt mean that it cant be fabbed up just as well ,just might take a little trial and error to get there
 
take some 2x2x1/4" box steel, cut the corners and flare the sides out, drill/cut holes on the sides, slide the radius arms inside, plug and fully weld the boxed steel on the radius arms. Take a 1.5" grade 8 nut and grind it square, burn that in the open end of the box steel and get yourself a 1.25" heim joint. Bam! extended radius arms. I highly recommend you triangulate the arms by heating/notching/bending/and plating/gusseting the arms. Really amazing the flex you can get out of this setup.
 
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