Custom A arms is the answer

[fool_injected]

Guys,
Been reading alot about front suspension mods on this forum
Many mods offered have the benifits but most also have cons
For example if you cut and weld any part of the chassis/suspension the vehicle then neeed certification by an approved engineer
This can be expensive as it would probally involve x-aying the welds

Tubular Suspension Systems is a Sydney company who makes tubular arms to replace factory uning on performance and show cars
You still retain all stock bolt ons like stubs shocks etc
Check them out at http://www.tubularsuspensionsystems.com/gm.htm

May be if enough forum users are intrested (enough buyers) we could have Arms designed with say 2 and 4 " lift built in by 'bending the arms'
These are supplied with the relevant engineers cert too
Judging by other prices they will be under $1500 for the four
And they look trick too
waddiyathink?

Cheers
Wayne




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[fool_injected]

Notice the arm in the bottom right kinks up we just need it to kick down
Probally will need to dogleg bend both arms to get 2 to 4 inches

[Alex Kogan]

Notice the arm in the bottom right kinks up we just need it to kick down
Probally will need to dogleg bend both arms to get 2 to 4 inches

Design would involve a little more than just doglegging lower/upper arms. Lower would have to accept torsion bar instead of spring or whatever they use, different shock and bumpstop mount, ball joint pointing the rong way. Same for upper and also that balljoint looks wierd? Would have to modify the knuckle to accept that. I doubt price worths the effort. Just get that front ARB and be happy.

[DougH]

If you lift it by bending the arms you are going to have to deal with some extreme cv angle. The angle is bad enough with a balljoint flip and small torrsion bar lift.

You would probably end up having to drop the diff down, which is going to take a custom cross member as well.

[Bitsamissin]

There are replacement upper arms for Nissan Navara's but like Doug said it doesn't address the CV angles.
I know a guy who had custom A arms and diff drop down brackets made for a Prado but it cost him big $$$
Honestly it would work out more than $1500 because they would be starting from scratch.
The Mitsi proper IFS lift kits which run about the $3-4K mark, address all of these problems (gives you the lift but no more wheel travel) but you may as well do a SAS for that sort of money.
I honestly think the week points are in the idler arm, tie rod and steering arm running 33"+ tyres and a big lift.
More value would be gained with beefing these up to make everything bulletproof. Anyone running less than 33"s even with a 2" lift would be wasting their $$ on custom arms.
Sure it would be nice to have greasable bushes, stronger tubular arms, better balljoint angles and a bit more down travel but it's not solving the real IFS problem areas.

[-Scott-]

Just a personal thing, but I'm not a big fan of pressed-in ball joints. I'd prefer to have bolted units.

Scott

[Noisey]

For the money I think I would prefer to start looking at a SAS. The replacement arms look bling but if you're gunna do the money outlay you may aswell go all the way.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[fool_injected]

Noisey,
The thing with SAS is if you wish to insure your 4x4 nobdy would go near you with such a 'radical' modification
The tubular arms are engineer certified and would be accepted as an improvement by insurance companies.

NJ SWB,
I agree with pressed ball joints. Bolt ins are definatley possible.

Bitsamissin,
With enough buyers the jigging cost is spread out
Comparimg with the HQ-WB arms with are $1500, say 10 sets with development should be not much more
Could extreme CV angle be eliminated with cleaver design of the arms?

DougH'
Just we out and crawled under
The rear of the diff mounts on the crossmember whilst brakets come of each end going forward these stow wind wipe under drive
The rear crossmember bolts in and curves up. A simple straight 1" round replacement would drop the diif here, The fronts could be fabricated to match pretty easily as the are pretty well a plate with dif locator at on end and the other end bends 90 for chassis mounts
This still keep everything above the lowest suspension point, lower arm mounts, and actually offers a little more protection to this part
This is not as hard as it sounds
About 1-1.5" drop here so the relative difference would be .5 to 1" lift
Maybe diff lowering need to be another thread as we could all do with this

Alex,
Of course, they are for Holdens
The arms need to be fabricated as Mitsi replacements.
Whether it's spring or torsion it is just a mounting point
I have only just got a 4X4 coming from a street machine / hotrod background. IFS kits are made for these cars that accept standard knuckle ball joints. Did you know allot of high horsepower hotrods run L300 fron ends. It is a very popular swap with these guys

Guys don't for get the arms will designed to accept standar Mitsibishi components.

Dropped TSS an email with a link to this thread

cheers
Wayne

[fool_injected]

Guys,
Just got an email back from James at TSS
He said if there is enough purchasers they should be around or under $1500

I am going to call into his worksop next mid week so we can look at these mods in greater detail

I will try to post a model (drawing) if the proposed gearbox crossmember over the week end when I have some time to spare

Cheers
Wayne

[Bitsamissin]

Wayne, firstly SAS conversions are engineered all the time without any drama's as long as they are done correctly.
Secondly it's great what your doing and I hope it works out, the more aftermarket options for Mitsi's the better. Once you get some more details post on Trail Talk as well to drum up support.
Remember there are subtle (but important) differences in the IFS between Gen 1 Paj/L300, Triton and Gen 2 Paj's. Mainly factory wishbones are not interchangeable and the crossmembers vary.
You will have to do some serious research to come up with a kit that retro-fits all the Mitsi IFS variations.
Perhaps TSS can look at a IFS package that addresses the CV angles as well. I'm afraid the A arms on their own won't solve this problem.
To give you an idea the Ultimate Mitsi IFS 4" lift kit took years to develop (and this is from a reputable and large 4x4 aftermarket suspension co) and it will only fit a Triton or Challenger.