Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Ok guys, its been a busy few months and I have finally finished my design work and submitted my final report and all the data on the new Superior Engineering SuperFlex Radius arms.
Ever since i first designed the nissan ones i have been itching to get a set done for Cruisers Well now they are done!




full report to follow!

Development Test Document
Superior Engineering SuperFlex Radius Arms - suit Toyota LandCruiser
Test criteria: Stock 80 series w/ HD 3" lift open diffs, sway bars and OME shocks.
Test regime: Performed on a 30deree ramp with front shocks removed to allow comparative measurements across the front shock mounting surfaces.
Tests performed:
1- Swaybars attached F&R, STD radius arm configuration
2- Front swaybar disconnected, rear swaybar connected, STD radius arm configuration
3- Front swaybar disconnected, rear swaybar connected, STD radius arm configuration with front bolt removed on Passenger side (to simulate 3link/X-link max flex)
4- Front swaybar disconnected, rear swaybar connected, New SuperiorEngeering Superflex radius arm installed.
5- RTI calculation – (configuration as per #4) 30 degree ramp driven forward and reverse directions.

COMPRESSED EXTENDED TRAVEL DIFFERENTIAL NOTES
TEST 1 543 640 97 3" STD + SWAYBARS F&R
TEST 2 505 660 155 3" STD + SWAYBAR REAR
TEST 3 475 770 295 3" BOLT REMOVED + SWAYBAR REAR
TEST 4 490 725 235 3" SUPERFLEX + SWAYBAR REAR
Note: OME shocks to suit specified lift = 710mm ext, 480mm comp, 230mm travel.

TEST 5 – RTI as calculated, 2850mm wheelbase. (config #4) Superflex arm fitted, rear swaybar connected.
Distance travelled FORWARD - 1795mm = 909 RTI @ 20degree (622 RTI @ 30degree)
Distance travelled REVERSE - 1690mm

Supplementary Testing:
A further set of tests were performed in which to acquire data for the optimisation &/or replacement of shocks and springs to create ‘a full package’. The testing involved removing front and rear shocks so as not to pollute the data and allow access to measure the available travel of both front and rear suspensions, this also allows us to measure the useful travel of the vehicle setup as a whole.
Results:
COMPRESSED EXTENDED TRAVEL DIFFERENTIAL NOTES
TEST – FRONT TRAVEL 485 730 245 3" SUPERFLEX w/ SWAYBARS REMOVED FRONT & REAR
TEST - REAR TRAVEL 440 740 300 3" SUPERFLEX w/ SWAYBARS REMOVED FRONT & REAR

RTI – (distance as measured on 30 degree ramp)
Forward – 1830mm = 940 RTI @ 20degree (642 RTI @ 30degree)
Reverse – 2065mm

Conclusions:
Overall flex direct comparisons (test#2 – test#4) show a huge improvement in front end flex, with useable travel increasing from 155mm to 235mm+ as measured at the shock position. This amount of flex (230mm+) is equal to or greater than the maximum shock travel as offered by most OE manufacturers. Test #5 was performed as an indicator of overall component integration, and the maximum constraints of standard suspension components. Continued testing and development is recommended to attain the better commercially available shock and spring alternatives. So for the first time a good bolt-in solution is offered that can finally use ALL of the available shock travel in most ‘long-travel’ lift kits!

Test Vehicle: Toyota LandCruiser 80 series, current suspension – H/Duty Dobinson 3” coil spring set, OME 3” shocks, factory swaybars w/ SuperiorEngineering drop brackets. OE alloy bulbar and sidesteps. 33” tires.



Test #1 – flex measurements in std form

Test #3 – max OE flex, front Radius Arm bolt removed, no front shocks.

Technology in DESIGN!
Superior Engineering
SUPERFLEX Radius Arms to suit Toyota Landcruiser

NEW – Superior Engineering Landcruiser SUPERFLEX Radius Arms fitted.
As you can see the results are AMAZING!

pretty awesome flex for a 3" lift, and something the misses can do the groceries in!

Thats cool farken.

Great work!

Very cool

very impressive, nice work

thanks guys. We spent the last few days driving it around, and i must say I am super impressed how it drives. Its the ultimate 'sleeper' it drives really well and doesn't look hardly modified at all, so mr plod would never even look twice. But for a 3" lifted truck - it flexes like mad .

The next part we have to work on is some good shocks to suit the package, so i am hoping a few of the OE shock gurus can help me out. Now that we have found some great flex we just have to find some long travel shocks.

What is the reasoning behind the difference in the front mounting arrangement of the arms, ie why does the passenger's side arm have the bracket?

but will it be legal cant imagine many people fitting them to daily drives if insurance will be void if you have a prang
other wise very cool,what does it handle like on high speed dirt?
is there any noticable difference at the steer wheel?
what does it do for roll stability at highway speeds?
and how much will they be and when are they available

v8zuki wrote:but will it be legal cant imagine many people fitting them to daily drives if insurance will be void if you have a prang
other wise very cool,what does it handle like on high speed dirt?
is there any noticable difference at the steer wheel?
what does it do for roll stability at highway speeds?
and how much will they be and when are they available

Mick,
on road I am super impressed, they handle very well, especially for a 3" lift and no front swaybar. IMO they are as good as the nissan version, and the nissan ones have been winning/placing in almost every XWC they have entered in. Even for an ex-rally guy like yourself you would find them pretty good at speed.
The BIG plus for their 'performance' is that you can FEEL the flex. You know when your offcamber and things are tweaked right out,you can feel that your getting to 80-90% of travel and you can then turn the wheel and keep it on all 4. I HATE suspension setups that are unpredictable or don't give the driver any feedback! sure they may look cool on a ramp, but they are pointless offroad. All in all i think we have come up with a great compromise.

very cool indeed.
it appears that it has the front working well.

so when you are testing it onroad is it with the sway bars in or not?
just wondering.

cheers

Twon

DIRTY ROCK STAR wrote:so when you are testing it onroad is it with the sway bars in or not?
just wondering.

It only says in the post above yours. No front sway bar.

I like this..........
You guys are thinking into the future, ie, small lifts BIG wheel travel, good work.
What kind of cost can we expect on them?
What castor options do you have?
How do they go on road with no front sway bar?
What kind of clearance does the tie rod end up with?

Taps

taps wrote:I like this..........
You guys are thinking into the future, ie, small lifts BIG wheel travel, good work.
What kind of cost can we expect on them?
What castor options do you have?
How do they go on road with no front sway bar?
What kind of clearance does the tie rod end up with?

Taps

thanks taps!
cost - i think they will be same'ish as the nissan style ones (i will let superior answer that one)
castor - 3,4,5 and 6" lifts and to suit 32-38" tire combos
good onroad! but then again 80's always drive well.

but then again 80's always drive well



You got it...
and you have just made the package better

Looks awesome!

...but as asked earlier, are they legal? Insurable?

Out of curiosity, how is the flex with the front sway bar connected?

are all the front bolts still in place?

udm wrote:are all the front bolts still in place?

yep still has 2 radius arms with 2 mounting points on each. although the axis of rotation/deflection is changed to give the benefits.

1MadEngineer wrote:

udm wrote:are all the front bolts still in place?

yep still has 2 radius arms with 2 mounting points on each. although the axis of rotation/deflection is changed to give the benefits.

but how? you are still using the factory mountings point at the diff end.

very nice .. dont know if its being asked already but how come one arm goes on top and under the diff and the other side just goes under ?
excuse my ignorance.

Nice design. Very simple with no modifications required.
How you the cycle behave if you were to run two of arms (ie. passenger on drivers side as well) instead of just the passenger side.

Cheers Joel

STUMPY wrote:Nice design. Very simple with no modifications required.
How you the cycle behave if you were to run two of arms (ie. passenger on drivers side as well) instead of just the passenger side.

Cheers Joel

although you could do it no probs but IMO there is a limit to what flex is REALLY needed. ON and Offroad i feel its better to have something predictable that you can drive to 99% of its capacity and have FEEL and confidence rather than a big slinky that will just fall over. So far all the tests have proved these work every bit as good if not better than the nissan versions. And they are fantastic! must be something to do with the cruisers have better geometry to start with
The 'flex arm' is run on the passenger side as its torsional control is directly related percentage wise to the differential offsett (further from diff center is sorta like a bigger longer torque arm)
The other HUGE advantage is that the bushes are in a vertical plane which reduces binding and tearing of the bushes! No point having big flex if you have to replace stuff all the time.

hope that helps (i am average at explaining stuff without drawing pics.... engineer thing i think )

Great result, question though regarding the tie rod. How close does the ties road get to the new passenger radius arm?

In one of the pics it looks close i.e almost touching?
I note that you have what looks like the solid tie rod on the test car (is this the same OD as the original unit?), just wondering if thats just a coincidence or if it would be better to have strength in case the radius does catch the tie rod.

I need new arms to fix driveability on the 4-5" springs so just deciding over these or the standard dropped arms.

[quote="Sixty"]Looks awesome!

...but as asked earlier, are they legal? Insurable?

quote]

X2

gtir300 wrote:Great result, question though regarding the tie rod. How close does the ties road get to the new passenger radius arm?

In one of the pics it looks close i.e almost touching?
I note that you have what looks like the solid tie rod on the test car (is this the same OD as the original unit?), just wondering if thats just a coincidence or if it would be better to have strength in case the radius does catch the tie rod.

I need new arms to fix driveability on the 4-5" springs so just deciding over these or the standard dropped arms.

the arms in the photos are one of my early test sets and as you can appreciated it way easier to trim than it is to add! I had measured and measured,but underestimated just how well they do flex. Now i have exact dimensions on a working model the drawing files have been updated to suit. Yes it also has a larger HD tierod as well. I like to test for every situation and it was put on to find the maximum clearances required.

Sixty, as for legality, i am not sure (thats not my thing, i am not selling them, i just did the design work on them) but i do know of heaps of the nissan ones done down south. If you are in QLD then you have no chance, the nazi's up here won't allow anything, although i do know of a few local cars that have been inspected with them and they have had no issue (probably cus they don't look like professionally made).

hi, for those that haven't heard too much about the superflex arms before, here are a few videos of the nissan version in action.
(most are 4-5" lift and don't run any swaybars)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8PTvZNB ... re=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDY3jQSe ... re=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9wDEnrS ... re=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9wDEnrS ... re=channel