Outer Limits 4x4 Board

any one have some practical and usefull hints on how to make the front of a GQ flex better.its got 2" susp only........

Longer shocks and 3 or 4" soft springs. Bump stops, springs and shocks need to be length matched.

Bazzle

What bazzle mentioned will help..

The design of the front 3 link inhibits flex. For instance if the rhs goes up and the lhs goes down the rhs tries to roll the axle backwards and alternatively the lhs trys to rotate forwards - hope you follow what I mean. Try moving your hands up and down with straight arms/wrists you may see what I mean... or not.

You have four points on the axle that are being stabilised by the radius arms (+ 1 for panhard rod that controls side to side). If you are too eleminate one of the front point (ie remove bolt) you can allow the axle to move up and down more freely similar to the rear...

If by practical and usefull you mean booty fab then....

There is a chappy on this forum known as JK he has/had trailed a 'poor mans five link'. Basically what I mentioned above. He got a spare radius arms from a wreckers and hacked the front of it. When you go wheeling you replace the passenger side radius arm with this one that only has one bolt. It is important it is the passenger side as the drivers side takes care of some of the axle wrap ie; radius arm mount close to diff/driveshaft...

I'm fairly drunk and can keep writing but am going to stop now...

JemmyBubbles wrote:What bazzle mentioned will help..

The design of the front 3 link inhibits flex. For instance if the rhs goes up and the lhs goes down the rhs tries to roll the axle backwards and alternatively the lhs trys to rotate forwards - hope you follow what I mean. Try moving your hands up and down with straight arms/wrists you may see what I mean... or not.

You have four points on the axle that are being stabilised by the radius arms (+ 1 for panhard rod that controls side to side). If you are too eleminate one of the front point (ie remove bolt) you can allow the axle to move up and down more freely similar to the rear...

If by practical and usefull you mean booty fab then....

There is a chappy on this forum known as JK he has/had trailed a 'poor mans five link'. Basically what I mentioned above. He got a spare radius arms from a wreckers and hacked the front of it. When you go wheeling you replace the passenger side radius arm with this one that only has one bolt. It is important it is the passenger side as the drivers side takes care of some of the axle wrap ie; radius arm mount close to diff/driveshaft...

I'm fairly drunk and can keep writing but am going to stop now...

alternitavly you can replace the bolt on the ront of one arm with a pin you can take out offroad. best to strenghten the mounts up at the same time

The only problem I forsee is during articulation the front -unbolted/unpinned - section of the arm would contact the housing. That is why he chopped the front of the arm off.

The only way to use a standard arm w/pin configuration is if you have 7 degree castor plates, I think the 5.5 degree ones don't give you quite enough ... ??

Could be all heresay and rumour though. Not speaking from experience though just observation..

JemmyBubbles wrote:The only problem I forsee is during articulation the front -unbolted/unpinned - section of the arm would contact the housing. That is why he chopped the front of the arm off.

The only way to use a standard arm w/pin configuration is if you have 7 degree castor plates, I think the 5.5 degree ones don't give you quite enough ... ??

Could be all heresay and rumour though. Not speaking from experience though just observation..

true but should increase the flex without changing the arm completely for offroad use. everything is a compremise between on and offroad use unless it is only offroad use. frankly the obsession for greater flex is beyond me, the reason for flex is to create traction and stability, graeter flex does not nessicarily help either and posative traction from a diff lock will always get you further than heaps of flex. there is few if any places that a mate of mine with a truggy GQ with 5 link front and 4 link rear with coilovers will drive that I wont attempt and drive. at willowglen and nissan trials I got better placings than him with far less mods and smaller unbeadlocked tyres. knowing your car is the key and just because you lift a wheel, doesnt mean you cant contineu to drive

Tiny wrote:

JemmyBubbles wrote:The only problem I forsee is during articulation the front -unbolted/unpinned - section of the arm would contact the housing. That is why he chopped the front of the arm off.

The only way to use a standard arm w/pin configuration is if you have 7 degree castor plates, I think the 5.5 degree ones don't give you quite enough ... ??

Could be all heresay and rumour though. Not speaking from experience though just observation..

true but should increase the flex without changing the arm completely for offroad use. everything is a compremise between on and offroad use unless it is only offroad use. frankly the obsession for greater flex is beyond me, the reason for flex is to create traction and stability, graeter flex does not nessicarily help either and posative traction from a diff lock will always get you further than heaps of flex. there is few if any places that a mate of mine with a truggy GQ with 5 link front and 4 link rear with coilovers will drive that I wont attempt and drive. at willowglen and nissan trials I got better placings than him with far less mods and smaller unbeadlocked tyres. knowing your car is the key and just because you lift a wheel, doesnt mean you cant contineu to drive

I agree with leave it all alone and fit an Airlocker.

Bazzle

agree

loose the sway bar..... free mod and more flex.

have done some tests with front swaybar and even with 80series lenght shocks there is little point removing swaybar completly just the passenger side link.

if u want flex get a 5link ...

snake/3rds arms help to some extent but not much

definately a locker for max traction

either or ur still gonna bust CVs

is it best to pull the bolt on the pinion side?

Fozdick wrote:have done some tests with front swaybar and even with 80series lenght shocks there is little point removing swaybar completly just the passenger side link.

there would be little difference in just pulling one side out as aposed removing it all together thats the whole point of a sway bar is that both sides are bolted to the chassis. (refer to quick relece rear sway bar in the rear of upmarket GQ`s) but who could be bothered undoing and doing it up all the time? not me! just toss it to the crapa and be done with it, the road maners are sill there cos the front is so stiff, which is why this thread was started.

IMO you may as well give the rear one the arse while your there, however thats when it starts to get a little bit boat like on the road.

PS: wouldnt be pulling the bolt out either, doesnt give that much more flex, cant be good for the caster bushes that remain bolted in plus the extra load put on the 1 bolt holding the arm to the diff.

firstly throw the sway bar behind the shed. 2ndly contact Haultech and order a set of slotted bushes. once youve fitted these pull the front shocks out and drive it up a travel ramp until the coils are loose. take measurements and order new shocks to suit, if you are going to fit bigger springs either get drop boxes or drop arms. ive fitted slotted bushes and drop boxes to mine and am really happy with it. the bushes flex really well, when flexed they look like jelly. they really do work. i dont doubt that they will flo0g out quicker than normal bushes. but thats the price you pay for more flex

Madmac wrote:firstly throw the sway bar behind the shed. 2ndly contact Haultech and order a set of slotted bushes. once youve fitted these pull the front shocks out and drive it up a travel ramp until the coils are loose. take measurements and order new shocks to suit, if you are going to fit bigger springs either get drop boxes or drop arms. ive fitted slotted bushes and drop boxes to mine and am really happy with it. the bushes flex really well, when flexed they look like jelly. they really do work. i dont doubt that they will flo0g out quicker than normal bushes. but thats the price you pay for more flex

x2

I've done the same thing as Madmac i.e drop boxes & Haultech bushes and it's transformed the front end. Like he said, the bushes probably won't last as long as OEM ones, but they flex like a champ.

It is a really good idea to space to front shock towers up to allow 80 series shocks. Basically the same valving but 30% longer so a lot more oil in there so better at keeping cool so last longer and work better for longer. As for sway bars, as long as you have good shocks I wouldn't bother with them at all. I've got a 96 LWB with standard suspension setup (new shocks etc) and my winch trucl that has no swaybars 3" + 2" lift on 35's will corner better and faster.

how much are the slotted bushes and do they effect road manerse?
already got drop boxes and 6 inch coils with correct length shocks

2 years later is anyone still removing the bolt from there radius arm when offroad and had any dramas doing this, or is this a big no-no

We now have Superiors Superflex arms.
Haultech bushes are still great for flex.
GU Slotted bushes are also better then the solid GQ bushes.

Shane

4WD Stuff wrote:We now have Superiors Superflex arms.
Shane

cus at last someone did some design work on nissans

1MadEngineer wrote:

4WD Stuff wrote:We now have Superiors Superflex arms.
Shane

cus at last someone did some design work on nissans

how is the new shock testing coming along??
whats the verdict?

Hoonz wrote:

1MadEngineer wrote:

4WD Stuff wrote:We now have Superiors Superflex arms.
Shane

cus at last someone did some design work on nissans

how is the new shock testing coming along??
whats the verdict?

sorry mate, been so busy. our new FOA rears have arrived, so we will be putting them in next weekend. I have a big list of stuff to do!
- GQ/GU power steering hiflo and pressure testing
- Front billet drive hubs
- nissan to chev pattern adapter
and build a new winch truck

oh and maybe some sleep....

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Must be getting on in years. Just skip the sleep.

looks good to me!

no rest for the wikkid
my truck has arrived see members section