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3rds Front Arms

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:22 am
by CHEWY
Has anyone fitted the 3rds front arms on GQ, ive got them and they still seem to pull on front bushes. Still have to take passanger front bolt out of the arm to release stress?

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 11:33 am
by Hoonz
if you wanted flex you should have gotten a 5link front end ....

3rds arms are still a 3link .... they're just castor correctionn and a slight gain in flex ...

from what i've seen they aren't any better at flexing then the snake arms
as well ... hell strong tho and good for speed work

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 12:12 pm
by Mousie
i run them and reccomend to anyone who dosnt wanna go as far as a 5 link

there freaking ausome and flex up super cool u gottta make shore u have the rite spring rates for your weight of your car tho to get max performace from the arms if u have 35s and a 6" lift your tyres should be scrubing out on the top of the gards and ripping your flares off

if they dont go up that high then u probly got a too harder spring

but then again i run a harder spring so they dont sag when i put all my camping gear in and what not

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 6:59 pm
by ROCKRASH
3rd drop arms v wizard drop boxes. Any thoughts welcomed.

.

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 8:12 pm
by Madmac
ROCKRASH wrote:3rd drop arms v wizard drop boxes. Any thoughts welcomed.
OK heres my thoughts. and im not speakin from experience but ive been thinkin about fitting 3rds arms to my GQ.
Drop boxes_ correct castor angle. hang down low to be hung up on when crawling over rocks. 3rds arms- correct castor angle, bolt on no welding needed, do not hang down like drop boxes. might give a small improvement in flex
just my thoughts, others who have tried one or the other or both may have different ideas, id be interested to hear them too

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:58 pm
by ozy1
okay, i have 2 rigs, one with 3rds 5 Degreee drop arms and one with drop boxes,

now the one with 3rds arms is a SWB, it has 6" spring kit in it, and springs were out of a diesel, so they are a bit stiff, i think they are great, and do free up the front end a little bit, with the right lift they will also drive well on road,

now for the drop boxes, these are on my TD42 wagon, also with a 6" spring kit, they are great for castor correction, great for steering and driveability, they dont increase felx any, but they do help take all the stress of the bushes at the chassis end, compared to castor plates,
I havnt had a many probs with these being the casue of lost forward momentem, but i have hi them hard alot, also, these arnt welded on, these are only bolt on,

depends on what you want to use your rig for, on what you should use, boxes are about $400 if i remember correctly, and arms were about $1400, so its up to the person,

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:58 am
by ROCKRASH
I figured that by fiting drop boxes I could go back to using standard Nissan front bushes. Guessing that the factory rubber bushes would flex more than the hard bushes I'm currently using. Also thought by realigning the chassis end of the front arm it might end up with more down tavel aswell. Probably sounds as if I'm leaning towards the boxes but I would rather use the arms if the performance gains were equal to or better than the boxes simply because the arms are an easy fit. If DOT weren't happy with the arms its not a big job to change them back to my current arms. This is assuming that the chassis end mount on the 3rd arm is a factory fit

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:16 am
by viperguy
i have giant racing drop boxes in my shorty mav with 5 inch kings coils. returned to using standard front radius bushes. have noticed improved flex and perfect on raod manners. they do hang low but have not been a hinderence so far crawling rocks etc. have hit them on rocks but never been hung up.
allow full range of up and down movement of the front arms by leveling them out rather than having sloping arms already taking up the down travel allowed by rear bushes. hard to explian but i think u guys know what i mean..like what ozy1 said

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 11:10 pm
by bru21
I went the 3rds without the swivel and fitted it like an 80 series. flex, castor, strength, no flogging out, and on mine the diff hit the panhard big time before i pulled the swivels. I don't think the factory ones are suitable for high speed big travel systems. i broke mine at the pin with very little (one hand) levering the diff down to fir a 3rds at the other end, shitty casting!

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:57 am
by turps
In theory. Drop boxs, snake or 3rds arms do not produce more travel. What they do, do though is take the stress out of all the bushes once a Patrol is lifted.
This is were the travel seems to come from.
And with Patrols it seems worse than Cruisers as there is the extra pin on the chassi that also binds, not just the bushes on the axle.

There can be little gains on a patrol with soft coils and longer shocks. Also if you only use rubber bushes and worn ones are better you will get abit more flex.
But high speed handleing will be reduced.

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:11 pm
by fatassgq
Hey Bru21,
Your patrol is a pre 90 model isn't it??? Was a very common problem believe it or not with the eary patrols and it is only because of the casting around the pin. They changed after 90 I think and no more probs.
I think the early ones had a sharp edge and later ones have more of a chamfer.

In regards to drop boxes V Arms.
Both have good and bad points but for on road driving performance drop boxes will win every time.
You do loose a little clearance behind the front wheels but this is generally not a major problem for most people.
The arms have the advantage of giving good clearance and seem beefy but this really is not a problem for most factory arms. It is only in VERY heavy comp use that u would fuck a standard radius arm.

I personally would recommend the snake ones over 3rds unless you do like Bru21 has done. The pivot point being out that far is not good imo.

End of the day drop boxes are about 350 - 400. Arms are about 1200 -1400. Make a choice

ALSO BUILD DROP RADIUS ARMS FOR PATROLS,CRUSIERS & RANGI

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:17 pm
by 2dextreme
I HAVE BEEN PLAYING AROUND WITH THESE FOR 4 1/2YRS AND HAVE THEM IN A FEW COMPLETION TRUCKS EG;NORMY"S ,MANNI"S,KEVY KNOTTS,JEFF WHITES, STARKY AND THEY HAVE BEEN GIVING THEM A HARD TIME BUT AREN'T ABLE TO BRAKE THEM.

I"M RUNNING A 6" LIFT IN A DUAL CAB PATROL WITH 26 1/2" SHOCKS IN THE FRONT AND NEED TO PUT A LONGER SHOCK IN THE FRONT AS I'M USING ALL THE LENGHT OF THE SHOCK.

I'M ALSO DEVELOPING A LONGER TRAVEL SERIES SET WITH THE PROTO TYPE IS TRAVERING AS MUCH AS A 5 LINK BUT AM CHANGING A COUPLE OF THINGS TO IMPROVE THE TRAVEL.

THERE IS A COUPLE OF SHOPS THAT ARE SELLING THEM IN BRISBANE.[/u]

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 8:34 am
by CHEWY
What springs r ya useing in the front end. Im getting some springs moddified at the moment to try and get more flex.

chewy

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 6:22 pm
by 2dextreme
i'm running 240lb 19mm wire , i'm also running GU rubbers and it has a lot to do with the lenght of the arm

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:23 pm
by GUJohnno
Have you got details where these can be bought from

Is there any places in vic selling them at the moment?