Those of you with longer control arms

smoken02

smoken02

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Feb 6, 2007
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I am in the process of removing my 2 inch coil spring spacers and replacing them with 3 inch spacers. I still have the oem control arms on my truck. I want to make a set of longer control arms to recenter the axle in the well. After doing a search I have found that a 2 inch spacer would use a 1/2 inch longer control arm. Would a 3 inch spacer use a 3/4" or maybe a 1" longer control arm? I have also read that if using a 1" longer arm it is necessary to move the sway bar links back. Now I understand that if you lower the front axle it moves back. If a 2 inch spacer needs a 1/2" longer arm to recenter the axle, wouldnt a taller spacer require a longer arm putting the axle and sway bar back in center?

I read a thread on here by dieseldork entitled "1" longer control arms." He used a 3.5" coil spacer with a 1" longer arm. The sway bar links needed to be moved back with this. I am assuming a 1" longer arm puts the axle farther forward than stock in this case, or is it centered and there is something else im not thinking about here? I figured if a 2" spacer uses 1/2" longer arms then a 3" would use 3/4" longer,and 4" would use 1" longer. Now I know 4" is obviously longer than 3.5", but going by that scale a 3.5" spacer would use a 7/8" longer arm. As you can see though in this thread http://competitiondiesel.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28034&highlight=control+arms (post 15) the link appears to be much father forward than an 1/8" from stock. What am I missing here?
 
i got 2" spacers on topn of my 5.5" skyjacker coils.... got arms made 2" longer then the skyjacker arms.... front dif is sitting a bit forward now, but nothing major. running a DT Pro Fab adjustable bar and i have zero steering issues.

a 3" spacer and my truck would be leveled right off
 
Kronic_187 said:
i got 2" spacers on topn of my 5.5" skyjacker coils.... got arms made 2" longer then the skyjacker arms.... front dif is sitting a bit forward now, but nothing major. running a DT Pro Fab adjustable bar and i have zero steering issues.

a 3" spacer and my truck would be leveled right off
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Maybe I am over thinking this then. Are your skyjacker arms equally longer than there oem replacements? Or is the upper or lower set longer than the other to maintain the drive shaft angle.
 
bottom was longer...

as it sits now, the caster bolts arn't really needed... set @ 0, and the balljoints are in line with eachother, a touch forward and the bottom twists ahead... steers like a car...
 
I hate to say it but check out cummins forum under the suspension section.Do a search for control arms.
 
I've been thinking about making a set of these, it seems like everyone is making both rods 1/2" longer.
 
My control arms with the Kore leveling kit running 37's are set to 17" top 19" lower. Puts the axle right where it needs to be. Should be just about right for you
 
adamsmarshall said:
My control arms with the Kore leveling kit running 37's are set to 17" top 19" lower. Puts the axle right where it needs to be. Should be just about right for you
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Are those numbers center to center with the bolt holes?

Lucky Jeff said:
Just do it right the first time... Long arm :Cheer:
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Dick Cepek is the only company I have seen that makes a long arm lift. It is a 6 inch lift kit though. Thats more than I want. It looks awesome though.
 
smoken02 said:
Are those numbers center to center with the bolt holes?



Dick Cepek is the only company I have seen that makes a long arm lift. It is a 6 inch lift kit though. Thats more than I want. It looks awesome though.
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no need to buy a kit.. RCD makes one as well though.. You said you wanted to make your own.. Just build the long arms and brackets.. Or find a place that you can buy them separate.. Wish I would have done that in the first place.. Although I'm lowering the truck back down anyways, so it doesn't matter anymore. I'm just hoping my 1/2" forward arms work with a truck that's 2" lower then stock :doh:
 
Just few weeks ago I made my own set of longer control arms.

At first I measured my original arms and axle location,I have 3 inch lift kit andI want to move my axle 20mm forward.

After some calulation and drawings in Autocad I ended with 19mm (3/4 inch) longer arms.

Notice! I have gen3 trackbar and it also moved to forward, with stock trackbar 3/4 longer arms might hit the axle
 
1/2" longer control arms look and work great on my 3 inch lift. But I'm pretty sure 2nd gen arms are equal length.
 
There would be a little more geometry involved in making the brackets. The control arm mounting points are wider than the frame width. I would need to calculate the angle that the bracket would have to have in order for the arms to end up at the right width when they reach the front end mounting points.
 
AsTroSS said:
Just few weeks ago I made my own set of longer control arms.

At first I measured my original arms and axle location,I have 3 inch lift kit andI want to move my axle 20mm forward.

After some calulation and drawings in Autocad I ended with 19mm (3/4 inch) longer arms.

Notice! I have gen3 trackbar and it also moved to forward, with stock trackbar 3/4 longer arms might hit the axle
Click to expand...

A 3/4" longer arm is what I came up width also. I am also thinking about buying a 3rd gen trac bar and bracket from Don Thuren.

icemanjc1 said:
1/2" longer control arms look and work great on my 3 inch lift. But I'm pretty sure 2nd gen arms are equal length.
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When droping the front end 3" or more, would it be necessary to make one pair a different length to maintain the drive shaft angle?
 
I remeber there beeing some really good info on pirate4x4. I can search for the thread if you want me to.
 
If you want I can post my low cost control arm build pictures
 
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