4 Link Suspensions

This blog has been on my to do list for a while, I had great intentions of doing a full photo shoot and maybe a short video or two from the garage to show examples. The reality of that is much less exciting, as usual time is limited, and I'm stretched pretty thin. So I am going to need to share some resources in this one to give you good solid information and keep it interesting.

Four Wheeler Magazine did a great write up

Here is some info on front suspensions

There are tons of different ways to set up your own custom suspension, sure you can wing it, it might work, but chances are it won't work the way you had in mind. There's also the chance that in an attempt to make your rig ultra cool, and the baddest thing on the trails ends up with bad behavior, it could be set up in such a way that you can't actually put the power to the ground, or worse, be so unstable that it rolls over rather than crawls the obstacles. And then there's the safety factor, we are talking about welding and bolting the pieces that are holding your entire rig together here, be honest about your welding skills, if you can't put down top quality welds you should find someone that can.

Luckily there are now lots of companies making tabs, brackets, and all of the other parts to build your own suspension. But there are always guys that feel they can "do it better" in an attempt to save a few bucks they make all of their own parts, this is not a great plan for a beginner. The pieces available are well thought out, laser cut, and CNC bent pieces that have been proven on some of the hardest trails out there. And the price of these parts isn't that expensive when you take into account the material costs, your time, and the tools needed to make them. For me I would rather be able to open a box and immediately start fitting and mocking up pieces rather than spend my day trying to make a basic link mount.

Ruff Stuff Specialties

Artec Industries

I am by no means an expert on suspension design, and tuning. But there are a few places I did my research in order to feel confident enough to start building custom suspension, rather than repeat all of the info here i will just supply you with the best links I have used to figure out the different terms and what they all mean. There are lots of "rules" people use to build there suspensions, but once you understand what each piece does it will all make sense.

Excel suspension calculator

It's pretty amazing how 4 little links can have so many functions, but they are all important and must be addressed in order to have a properly functioning rig. The other factor that will limit you is the available space under your vehicle, there isn't much room under a Jeep once you start putting all of these pieces in there so you will probably need to either compromise on proper suspension angles or cutting away parts of your vehicle or moving things like fuel tanks and exhaust.

   

Weak mounts

If you read my last blog you already know about the different options for lifting the most popular Jeep suspensions, one thing that remains a constant among all of them is there weak axle side lower control arm mounts (the frame side mounts have their own issues as well) The problem with the lower control arm mounts, specifically in the front is that they hang below the axle tube where they are susceptible to damage from trail obstacles. Couple this with a weak stamped steel design from the factory, with no type of skid plate and it's easy to see why most people end up bending or breaking these mounts.

This is exactly what happened to a good friend of mine on our clubs annual Easter trip to Windrock Park last year; and in true wheeler fashion he waited until the week before this years trip to properly fix it, due to work schedules and a busy family life it left me fabricating him a new mount less than 12 hours before his departure!

This lower control arm mount was ripped completely off by a rock, it was then temporarily welded back on.

There are several options out there to replace and upgrade the factory mounts, however with a little patience and some 3/16" steel you can throw one together in a couple of hours. For this repair I first cut the old bent up one off, it was pretty beat up, but I was still able to use it as a rough base for the new one. Be sure to clean all of the remnants of the old mount from the axle, remove all paint and rust from the entire area so that when you weld the new one on it will be a good solid weld.




I traced both sides onto a piece of cardboard, and added a little extra material on the axle side since that is where I cut it off. Once I cut out the template I also added the bolt hole location using the back of the original mount as the guide.

I then "bolted" it into the lower control arm and swung it up into place and began the trimming process, trimming a small amount at a time until it fits in the factory location correctly. It is important to account for the top plate in this process, however if need be you can trim the tops of the side plates once they are all fit up.

Once you are satisfied with the way the cardboard fits, it's time to transfer it to the steel. I have the benefit of a plasma cutter in our shop, however you could do this with an oxy fuel torch, a bandsaw, or even a grinder with a cut-off wheel. You will then need to transfer the bolt hole location and drill those through as well, keep in mind that you don't want to make these holes any larger than need be or you will end up with a lot of slop which could lead to death wobble.

Be sure to de-bur everything real good, you may be doing this in your driveway, or your poorly equipped garage, but it doesn't need to look like it, take some time to make it look good now so you won't be embarrassed to show it off to your buddies later.

Now start the trimming process over, this time with the steel parts, fit your pieces together using the control arm to hold it all together, don't tighten the bolt to much or you final gap will be to tight. Take your time, make sure your gaps are as tight as possible. Tack all the pieces in but be sure the tacks are in an area that can be cut out if you aren't happy with the fitment. Again, don't rush this, make sure all the pieces are fit correctly, and the lower control arm is at the correct angle; once you are 100% happy with the fitment add a few more tacks to lock it all in place. Remove the lower control arm from your new mount so you don't melt the bushing, plus this allows you to access the inside of the mount. Now weld that sucker in! 

I also added a small plate to the front side of the mount (That Jeep should have included from the factory) this acts as a skid plate, and helps to stiffen the mount to help keep it from folding over if you hit a rock. I added one to the factory mount too in hopes of keeping it in one piece so I don't need to do this again after the next trip out.

Be sure to paint everything before reassembling to keep the rust

Winter Projects

Ahh winter, it sneaks up on us every year, no matter how much we think we are ready for it we are never as prepared as we want to be. Christmas seems to come out of nowhere, and consumes much of our time; and our budgets! Then New Years comes and we all make resolutions that we know damn well we won't follow through on. But then what? What do we have to look forward to after that? It conjures up images of being snowed into our primitive log cabin's huddling around the fire, and hoping to make the rations hold out till spring.

But for the offroader winter means so much more, it means it's time to take care of all the little issues with your rig that you put off to get you through that last trip out on the trails before putting it away for winter. It seems every year we come up with a grand list of upgrades and changes that we need to get done during our winter maintenance. Perhaps it's a faulty wiring harness that has been causing your electric fan to cut out and make you overheat, or you are finally going to make those half doors you've been wanting for a couple of years. Some guys take this time to all out rebuild their rigs, new engines and drivetrains, adding more lift, or maybe even a whole new suspension, or a custom roll cage. For me I have locked myself into a complete new build before spring, and haven't even unstrapped the new Jeep from the trailer from when I bought it back in October!

Whatever the project, this is the time of year that we all swear we are going to get it done, and that we "Won't wait until the last minute like i did last year" But the truth is that the rig is probably sitting in our shop, maybe in some level of disassembly... meaning you put it on jack stands and pulled the tires off before walking away from it. But soon the pressure will be on, as the days get a little longer, and we get that unseasonal warm day we all get the itch, and then we look at the calendar and remember that spring is right around the corner!

Our club has been doing an annual Easter trip to Windrock Park in Tennessee for the past couple of years, and it's been a great way to shake off the winter funk. But that also means that we have all locked ourselves into a solid date to get our shit together! This year the trip is a full week, so that means making sure that whatever you have planned for upgrades better be reliable!

So let this be the reminder to all of you guys like me that have been putting things off, and thinking you still have all the time in the world... GET OFF YOUR ASS, GET IN THE GARAGE, AND GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!

Miller Multimatic 200 Review

Miller Multimatic 200 Review

This week I wanted to take s few minutes to review a really good tool that I am asked about constantly... "What's a good welder to start out with?"... Anyone that knows about welding knows that this is a pretty vague question. Most people trying to get their home shop set up with a welder will underestimate the capabilities, or even how quickly they will outgrow that cheap Harbor Freight welder; or they will feel like they have to have the biggest and best TIG welder with more options than you will even know what to do with, let alone actually use... most guys in their home shop doing basic fab won't need custom AC waveforms, or customizable pulse settings. 

So what makes my opinion worth listening to? I'm just another faceless idiot on the internet right? You're partially right... But aside from having a love for the off road world which has built my skill set from a builder standpoint. My full time job is as a Welding Team leader at a field machining company (Check us out here), I hold AWS certifications in Welding Inspection, and Welding Supervision, I hold welding certifications for all of the "normal" processes. Each job that comes my way has unique challenges, so I need to KNOW what equipment will be the right fit for the project. Sure, we have some really cool toys, and some serious welding power that we send all over the world to perform weld repairs, but we also have a few great small machines for when you need to pack light and perform a small repair in a tight spot.

One of my favorite machines in our arsenal is one of our smallest... but also has some of the best options, and welds silky smooth. It's a Miller Multimatic 200 CC/CV there was a LOT of skepticism when this little 40 pound baby sized machine came to us... So I put it to the test in an attempt to make it fail in our shop before taking it out on the road... It passed every test I threw at it without showing any signs of wanting to give up! 

What can it do?

This little machine can do it all! Stick, MIG, Flux core, TIG, and even Spool gun for aluminum! The set up is super easy as Miller has done a great job of labeling everything well, and made every part rugged and easy to use. Wanna run some solid wire MIG for some suspension work? No problem, turn the dial to MIG and tell it the wire size, and material thickness, the machine sets itself! Wanna TIG weld some headers? No problem, Swap the work lead and plug in your TIG torch right in the front, turn the dial, set you tungsten size and material thickness and your ready to go! 

It even has dual gas inlets in the back so you don't need to swap the lines! Need to go over to your buddies place and weld his trailer back together? And all he can give you is a 120v extension cord? Yup, you've got this. Swap the cord end from the standard 210v and the machine switches itself, hook up your stick lead and burn in that 3/32" 7018 like a pro. 

Check it out on the Miller Website

or 

Buy it here

What CAN'T it do?

Now sure, I love this little machine, but it's not a power house. It isn't for heavy fab, and doesn't have AC TIG so you won't be TIG welding aluminum with it. 

The bottom line is that this little machine is a perfect fit for someone that wants a serious welder in their shop that can handle whatever little project that might come their way, now at $2,500 with all the options it's not cheap. But when you think about the fact that this one little machine that can fit under most workbenches can do the job of three machines it takes the bite off a bit.