Your build is coming along nicely! I’m picking up a parts truck tomorrow for axles. Can’t wait to sas my 00 quad cab, love the truck but there is a severe lack of parts in the off-road market for these trucks.
Thanks man! Yeah I'm surprised at how little aftermarket support these trucks get. Good luck with your build! Check out my @webwheeler Instagram and send me some pics of your project 👍
Just finished making brackets for a three link on a 2002 SD axle that will end up in a 77 F150. I have, after much reading and consultation, decided to leave the spring perch intact and attach one half of the custom made bracket to it while the other half attaches to the narrow portion of exposed steel tube. The nodular casting is plated with 1/4" steel for increased weld attachment and the bracket welds to the plating. Muggy Weld 75 for cast to steel and I am tigging the whole thing. Cutting the cast back may have been easier, but making a contoured bracket was a day of experimental fabbing that was quite enjoyable. I had initial concerns over strength, but it seemed that when I started paying attention to experience old timers, instead of internet professionals, those concerns melted away. It all comes down to proper filler, proper heat, proper cool down and proper technique. Regardless, I was advised to draw the line when looking at radius arm versus 3 link. Too much sway/torque interplay with radius arms on the cast, cutting it back as you have done would have been the only reasonable way to use radius arms without stressing the cast in every simple turn and bump. Dang thing has enough roll in it already to scare the wife around slow curves with stock radius arms, so sway bars were in order anyway. Rock on!
Sounds like you're doing it right Jim! I wouldn't trim down those 99-04 axles either- they leave you with a lot more room than these 05+ do. Plus the stock radius arms mount to the casting on these so you could argue moving the mounts to the tube (even with the trimmed casting) is actually a stronger setup when you factor in the new stresses that offroading puts on suspension/axles/steering components. Thanks for watching! Sounds like an awesome build!
Thanks for the good words! I'm coming out with a video relatively soon that will cover 3 links vs radius arms and will go in to more detail about binding 👍 subscribe and keep an eye out for that! Basically, radius arms bind because as the axle articulates, the joints at the axle want to stay neutral and let the joint at the frame handle the rotation. However, the other radius arm joints want to do the same thing but that rotation radius is different which causes the radius arms to bind against each other. Hope that makes sense. Like I said- watch for the video and that will give a better example of what I'm talking about. Thanks for watching!
@@WebWheeler Thank you for explaining that. It does make sense. I'm planning on trying to attempt my very first linked front end within a year. I'm doing a lot of research to take in as much information as I can. I've been subscribed to your channel for over a year now. I'll definitely be looking out for your 3 link and radius arm video.
Aloha from Hawaii I have the only Sas 02 Sas Dakota 416cid superduty axles 5.13 Yukon gears. Radius a setup all my stuff is from ballistic fabrication less my 12” coil overs on 37”. I built it 10 years ago and never had an issue with my suspension. What did you do about your motor mounts? Did you connect them together with a crossmember before or after you finished your custom lift which I totally love!!!!! Killer build
Thanks man! Sounds like a sweet rig you built too. Have an IG or anything where I can check out some pictures? I'm @webwheeler on Instagram too. I custom built some motor mounts with new joints. If you check out part 4 of this build I show how I build the drivers side 👍 I haven't added a crossmember yet but that's coming up soon- I wanted to get all the steering and track bar geometry right first and then build a crossmember that clears all that stuff afterwards. Thanks for watching!
What you call trigger welding is actually named pulse welding and it is not the strongest at all however 80% of what makes a weld is the material and prep and you had nice thick metal but you cleaned it well and when you were welding you maintained heat in the puddle the whole time even though it got big at the end
Pulse welding normally maintains an arc and alternates between high and low amperage to control heat input but yeah stacking spot welds/"trigger" welding is basically the low tech version of the same thing haha. It has it's applications especially in situations where there is a thickness contrast like I had here. Same reason I welded downhill instead of uphill- minimize heat input to fully penetrate the 3/16" without burning through the 12ga of the frame
Awesome work my friend! You made the comment that you don't like three-links for the street, in your next video on the track bar can you tell us the pros and cons of the three link vs radius arms?
Yeah these trucks are fun in stock form but that front axle is hanging on for dear life when you get off-road haha. Especially with a 5.9L 😈 thanks for watching and good luck on the swap! Hope the videos help you out
It does allow for the use of smaller, lighter tubing than having a tube adapter but I mainly did it because I had the right size scrap laying around and I figured it'd be cool to throw in some machining footage to break up the monotony of welding everything haha. Thanks for watching!
3 links have better group but radius arms are easier to set up and safer than 3 links if a joint, bracket, or control arm fails. 4 links are superior to both though as far as performance goes
I have only put around 5k miles on them so far but they still feel great. Flex is awesome but the big thing for me is how smooth they feel on the road. No vibration or harshness- feels like a factory ride but still handles awesome on and off road. I will eventually do a long term review and check how they are doing at around 20k miles or so. Thanks for watching!
Without the weld on the end, moisture can get into the tube and cause corrosion. Could do more rosette welds but 2-3 tends to be all that are needed. More than that and it's just extra work and extra heat cooking the end of the tube and potentially weakening it
@@azoffroadclub Usually it's just estimating where you want the final height to sit, and building to that after factoring in weight and spring rates, but this project was a little simpler. I was looking to keep it as low as I could, so I swapped the rear axle to the factory leaf springs, and built the front suspension to match that new height. Hope that makes sense!
I use solidworks but fusion 360 is a great free option for sheetmetal design. There are simpler programs if you only need 2D but learning fusion 360 is definitely worthwhile. Thanks for watching!
Building it as low as possible makes sure all your clearances are good- you can always raise the height as desired afterwards. If you build it tall you run it to lots of problems trying to lower it back down
They're from MetalCloak. Pretty sweet joints if you have a rig you plan to run on the road- flex a ton like heims but are way more quiet and comfortable on the road
Pretty close. I plan on keeping this build relatively low and if I decide to I can always give it a little extra height really easily. Building it too tall and trying to lower it will usually require a bunch of extra work that I don't want to do haha. Thanks for watching 👍
Uphill is generally stronger but not always best. When dealing with different thicknesses like this 3/16" plate to ~12ga frame thickness, uphill can be too slow and have too much heat input. Downhill allows me to run hot enough to fully fuse the 3/16" while being fast enough to prevent blowing through the 12ga frame
Haha with how much work my wife puts in with taking care of our baby and me, she deserves some sucking up to! And spread the word about the channel- more viewers=more money=I hire an editor= more videos! Lol but yeah either way I'm trying to keep getting quicker at releasing these episodes!
![Custom Steering and Track Bar Layout - [Project SuperDUkota - Dakota+Super Duty axles] Part 6](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EfrXiPC22dw/mqdefault.jpg)
![Custom Steering and Track Bar Layout - [Project SuperDUkota - Dakota+Super Duty axles] Part 6](/img/tr.png)
Nice custom work! I like your use of CAD (Cardboard Aided Design)!
Great Fab skills !
Thanks Rick! Still tons left to learn and improve on but I really appreciate the good words 👍
Excelente trabajo todo lo construye a la perfección y cuenta con la herramienta necesaria felicidades
Your build is coming along nicely! I’m picking up a parts truck tomorrow for axles. Can’t wait to sas my 00 quad cab, love the truck but there is a severe lack of parts in the off-road market for these trucks.
Thanks man! Yeah I'm surprised at how little aftermarket support these trucks get. Good luck with your build! Check out my @webwheeler Instagram and send me some pics of your project 👍
this has helped loads with the rear end design of my trackday van, great video.
Glad it helped! Thanks for watching 👍
Can always weld a long gusset on top or bottom of control arm to strengthen.
Just finished making brackets for a three link on a 2002 SD axle that will end up in a 77 F150. I have, after much reading and consultation, decided to leave the spring perch intact and attach one half of the custom made bracket to it while the other half attaches to the narrow portion of exposed steel tube. The nodular casting is plated with 1/4" steel for increased weld attachment and the bracket welds to the plating. Muggy Weld 75 for cast to steel and I am tigging the whole thing. Cutting the cast back may have been easier, but making a contoured bracket was a day of experimental fabbing that was quite enjoyable. I had initial concerns over strength, but it seemed that when I started paying attention to experience old timers, instead of internet professionals, those concerns melted away. It all comes down to proper filler, proper heat, proper cool down and proper technique. Regardless, I was advised to draw the line when looking at radius arm versus 3 link. Too much sway/torque interplay with radius arms on the cast, cutting it back as you have done would have been the only reasonable way to use radius arms without stressing the cast in every simple turn and bump. Dang thing has enough roll in it already to scare the wife around slow curves with stock radius arms, so sway bars were in order anyway. Rock on!
Sounds like you're doing it right Jim! I wouldn't trim down those 99-04 axles either- they leave you with a lot more room than these 05+ do. Plus the stock radius arms mount to the casting on these so you could argue moving the mounts to the tube (even with the trimmed casting) is actually a stronger setup when you factor in the new stresses that offroading puts on suspension/axles/steering components. Thanks for watching! Sounds like an awesome build!
I love watching your off-road fabrication videos. I've read tons of times online about radius arms binding. Would you please explain why? Thank you.
Thanks for the good words! I'm coming out with a video relatively soon that will cover 3 links vs radius arms and will go in to more detail about binding 👍 subscribe and keep an eye out for that!
Basically, radius arms bind because as the axle articulates, the joints at the axle want to stay neutral and let the joint at the frame handle the rotation. However, the other radius arm joints want to do the same thing but that rotation radius is different which causes the radius arms to bind against each other. Hope that makes sense. Like I said- watch for the video and that will give a better example of what I'm talking about. Thanks for watching!
@@WebWheeler Thank you for explaining that. It does make sense. I'm planning on trying to attempt my very first linked front end within a year. I'm doing a lot of research to take in as much information as I can. I've been subscribed to your channel for over a year now. I'll definitely be looking out for your 3 link and radius arm video.
Looks great.
Aloha from Hawaii I have the only Sas 02 Sas Dakota 416cid superduty axles 5.13 Yukon gears. Radius a setup all my stuff is from ballistic fabrication less my 12” coil overs on 37”. I built it 10 years ago and never had an issue with my suspension. What did you do about your motor mounts? Did you connect them together with a crossmember before or after you finished your custom lift which I totally love!!!!! Killer build
Thanks man! Sounds like a sweet rig you built too. Have an IG or anything where I can check out some pictures? I'm @webwheeler on Instagram too. I custom built some motor mounts with new joints. If you check out part 4 of this build I show how I build the drivers side 👍 I haven't added a crossmember yet but that's coming up soon- I wanted to get all the steering and track bar geometry right first and then build a crossmember that clears all that stuff afterwards. Thanks for watching!
What you call trigger welding is actually named pulse welding and it is not the strongest at all however 80% of what makes a weld is the material and prep and you had nice thick metal but you cleaned it well and when you were welding you maintained heat in the puddle the whole time even though it got big at the end
All in all your fine leave him alone lol
Pulse welding normally maintains an arc and alternates between high and low amperage to control heat input but yeah stacking spot welds/"trigger" welding is basically the low tech version of the same thing haha. It has it's applications especially in situations where there is a thickness contrast like I had here. Same reason I welded downhill instead of uphill- minimize heat input to fully penetrate the 3/16" without burning through the 12ga of the frame
Awesome work my friend! You made the comment that you don't like three-links for the street, in your next video on the track bar can you tell us the pros and cons of the three link vs radius arms?
Thanks Denny! The 3 link vs radius arm topic will be it's own video but will either be the next one out or the one after 👍 thanks for watching!
Awsome editing bro.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thanks man! Working on getting better at it haha
Truly magical workmanship skills!
You're too kind haha. Plenty left to learn but I appreciate it!
I just started doing my own solid axle swap my own Dakota after I destroyed my third cv axle and wheel bearing
Yeah these trucks are fun in stock form but that front axle is hanging on for dear life when you get off-road haha. Especially with a 5.9L 😈 thanks for watching and good luck on the swap! Hope the videos help you out
WebWheeler all I had left was the control arms and track bar these videos are super helpful
Is there a reason you didnt opt for the weld in threaded tube adapter and threaded the material itself for your upper links ?
It does allow for the use of smaller, lighter tubing than having a tube adapter but I mainly did it because I had the right size scrap laying around and I figured it'd be cool to throw in some machining footage to break up the monotony of welding everything haha. Thanks for watching!
Why do you prefer radius rods for street use not 3 link? Geometry is virtually identical?
3 links have better group but radius arms are easier to set up and safer than 3 links if a joint, bracket, or control arm fails. 4 links are superior to both though as far as performance goes
How are those joints holding up and how do they compare to Johnnie Joints?
I have only put around 5k miles on them so far but they still feel great. Flex is awesome but the big thing for me is how smooth they feel on the road. No vibration or harshness- feels like a factory ride but still handles awesome on and off road. I will eventually do a long term review and check how they are doing at around 20k miles or so. Thanks for watching!
Hell yeah brother
🤘😎🤘
Why weld the end at all instead use 6 hole rosette welds instead of just 2???
Without the weld on the end, moisture can get into the tube and cause corrosion. Could do more rosette welds but 2-3 tends to be all that are needed. More than that and it's just extra work and extra heat cooking the end of the tube and potentially weakening it
Any updates, interested in how the radius arms flexed out ?
Flex test is coming in the next episode 👍 editing it now and should be out in a week or two!
hello greetings, very good videos, what is the name of the machine to cut and design the brackets? Thanks
Thanks for watching! They were designed using Solidworks and cut with a torchmate cnc plasma table
@@WebWheeler ok thanks , l appreciate it
@@WebWheeler question : How do you measure the lift that you are going to run? Thanks
@@azoffroadclub Usually it's just estimating where you want the final height to sit, and building to that after factoring in weight and spring rates, but this project was a little simpler. I was looking to keep it as low as I could, so I swapped the rear axle to the factory leaf springs, and built the front suspension to match that new height. Hope that makes sense!
What program do you use to make your cut files? TIA
I use solidworks but fusion 360 is a great free option for sheetmetal design. There are simpler programs if you only need 2D but learning fusion 360 is definitely worthwhile. Thanks for watching!
What software do you use? Solidworks? That to .stp file?
Solidworks to design then I export to DXF for cutting. Thanks for watching!
I really need to ditch my abrasive chop saw and buy one of them
Yeah it's pretty sweet. Loud as hell but no different than an abrasive saw haha. This is the 14" evo saw and it works awesome
good👍👍
Part 6 not loading......🤔
Working on it! Big life changes going on recently so I'm even slower than usual 😜 but it's on it's way 👍
WebWheeler cant wait- learning so much from your series- keep it up brother!
Thanks man! Really appreciate the support 🤘
Why did you want to keep it so low?
Building it as low as possible makes sure all your clearances are good- you can always raise the height as desired afterwards. If you build it tall you run it to lots of problems trying to lower it back down
Sweet
Thanks man!
where did you get the joints?
They're from MetalCloak. Pretty sweet joints if you have a rig you plan to run on the road- flex a ton like heims but are way more quiet and comfortable on the road
Is that axle at ride height?
Pretty close. I plan on keeping this build relatively low and if I decide to I can always give it a little extra height really easily. Building it too tall and trying to lower it will usually require a bunch of extra work that I don't want to do haha. Thanks for watching 👍
The only people saying you're doing a terrible job are you guys who haven't touched a welder since highschool shop class
Lol thanks man!
@@WebWheeler you did a great job to btw gave me some ideas for my Bronco
Glad to hear it dude thanks for the support 🤘
So how much to have you do mine
If you're serious go ahead and email me at webwheeleroffroad @ gmail.com
Should have welded those fish plates uphill and not downhill.
Uphill is generally stronger but not always best. When dealing with different thicknesses like this 3/16" plate to ~12ga frame thickness, uphill can be too slow and have too much heat input. Downhill allows me to run hot enough to fully fuse the 3/16" while being fast enough to prevent blowing through the 12ga frame
Hey!!! You take to long between videos. The suspense is killing me lol. Oh and you a suck up to the wife lol.
Haha with how much work my wife puts in with taking care of our baby and me, she deserves some sucking up to! And spread the word about the channel- more viewers=more money=I hire an editor= more videos! Lol but yeah either way I'm trying to keep getting quicker at releasing these episodes!