Linked rear questions

I’m currently running a 3 link rear with panhard. Lower links measure 48”, upper is 56” and mounts same distance up the frame as the lower



I would like to remove the panhard and have all 4 links mount under the cab, so I can remove the bed and rear of the frame. I have space to mount a 4th link on the left side and be done, but........ I don’t like the amount of anti squat I’m getting from the upper and lowers being mounted so close on the frame side. And I wouldn’t mind removing the low hanging lower link brackets for more clearance.

My thought is running ~32” lower links and mounting them here


This would give me ground clearance and more space on the frame to get the uppers and lowers closer to parallel, which Im under the impression, will give me more squat under power.

I’m currently limited to 16” of travel since my shocks are mounted to the axle and I’m ok with that. I use the truck mainly as toy with the occasional trip. I’m looking for advice from anyone who has messed around with link setups and can offer general insight before I put everything into the calculator.

 

@Basikbiker

 

I mean he's on the right track....kinda a short course link setup...more separation between the fronts will lower your anti squat percentage and yes truck will squat more when u smash the gas....ideally for the high speed stuff trucks handle good with 35-50% antisquat. Just check your driveshaft plunge that will kinda tell you where your lower mounts kinda need to be or not be...less plunge means stuff wears out slower....the shorter your links are the more the axle is gunna plunge in general because the travel arc is a smaller radius but since you arnt pulling big travel numbers u might be able to get away with it...the calculators help...measure accurately tho. If you plan to get rid of the bed....just link it like a normal link setup with the shocks on arms get in the 20+" travel range....it performs soooooo much better and easier to tune because the motion ratio is more 2:1

My 2 cents

 

Thank you for your insight. What weight springs are you running in the back? What are the pros and cons (if any) running a wishbone upper instead 2 separate uppers?

 

Have you seen the way trail gear does their 4 link system? I'm sure you can adapt it to work with your truck. I'm not sure if that is something you are looking for. I am running the trail gear 4 link on my buggy.

https://trail-gear.com/suspension/trail-link-four-rear-link-suspension-kit.html

 

How long are your lowers, and how much travel do you have? My configuration is similar to your trail gear one minus an upper link, which I’ll be adding to remove the panhard bar. I would like to see if anyone is running a shorter (~32”) lower link/ trailing arm and how it works. my truck sees some rocky trails and some dirt courses with little jumps. I want to be able to drive it fast and drift around while getting more ground clearance by running a shorter link

 

I have not heard of lower links being shorter than the upper links . Typical ratio is upper link is about 80% the length of the lower link. I’m not sure how much plunge , anti squat , or pinion change your set up is giving but I imagine it’s some compromises for your “DD link” setup which is only pulling 16”.

another factor is how spread apart the upper link mounts are vs lower link mounts for both the frame and axle end

Example of lower links being longer vs the upper ...


Edit ... I Have only built link setups for go fast / prerunner setups . Maybe it’s different for going slow and you want the axle to “walk “ More or less ?? Or have more anti squat? For higher speeds you want less rear steer “walk” and less roll and some times more anti squat

 

I’m not trying to make the lower links shorter than the upper ( links will mount at the same distance up the frame), I was going to shorten both upper and lowers to more of a Jeep length. I was trying to gain ground clearance by removing the low hanging mount for the lower links, add more squat (less anti squat) by increasing the height between the upper and lower mounts. At this point I think I’m going to make trailing arms and add a second upper link.

 

https://www.crawlpedia.com/4_link_suspension.htm
unleess i'm reading this wrong shortening your links and moving the mounts up is going to give you less squat/increase your anti squat. But i have very little experience with linked suspension so i could be wrong.

 

I would be able to separate the mounting locations more which should give me more squat