Solid Axle Swap BS Thread

I think it's technically wrong to say "outperform."

Here's my logic.
Travel? Links
Reliability? Leafs
Set and forget (kinda)? Leafs
Cost factor? Leafs
Axle stability? Links
Clearance? Links

In most of these categories, leafs win. However... there is a reason people end up setting leafs then move on to links, and it's that first constraint. To get extra travel, it's as easy as swapping coilovers, unless you are one of the unclean running coils and shocks. Also, anything over a 35" with a heavy foot is going to start warping the leafs. Since I chose 39.5s I decided to skip the foreplay of leafs and pop my cherry with links. They are probably going to have to be redone at some point, but that's just because, even with a calculator, mistakes are constantly being made.

Some days I regret choosing links, until I play with the articulation. ::shrug:: as long as it's not IFS.

 

@Supra TT yea post em up. Instead of leafs suck, links are great, pay 4k for a 4wu kit, maybe people will learn some stuff looking at the calcs.

 

I didn't pay for any 4wu kit and I never promoted that. Leafs do suck. I ran them for 5 years. Take it with a grain of salt run whatever the fuck you want.

 

At this point I actually think the axle wrap is what helps keep my front diff alive! It lets the axle rotate and get some rubber band effect without putting all the shock load into the gears. I also wheel with a pretty light right foot too.

Rear traction bar killed all my rear axle wrap

 

I did SOA on my YJ and it would sound like a shotgun when it wrapped hard. I came up with a slip and twist design, but sold it before I got a chance to build it.

Here's the numbers I came up with for my links, however, this changes with ride height significantly.

 

I was talking about the last few posts, relax.

Leafs dont suck, the abortion of the truck you bought did!!

 

I agree with slander. Let’s see those numbers. Not saying I think leafs are the greatest thing ever and not trying to do a dick measuring contest but a well set up leafs will out perform a decent link setup any day. Only area I lack in is uptravel but am more so still limited by the motor and frame than the leafs at 3 in. Will still drop a 39 in tire below the frame and keep going though.

and I disagree with links being more stable. Think that’s more ride height and axle width. Screw up your anti squat numbers? Thing will unload on any climb. Have link separation or height wrong, will try to walk out from under the car under power.

Next time you wheel with a jk or something linked, watch what the vehicle does when it’s put in drive. Does the suspension unload, when they pull away in dirt/sand does it leave little ripples like the axle is bouncing. Etc. all signs of a poor/not correct link setup.

 

Absolutely, this is the finicky part of links. We can agree to disagree with the stability aspect. I think if you're setup poorly, then links are less stable. However the qualifying word in that statement is "poorly." On a well designed link setup, you'll be far more stable in the rocks.

Which comes back to application. If you're using your rig for overlanding (god I hate that word) then links are not needed. However, if you're smashing in Fordyce... I firmly believe links are ultimately the way to go.

 

oh boy I've been missing all the fun

 

Does Rock Slayer still sell 3" """frame drop""" kits?

 

Is that the same as "buggy killer?"

 

One in the same company, yea

 

Hey they are onto something with evrey link on the truck a different length.

 

All this talk of leafs and links reminded me that between the Tacoma and the F250, everything I own is on leafs and solid axles all the way around so I'm apparently fairly antiquated... It still looks odd to me when I see a newer 2500 Ram with a 5 link rear suspension setup.

 

I contemplated radius arms for a hot minute, but I didn't want all the popular boys throwing rocks at me.

 

Links are not very hard to figure out.

 

That was my point of why pay up the ass for a "kit" when you can do it yourself. I may link my next truck, but my goal with this one was I wanted a truck that can drive me to and from the trail at 80mph, run 95% of the trails in the country without breaking at 1/8 the cost. It just annoys me when you get the "leafs suck" crowd when infact they do work just fine.

The again I'm no gauge on sanity as I'm running $400+ worth of air bumps on 40yr old leaf springs that I got for free.

 

Yeah, pretty sure you can write that off to the Dunning–Kruger effect. There's also a group which exists in the world that believe Antarctica is the edge of the Flat Earth. In fact, there may be crossover between the two.

 

Just because "leafs suck" doesn't mean "they don't work" They work good. They have their place. I don't wheel the pavement, so I opted for maximum performance offroad.