Spdfrk

Any good ideas on how to minimize side flex on a four link chassis?

t9dragon

My Feedback: (11)

What crawler do you have?

Spdfrk

Rockbull. I just noticed that the upper links were loose causing too much side flex. Id still like to lessen it though.

The Real Dogman

If what you mean mean by side flexing is the axle moves sideways then I would bet the rod ends, being metal/aluminum have some slop in them. If that is the case then you will need to replace the rod ends with some that do not have slop in them.

Hope that helps
Good Luck!!
Merry Christmas!!

Spdfrk

I guess thats the same, when the truck is on the ground, I can move the chassis side to side without moving the axles. It seems a little excessive. The ball ends dont appear to be warn, they just move back and forth too much. Im thinking about installing a washer on the inside and the outside of the ball end to restrict movement. ?

And a Merry Christmas to you as well!

caymin last

The only fix I know of is to install a torsion bar like they use on leaf sprung axles, basicly a rodwith ball joint on either end, one side attached to the axle housing and the other to the frame in line with the axle.

The Real Dogman

I think you mean Panhard bar!! That will not help and it not used on leaf sprung rigs very often. More on 3 link and trailing arm suspension(Ridgid connection to 2 lower links and Panhard Bar), there has been several drag car suspension done that way when they use ladder bar setups too.. if you have a four link and panhard bar setup, that would cause binding if your link geometry is not right. Because the 4 link has an axle swing arc that is on a different plane than the panhard bar swing arc.

Barber420

My Feedback: (1)

When has anyone seen a panhard bar on a leaf sprung vehicle? I've never seen one and I'm big time into full scale 4WD vehicles. With leaf springs their is absolutely NO reason to have a panhard bar, because the springs hold the axle in place solidly. This is because the leaf springs mount in front of and behind the axle. With ladder bars they aren't mandatory, but do help since the ladder bars(or a parallel four link for that matter) mount on the axle tube top and bottom. With a 3 link they're helpful, but not mandatory. Generally, the only time you HAVE to run a panhard bar is if you're using coil spring suspension that is only 2 link, but that is old school and rare. If you do have proper suspension geometry a panhard bar will all, but stop your "side flex"

Also, a torsion bar is GENERALLY only used on a 4WD IFS(independent front suspension). The torsion bar IS the spring so their is no need for them on a vehicle with leaf springs or coil springs.

munro300

Wouldnt a panhard bar be the same thing as a track bar that was on the stock Jeep YJ's, which were leaf sprung? Heres some other examples http://www.timskelton.com/lightning/...on/panhard.htm

Im not sure what the rock bull is but maybe some different link geometry would minimize the side flex. I actually removed the track bars on my old yj when I put a lift on to help with articulation.

Barber420

My Feedback: (1)

I've never seen a stock jeep that's leaf sprung with a track/panhard bar, but I'm not a big jeep guy. Their really is no reason to have one on a leaf sprung axle. Maybe I was wrong and Jeep did put panhard bars on their factory leaf sprung vehicles, but that's kind of stupid if they did as it has almost no beneficial effect if you have leaf springs.