leafs vs 3 link vs 4 link

[chrisrigby]

whats everyones opinions on what works best for an all around setup that will be a daily driver aswell. also dont know if it matters but this will be about 100" wheelbase toy. i like the simplicity of leafs but how well do they articulate against a 3 or 4 link? also having a leaf out front and out back how does that effect approach angles and such? they will be fairly narrow in their mounting. 3 link is also fairly simple and within my ability to do. i like the idea of a 3 or 4 link for the fact that the axle / tire is the first thing to reach the obstical and the last thing to leave it. 4 links ...... ive seen alot of them but have never built one with the intention of off roading and flexing i know they are very different than the drag racing setups i have built. so 4 link is probably out of the picture but who knows if the pros outweigh the cons i may learn how to make them work.

[Lake_v2]

Leafs, simple, work, and effective, they do have drawbacks. I've ran leafs for a while now, the flex is comparable to most link systems if the leafs are set up right, the main drawbacks I have ran into and could not get past without investing the same amount of money by going link is approach angle.

3 link for front is where I am heading now for my new drivetrain. I considered leafs again, but once I found that I would not be able to because of clearances on the new drivetrain, a quick decision was made to change to 3 link.

I personally will be keeping leafs in the rear for now, because they have never stopped me from doing anything in the rear. The only issues I really had with leafs was in the front hitting, banging, and hanging up on the terrible approach angles.

oh the other issue about leafs is getting to the trail head. woops, bumpy roads, high speed, all of those things were not very nice to having leafs up front. once on the trail I could hang with any suspension time, it sometimes just sucked going through a couple miles of desert to get to trail heads.

[Crazy Sammy]

Im not to sharp on really any of them but i have had several rigs with leafs and now im running a samurai with a 3 link in the front and a 4 link in the rear and i think it does pretty decent for a sami!! haha. I have had it on the road a few times and im running 40'' tires and it drives like a dream (once i fixed the alignment) . i would personally not have another rig with nothing but links because of the angles and you can also use them as sliders if you need to and not worry about tearing up the bottom and other stuff that gets expensive under neath. just my thoughts if you go leafs you will always wonder how it would be linked and you wont be happy till you doit and for as simple and cheap ! you should forget those words and just gitterdone on the links!!!!!! and 40''.

[chrisrigby]

what are you running for a powerplant in the sami and what gears? i dont want to go as crazy as 40s but who knows. do you have to stay primarily in low range? or will it work decent in high range on the road aswell? the plant im planning to run only make about 155 horse and 140 tq but nearly endless RPMs

[Crazy Sammy]

im pretty much running a weed eater motor haha (stock with 327,000 miles) but i have 5.29 grs in the axles and the t case is 6.5 and it does great in low but in high if the group is going really slow it doesnt do good but if they are moving along high is fine in the hills. im in the process of building a dual case setup and then i will have in the front 1.86 and the back 6.5 and the axles 5.29. but that is just for a little extra it does fine right now but it will lug if dont keep the the rpm's between 5-7k mark. i would love to find a 1.6L motor to put in it but i havent been able to get my hands on one.

[TheBigDogg]

Hey Josh, throw a 4BT in it

[chrisrigby]

[quote="TheBigDogg"]Hey Josh, throw a 4BT in it[/quote]

[chrisrigby]

[quote="Crazy Sammy"]im pretty much running a weed eater motor haha (stock with 327,000 miles) but i have 5.29 grs in the axles and the t case is 6.5 and it does great in low but in high if the group is going really slow it doesnt do good but if they are moving along high is fine in the hills. im in the process of building a dual case setup and then i will have in the front 1.86 and the back 6.5 and the axles 5.29. but that is just for a little extra it does fine right now but it will lug if dont keep the the rpm's between 5-7k mark. i would love to find a 1.6L motor to put in it but i havent been able to get my hands on one.[/quote]



im going to can mine probably this summer when my tracker goes under the knife if you want first dibbs on it. 16valve 146000ish miles runs great and hasnt been wound super tight very often it does great well below 4k rpm

because of the RPMs youve mentioned im leaning heavely on putting a rotary in mine there light and make good power ... and with a proper port you can enhance the torque a bit

how does it do on the street or freeway?

[Crazy Sammy]

sure i would love to have that motor just let me know but please dont cut the harness let me know and ill pull it or help you if you want.

[Desert Dog]

I ran leafs on my YJ and Toyota. Except for towing applications, leafs are inferior to links in almost every way. Even set up right, you can easily get more flex out of links with the same effort and money. Highway ride is MUCH better with links. Links eliminate axle wrap. Adjustable links let you adjust pinion angle with different lift heights. Links give you the option of going extreme (coilovers, air shocks, ORIs). No one gets a rock buggy and says "I think ill throw some leafs under there", and vehicle manufactures have gravitated away from leafs even though it is cheaper to use them.

Standard 4-link = Very good highway ride with decent flex. very stable at high speeds. Tends to bind during extreme articulation with built rigs.

Triangulated 4-link = Also very stable at high speeds, but does not bind as much during extreme articulation. Also eliminates the need for a track bar.

3-link = Moderately stable at high speeds but still very street friendly. Cheap and easy. Upper link will not bind during extreme articulation.

[chrisrigby]

by triangulated 4 link i assume you are talking about the for linke the mount wide on the body and narrow on the housing for one set of link and vise versa for the other set? is there a special formula to figure link lengths? if so would anyone be willing to share it? i know you want the lower links longer than the tops but dont know what the difference should be. such as tops should generally be 2/3 of the bottoms for example or is there a specific number of inches they shouyld be shorter no matter if the lower is a 20 inch link or a 60 inch link? i assume the difference in length is to controll pinion angle on compression. please clear things up if im missing anything. also is there anyone in town thats got a 4 link setup that i could check out and maybe shoot some pics of some day soon?

[chrisrigby]

my other thought i have a independant front setup out of a 1ton was curious if anyone has any knowlege of building a good IFS (for a reasonable cost) or if im wasting my time on the thought? as far as using the center and outers and fabbing up some long travle arms and shafts?

[Crazy Sammy]

my thoughts on the ifs is your wasting your time unless you have lots of money to burn!!! just get a good solid front axle and do a good suspension and you will be more than happy

[Desert Dog]

[quote="Crazy Sammy"]my thoughts on the ifs is your wasting your time unless you have lots of money to burn!!! just get a good solid front axle and do a good suspension and you will be more than happy[/quote]
+100. You could buy a built rig for the price it would take to make an IFS rock crawler.

[chrisrigby]

thanks i was kinda thinking that it seems the only people with them are super high up in the ranks and money lol