cupped lower a-arm?
 

i am trying to find some 9" id 9.5" od pipe and am having no luck finding any, my local steel yard doesnt have any either. so where is every body getting their steel pipe from and how much does it run?

p.s. thanks in advance

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

bump

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

I took a piece of 2 3/4" flat stock and rolled it and I only made mine 8" check my build for a couple pics

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

ok thanks. thinking about buying something with about an 8" id and cutting it open and sreading it to the diameter i need and welding in a strip to make it the right size, which is 9" id.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

not sure which bag your running but that seems big most use the 8"...might be worth looking into if you hav'nt already

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

Based on another thread, he's got Dom 2600's.

Good luck with finding what you need. Post pics and details when you do this! I have the same bags and wondered how hard it would be to get a 9" cup into the lca without rubbing...

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

http://c10forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8043

Pretty good pics on this site.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

got some 8" id pipe today , will be doing some cutting and tack welding on the arms today then final welding another day.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

if you have 2600's you will need 9" ID pipe. i have 8" on mine and its really close to touching. so close i am about to order the 2500's just to make sure. if i wasnt haveing problems uploading pics i would send a few pics to show you. unless you want me to send them to you with my phone...let me know

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

well here it is 1 down 1 to go, will probably be shortening them 1" as well.
not the greatest looking but it will work

edit: welded with a stick welder lol.

Attachment 671583

Attachment 671584
8" id pipe stretched to 9" id pipe
Attachment 671585

Attachment 671586
9" circle cut from 3/16" plate
Attachment 671587

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

cut out a arm for pipe
Attachment 671593

Attachment 671594
welding it in
Attachment 671595

Attachment 671596

Attachment 671597

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

filler piece welded in and a gap left at bottom for water drain
Attachment 671598

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

Good call on the water drain!!

But taking that much of the A arm kinda worries me.....

find out what the colapsed height of your bags are....I found with my bags that 2 3/4" works perfect any more than that and your going to hit the cup on the ground before the LCA bottoms out against the X memeber so you wont get the max drop out of it ( and people will give you poop about scrub line issues) with a 2 1/2" drop spindle your X will lay out with a 1/2" to spare ( stock tire size 29") but be very careful adding any more than the cup because then you start to run into other issues like your heater box and hood hindges....on a side note a set of 13" widwe trailer fenders work pefect for a cupped drop ( again any more and you have to start cutting the bottom of the hood hindges and inner fender support)

Not sure how much of this you know but I figured I better put it out there for others..this is stuff I learned along the way and some home work

Jeff

Just looked back and had a thought if the contral arm was in it that might help hold it in place while you cut/weld ..it would suck to do all this work and find one side got away from yea and the shaft won't go in....

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

thats what i went with on the depth for the cups, 2.75". its also welded on both sides as well as inside and out of the cup. haha that would suck, but if it happened i would just make a reliefe cut and move it where needed and weld it up. i will be running 3" drop spindles in front with 20's and a 27" tall tire as well. if i remember correctly the collapsed hight of the bags is about 3". also i have no heater stuff as well so thats not an issue their. oh! and also if it matters i am running the 73-87 1/2 ton front suspension.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

well the other one is all cut and welded. didnt shorten them though. they need to be re sand blasted though then i can start reasembling them then get bags to install and what not.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

Sweet I bet a nickle that the X will lay out???

I figure mine is about an 1.5" off the ground so you tires will eat up 1" of that and well 3" drop spindles will eat up what left then some....

I got another nickle that say about 1" of the inner fender support will need attention and maybe just a bit of the hood hindge but I think you'll still be able to use it..but you will def have a low ride height

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

haha thats the plan. will also be a little while before they are on and doing some more cutting unfortunatly, as i still have to get bags and a few other things for the front first. also i dont mind having to ditch the inner fenders, and having to cut up some of the inner fender support and a bit of the hood hindge if needed. will end up building front inner fenders for it eventually anyways lol.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

I would just put in bump stops till you get the tire combo you want then cut out the fender/hindge and put a set of 13" trailer fenders in.......my plan is to lay the fender on the tire and dump the bags till it hit then use a 1" block of wood on the fender to make the cut line..this will make it fit like a glove..I may have to do it a couple times with small cut incriments but when I'm done I would like about 1/2" clearance to the top of the tire and turning isn't an issue even dropped

Jeff

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

Great idea! I'll have to remember that one.

Good job on the on the lca's, and thanks for takin all the pics and posting them. Can't wait to see them in action...

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

thanks, haha yah i cant wait to see them in action to lol. will have to remember that to make a cut line as well

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

Me too!

Might I throw in a couple ideas?

Have you considered making a box section out of the a-arm by welding plate or bar across the bottom, thus attaching the formed stock portion of the a-arm to the new cup you added? See crude sketch below.

Before boxing in the base it would also be good insurance to weld the bottom of the a-arm to the cup too.

And for the drain you might want to consider drilling a hole instead of leaving the portion unwelded..... the unwelded portion is like a crack just waiting to grow. Weld that up.

The above would provide a considerable increase to the strength of the modified assembly.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

Strength isn't the issue the bottom of the cup is lower that thedge of the A arm so it would have to protrude...this mod has been done a ton of times and I have never heard of a failure.....

If your into fabbing A arms you may want to look into placing a pie cut on the top of the arm near the ball joint and taking some of the angle out of it because ITS GOING TO BIND!! I'm looking for a set of uppers to do this to and plan on boxing the end...you'll see that you have a ton of camber in it when low so by cutting it on the top you can accually make the A arm a tad bit longer too

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

If strength isn't a issue what was your post referring too?

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

That may be true, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. When suggesting these types of mods to ones suspension components, I feel its best to advise overkill rather than taking safety concerns lightly.


Here's another option offered by member "daverod"-

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1269803917

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1269803917

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

thats not a bad idea at all, might have to get some more steel and do that lol. also, i already welded them from the bottom side of the a arm.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

thanks, i would rather sombody suggest me to do it overkill than for it to not be enough. also those a arms dont look to bad, but mine are a different style, and that opening probably wouldnt work for me.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

I was worried about when the area that was cut for the cup between the ears ( or what ever you want to call where the shaft goes though) I didn't want it to get out of alighnment so the it vcauses undo stress on the end caps ot worse you can't get them to go in at all...that was why I suggested doing them with the shaft in

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

i had already had them apart and blasted. also i have new polyurathane bushings and didnt want to chance melting them with all of the heat from cutting and welding them up while put together. then i would also have to take them apart again to re sand blast them and what not. also if they did move it wasnt much, and if i have to i will notch them and move it where need be

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

making some templates to box in the arms
Attachment 678062

Attachment 678063

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

that should do it lol

when you plan on getting the spindles installed? i would like to see how low you will be sitting on the 20's

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

It will lay X.....

looking good

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

here is how i did mine, i did not run the "bucket" as deep as you did. Let me warn you about this design. I was running these arms and hung the truck up on a man hole cover. It did hardly any damage to the arm, but totalled the truck. Do not run your truck low, keep it at a safe ride height. I am lucky to be alive. These arms now reside in my trash pile and now have a porterbuilt dropmember.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

haha yup. plan on getting them installed a.s.a.p. just have some other things i need to do first' like finish the arms, and i still need to get the bags and some other junk. i would like to see how low it sits to lol.:devil::ito:

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

thanks for the info, i will also not be riding to low at least for a while as i do not have compressors, tanks and valves yet, it will be ran on shraders untill i can afford it, also i would like to get a pb dropmember but that is not in the budget at this time:whine::waah:

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

Ya know, if you were to slightly modify the filler pieces to also be utilized as skid plates then if you did hit something the lower arms would slide up over it rather than get hung up on it....

Again, just a suggestion.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

^^^ good point. maybe make them angle on the edges instead of flat maybe?

i have mine plated at the bottom like texas trends. i sure hope mine dont get caught on anything...thats some scary sh*t to think about!

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

texastrendz what part of the a arm got caught up? the side lip? In theory wouldnt any a arm tubular or modified original be at the same height on the truck? Please enlighten me as now that I have Porterbuilt the rear of my burb I have to redo the front, it sits 2 1/2 inches higher then the rear at full dump.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

would like to know as well

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

well i was trying to make a couple of points. when cupping the arms it allows the truck to lay crossmember. when plating the arms like i did it made them stronger then any other part of the suspension. so when i had the truck about 3 inchs off the ground i was approaching an incline where the man hole cover was at. the a arm hung up on the rolled lip and stopped the truck. i went into the windshield. the control arm is tied to the cross shaft, the cross shaft is tied to the crossmember and the crossmember to the frame. the frame was the weakest point on the truck. bent it down about 6 inches and out about 4. it was not pretty. the dropmember is the solution because it allows you to drive it where you want it without the suspension hanging low. the a arms are going to be the lowest part of the truck without the dropmember. just be careful. still paying the hospital bill for that one.


you are going to want to drive it low, that is why you bagged it. this is why i really discourage your design. i would leave them flat like i did. but we know now that it is still not the solution to geeting these trucks low.

Re: cupped lower a-arm?
 

Sorry to hear you got hurt. I hear you on the hospital bills. My wife had a baby in July, we have insurance blue cross, and I am still paying bills!! Lol. Gotta love it.

So wouldn't a z be better then the whole cupping and crossmember chop. I know of the issues with z'ng but it raises the while susp up. Right or wrong?
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