cupped lower a-arm?

[project 67 sub]

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

[project 67 sub]

bump

[Hottrucks]

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

[project 67 sub]

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.

[Hottrucks]

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

[tubbedII]

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...

[AVS_JASON]

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

Pretty good pics on this site.

[project 67 sub]

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

[kev2809]

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

[project 67 sub]

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.




8" id pipe stretched to 9" id pipe



9" circle cut from 3/16" plate

[project 67 sub]

cut out a arm for pipe



welding it in

[project 67 sub]

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

[Hottrucks]

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....

[project 67 sub]

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.

[project 67 sub]

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.

[Hottrucks]

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

[project 67 sub]

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.

[Hottrucks]

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

[tubbedII]

Originally Posted by Hottrucks

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

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...

[project 67 sub]

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

[lakeroadster]

Originally Posted by Hottrucks

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

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.

[Hottrucks]

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

[lakeroadster]

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

Originally Posted by Hottrucks

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

[Hottrucks]

Originally Posted by lakeroadster

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

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

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by Hottrucks

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.....

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"-