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School me on picking size and material for links

A lot of good info in here from those smarter than me BUT 2" .250 uppers, get square and tack jam nuts to link so it never comes loose, and 2.25" 7075 lowers from WOD have been good to me for years now.
 
arse_sidewards said:
I'd rather bend a link than rip tab/bracket....
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I wonder if it actually would rip a bracket. The impact is up. My link bracket is up against the frame so it is supported greatly in that direction. Same with my lower bracket, coil over is on top. Lots of downward force prying against the upward force.

Not saying it won’t, I just am curious if it would.
Wfoyota said:
A lot of good info in here from those smarter than me BUT 2" .250 uppers, get square and tack jam nuts to link so it never comes loose, and 2.25" 7075 lowers from WOD have been good to me for years now.
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How heavy is your rig? I saw on WOD’s site that 2.5 aluminum is for 5000 lbs or more. I’m at 7k. I wonder if 2.5in isn’t enough.
 
06h3 said:
I wonder if it actually would rip a bracket. The impact is up. My link bracket is up against the frame so it is supported greatly in that direction. Same with my lower bracket, coil over is on top. Lots of downward force prying against the upward force.

Not saying it won’t, I just am curious if it would.

How heavy is your rig? I saw on WOD’s site that 2.5 aluminum is for 5000 lbs or more. I’m at 7k. I wonder if 2.5in isn’t enough.
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Start looking at ht chromo.
 
06h3 said:
Are you running 2in or 2.5in Ht chromoly? How heavy is your rig?
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I made a few sets for buggy’s with longer then avg length (44 inches +)that averaged mid 4klbs. 2.5 is a must for your application. How long are the links?
 
bunk said:
I made a few sets for buggy’s with longer then avg length (44 inches +)that averaged mid 4klbs. 2.5 is a must for your application. How long are the links?
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38in eye to eye. Tubing itself is like 32-33? I think the heim takes off 2-3in per side even mostly threaded in.
 
06h3 said:
38in eye to eye. Tubing itself is like 32-33? I think the heim takes off 2-3in per side even mostly threaded in.
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Well they are sort of on the short side. It’s the weight thats the issue. Your pretty much forced to use 2.5 1/2 wall unless it’s a mall crawler.
 
bunk said:
Well they are sort of on the short side. It’s the weight thats the issue. Your pretty much forced to use 2.5 1/2 wall unless it’s a mall crawler.
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Thanks for the intel since I don’t know many that have messed with the Ht chromo.
 
06h3 said:
I wonder if it actually would rip a bracket. The impact is up. My link bracket is up against the frame so it is supported greatly in that direction. Same with my lower bracket, coil over is on top. Lots of downward force prying against the upward force.

Not saying it won’t, I just am curious if it would.
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Something has to give. Hopefully it's the static friction between tire and ground but if you're all bound up in a way that the tire wanting to spin crams it into stuff harder then it's gotta be something else...

I think there's a lot of rigs out there where if you make the bottom link indestructible the top link is at risk of tearing the bolt out of its bracket. That's a really shitty situation to be in even after you winch it off of the obstacle.

Bending a link back to straight is easy to do on the trail or at the trailhead, can be done pretty damn well and it's the kind of repair that you can have damn near complete confidence in. A field repair on a bracket or tab is harder to do, harder to do well (how good are most people at overhead welding?) and harder to have confidence in for the duration of the trip and maybe the drive back if a street-able rig.
 
arse_sidewards said:
Something has to give. Hopefully it's the static friction between tire and ground but if you're all bound up in a way that the tire wanting to spin crams it into stuff harder then it's gotta be something else...

I think there's a lot of rigs out there where if you make the bottom link indestructible the top link is at risk of tearing the bolt out of its bracket. That's a really shitty situation to be in even after you winch it off of the obstacle.

Bending a link back to straight is easy to do on the trail or at the trailhead, can be done pretty damn well and it's the kind of repair that you can have damn near complete confidence in. A field repair on a bracket or tab is harder to do, harder to do well (how good are most people at overhead welding?) and harder to have confidence in for the duration of the trip and maybe the drive back if a street-able rig.
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The links bend from getting laid on rocks with the weight of the rig on them, it is almost never a tension/compression issue.

06h3 The 4 link calculator has a handy link strength calculator built in on the second sheet as I mentioned earlier in this thread. I'd suggest you play with it to see what looks like it will hold up under your rig. Everyone bends 2"x1/4" wall DOM eventually, and with the weight of your rig it was bound to happen. If you have the room, going up to 2.5" OD will help a lot more than going to a thicker wall. 7075 solid aluminum Links are very strong, but I personally do not like aluminum lower links because aluminum sticks to rocks a lot worse than steel does. Heat treated chromoly is the ultimate material, but also the most expensive.
 
I agree that is isn’t a tension/compression issue. I have run 1.5/1.75in uppers for clearance on my 3 link and never had one bend. This has all been from smacking rocks hard.

I have bent 2in .25 wall lowers before but not this bad. Probably because we were “racing” to do the KOH 2007 course. Much less care was put in to driving
 
rockdog57 said:
2” dom .250 wall. That way weld in threaded inserts will slide in. That way 1 1/4” heims or summit rebuildable joints are an option. I did this on my really heavy Toyota with v8 and tons. Over the years they have been bent from hammering on em. But never failed. Lowers are mega long too. My 2cents
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How thick of link tabs did you do?
 
TimJus said:
been doing links and steering bars from old 51mm and 45mm top hammer drill rods. heat treated, but still machinable and can tap threads

picture.jpg
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old post....


but are these the same drill rods used for directional drilling?
 
'84 Bronco II said:
The links bend from getting laid on rocks with the weight of the rig on them, it is almost never a tension/compression issue.

06h3 The 4 link calculator has a handy link strength calculator built in on the second sheet as I mentioned earlier in this thread. I'd suggest you play with it to see what looks like it will hold up under your rig. Everyone bends 2"x1/4" wall DOM eventually, and with the weight of your rig it was bound to happen. If you have the room, going up to 2.5" OD will help a lot more than going to a thicker wall. 7075 solid aluminum Links are very strong, but I personally do not like aluminum lower links because aluminum sticks to rocks a lot worse than steel does. Heat treated chromoly is the ultimate material, but also the most expensive.
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Is it really that expensive now? It's been a LONG time since I had my links treated, but it was a flat set up charge an then by the pound and at the time, far cheaper to buy the weld in bungs, have the heat treat place anneal the bungs and weld to the normalized 4130 chromoly and then heat treat to 40 Rc than it was to buy the material and find someone with a big enough lathe to drill/tap 2" 7075 for 1.25" rod ends. To date, I haven't bent any of my links (2x.250 wall). IMO, it's completely worth the time/hassle/expense.
 
chaplinfj60 said:
old post....


but are these the same drill rods used for directional drilling?
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dont know but i know i can bend 51mm x 15mm wall drill rod link in my buggy:eek:

if you get drill rod you must cut friction welded ends off to get to the softer middle part
 
rockdog57 said:
Jillion , I think that’s her name??who owns and runs summit machine does the inserts with hex on em. I was up there the other day getting some new inserts to build new links on my buggy build. She’s a nice lady. She sold me a bunch right off the mill. They look so nice I hate to weld em. She said they are swamped trying to get all the orders out. Makes a nice rebuildable joint. I’ve never broke one. Have had one 9/16” grade 8 let go with a shitty outcome.:eek:
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Julie I think. Anyways Id just call her and buy whatever she suggests
 
I would like to do aluminum but my 2"x.25 links currently hit my frame at full bump and 2.5" links would limit my uptravel for sure. 2.25" links seems like the sweet spot but my rig is 5k+ lbs with 38" long links in rear 36" front.

Looking for suggestions. Will I bend 2.25x.375 DOM or 2.25 aluminum links? Would slugging the 2.25x.375 DOM with 1.5 aluminum be worth it?

2.25x.375 dom -$ 517.59

2.25" 7075 solid aluminum links - $841.75

2.25x.375 dom w/1.5 7075 T6 slugs $931.09
 
Mike Honcho said:
I would like to do aluminum but my 2"x.25 links currently hit my frame at full bump and 2.5" links would limit my uptravel for sure. 2.25" links seems like the sweet spot but my rig is 5k+ lbs with 38" long links in rear 36" front.

Looking for suggestions. Will I bend 2.25x.375 DOM or 2.25 aluminum links? Would slugging the 2.25x.375 DOM with 1.5 aluminum be worth it?

2.25x.375 dom -$ 517.59

2.25" 7075 solid aluminum links - $841.75

2.25x.375 dom w/1.5 7075 T6 slugs $931.09
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2.25x.375 dom - Itll bend on the rear, front be fine for a while.

2.25" 7075 solid aluminum links - Best option imo

2.25x.375 dom w/1.5 7075 T6 slugs - Definitely going to bend. I have 2.5 .250 trailing arms WITH back bones and slugged with 2' 7075 and both are bent.
 
Sounds like most are slugging with aluminum. Makes more sense to slug with heat treated tube.
Weld up a DOM link with a normal ends and brackets and have a heat treated tube inside.
The heat treated weld ability and machining goes away.
 
Summit Machine or Busted Knuckle? Both are the same price links. Recommend one over the other?
 
chaplinfj60 said:
old post....


but are these the same drill rods used for directional drilling?
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No those would be for a top hammer rock drill I am thinking. Iirc directional tubing is a lot thinner, drill steels have to deal with hammering as well as the twisting and bending forces usually the threads on the ends eventually get chewed up.
 
Julene with Summit Machine was very helpful and answered all my questions and emailed me photos of the options. I would highly recommend if you need links. Also give a discount with 4 or more links.

2.5" pure beef!:usa: these make 1-1/4 heims look tiny:laughing:
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1000005671.jpg
 
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