Why upper links are so important

[BOVADS]

just a reminded to never skimp on upper link mounts on the front of your rigs.
this is possiably my biggest fear since linking my front, probably why i have so much beef in there

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1059322

lots of damage, lots of $$$$$ down the drain

[Dick Foster]

One of the reasons I've never been a big fan of heims put everywhere someone can possibly stick one. The only place I'm using them is in my sway bar and the end of the steering assist ram, neither of which of course is any big deal when it come to catastrophic failure potential.

Heims tend to run out of travel then shit tends to bend and eventually break. With links there is always a hell of a lot of leverage involved so like using a big ass cheater bar you just ain't gonna be able to stop it from working on metal in a bad way if the thing runs out of travel.

I'd be willing to bet and maybe even lay odds that there was some oil canning going on in that mount long before the metal finally gave up and let go from fatigue.

In suspensions, rubber (not urethane) can be your friend if it's used in the right places and in the right way.

Originally Posted by BOVADS

just a reminded to never skimp on upper link mounts on the front of your rigs.
this is possiably my biggest fear since linking my front, probably why i have so much beef in there

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1059322

lots of damage, lots of $$$$$ down the drain

[MerMan]

When I built my 3 link I added a 4th just to be safe

[Dick Foster]

Then it wasn't a 3 link anymore, now was it?

Even I can count that high, numbnuts. En Espanol no less, uno, dos, tres, quatro.

Originally Posted by MerMan

When I built my 3 link I added a 4th just to be safe

[MerMan]

Originally Posted by Dick Foster

Then it wasn't a 3 link anymore, now was it?

Even I can count that high, numbnuts. En Espanol no less, uno, dos, tres, quatro.

Fail

[Kaistie]

Unfortunately I had the same thing happen to me, but I was going very slow when I noticed the clunking. I got stopped just in time for it to completely ripped apart. My situation was similar in that the 1/4" material tore, but not from the bolt hole. Mine had a small crack in the bracket and over time it spread. I suspect it all began a year earlier when a lower link joint failed (Thanks to Ballistic' tig welded joint) and blew out my C/O's, driveline, yoke, steering and locker. It also crushed the pinion shims so flat that some of them were literally gone, laying in the bottom of the diff! Anyway, I learned the hard way to stick with my gut. I had built all my other brackets from 3/8" and pussed out on the upper. You can imagine the repair, lol. The pics are in a folder on webshots.

[Symon623]

Funny how everyone beefs up the lower that are close to axle centerline and absorb very little of the chassis/engine or brake torque. They do however take alot of trail abuse from rocks, logs and Prius'. Uppers tend to get neglected because they are up out of harms way..... but they do take all the torque from acceleration and braking which is some cases is much more abusive than trail abuse.......

I find it amazing how his ½" plates just ripped apart at the bolt holes. I did not read the whole story but it appears as if he had bolts that were too small for the holes and had movement and eventually egged the holes out and tore the metal apart...... Sorry I like pictures and not reading.....

[BOVADS]

Originally Posted by Symon623

I find it amazing how his ½" plates just ripped apart at the bolt holes. I did not read the whole story but it appears as if he had bolts that were too small for the holes and had movement and eventually egged the holes out and tore the metal apart...... Sorry I like pictures and not reading.....

i think they are 1/4" plate mounts.
everybody thinks the ring and pinoin blew, locked the axel up and it ripped the mount apart when it folded under

[FAUX X 4]

This is why all my link brackets and tabs are 3/8 or better with weld washers!

[Nick02]

It is extremely apparent that the bracket failed because the bolt was loose, the bracket was over tolerenced at the bolt hole, or the correct type of bolt/shank combo was not used. Look at where the misalignment spacers wore into the bracket over time, look at there the bolt rubbed into the frame and look at the shiny surface where the shank of the bolt resided in the bracket!

An open hole placed in any thickness or type of material distorts and strains under loading. The cyclic loading of the holes eventually caused that failure, and that was the mechanism for fatigue of that bracket. A proper fastener, a properly secured fastener, and some extra material in the front of the bracket would have probably worked.

A tightly installed and proper bolt would have inhibited the strain deformation of that material and it would have never failed. One side of the bracket looks shiny where the shank was engaged and the other looks marred were threads were engaged. Only the bolts shank should engage the material in the bracket, not the thread or the run-out. Properly filling the hole with a proper fastener would have further reduced the stress concentration factor in that bracket.

OK, im done being all technical

[crisbee]

Must of been a pretty decent hit to break his suck down rope like that.

[Symon623]

Originally Posted by BOVADS

i think they are 1/4" plate mounts.
everybody thinks the ring and pinoin blew, locked the axel up and it ripped the mount apart when it folded under

Duh, thats what I meant.... I hit the wrong code on my keyboard.....

[TBob]

Anyone think about the added stress to the link/ link mounts due to a lack of vertical seperation. Hmmmm...

[Heatstroke]

Originally Posted by TBob

Anyone think about the added stress to the link/ link mounts due to a lack of vertical seperation. Hmmmm...

Should have ran a grader ball 1 link