oldskoolvws Posted April 26, 2012 Report Share Posted April 26, 2012 I got two bolts in the mail...no arms yet.... Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted April 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2012 pm'd ....at least I thought I was.....ipad is slow....didn't realize it didn't change screens :( Quote Link to comment
a2lowvw Posted April 26, 2012 Report Share Posted April 26, 2012 i got my bolts a day before the arms Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted April 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 those sure look purdy now!! :) Quote Link to comment
burrito213 Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 awsome work... just catching up to this thread. Quote Link to comment
a2lowvw Posted June 4, 2012 Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 anyone else get there put on yet? finished mine and set the ride height back to what it was before with just the torsion bars dropped and i have way too much positive camber. it looks like it will take half an inch or better of shims to get the front end close to stock Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted June 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 hhmmm....is that at stock ride height or lowered. I based the arm measurements on where the NL was sitting.....my arms were basically, parallel to the ground. Quote Link to comment
a2lowvw Posted June 4, 2012 Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 think it ended up being more of a toe issue that is pulling the tires in when backing up. at least appears that way after looking into it some more ...not sure if it was/is an actual camber only issue once i had the ride height set. the arms are slightly pointing down but almost parallel. the front end is about 1/2 inch lower than it was before. i took the truck for a quick spin around the block and backed into the driveway to swap the rear wheels and tires back to the stock steelies and when i got out the camber was way off. i jacked up the front each corner at a time and when i set it back down it was much closer to normal. I am going to do a rough driveway alignment and drive it to work and perform an actual alignment on it there Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted June 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 The shorter arms will definitely cause a toe in condition.......I guess I didn't mention that....one of those things that I know and don't think to tell. Cool....let me know how it comes out. I did a garage alignment on the NL and drove it that way for a year or two. :) I set it for about 1/8" Quote Link to comment
a2lowvw Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 added 5 washers to make a stack about 1/4 inch and set the toe and the truck is much happier. Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted June 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Awesome! I'm glad you got that figured out. Just be sure to check those bolts every week or two for a bit until you're sure they're going to stay tight. Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted September 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 Starting on a couple more... 1 Quote Link to comment
uberkevin Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 Wow mklotz!! This is some awesome work, I get really inspired watching your videos/reading your threads. I Need to learn everything! ! Quote Link to comment
DaBlist Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 Love all the great fab work! I have only seen Z'd LCA's in coil spring suspensions and the reason was to get a good drop without having to shorten the coil spring to much. With torsion bars was reason for shock length? Sorry I didn't read through the whole thread so maybe I'm asking a dumb question. Quote Link to comment
Dime Dave Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 Woo-Hoo!!! I'm so excited I almost pee'd myself! Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted September 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Wow mklotz!! This is some awesome work, I get really inspired watching your videos/reading your threads. I Need to learn everything! ! Thanks! I can share what I know or have figured out/learned.......but it's not anywhere close to "everything"!!! lol Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted September 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Love all the great fab work! I have only seen Z'd LCA's in coil spring suspensions and the reason was to get a good drop without having to shorten the coil spring to much. With torsion bars was reason for shock length? Sorry I didn't read through the whole thread so maybe I'm asking a dumb question. The "Z" is to raise the spindle up 2".....or drop the truck 2". Shocks are an issue.....that's why I build a pocket into mine.....I know guys are going to lower the torsion bars even with the Z'd control arms. On my NL, I ended up with the torsion bars set at their stock position, so the ride was a bit firmer and I didn't bottom out on the bump stops as easily. When riding on the bumpstops.....common on kinpin setups since there's no aftermarket support.....you feel every pebble. My NL had a great ride and a great look.....well worth the work involved :) Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted September 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Woo-Hoo!!! I'm so excited I almost pee'd myself! In a few years we'll both be wearing Depends......so it won't matter if you do :) Quote Link to comment
Dime Dave Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 In a few years we'll both be wearing Depends......so it won't matter if you do :) Just wear dark pants and enjoy the warm feeling while it lasts. 2 Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted September 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 LOL!! What do you do about the sloshing in your shoes? Quote Link to comment
Dime Dave Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 Wear Crocs. Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted September 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 Obviously, the man with the answers is the man with the experience!! LOL :) Quote Link to comment
bonvo Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 im curious mike do these control arms counter the alignment issues that these trucks get when lowered? if so im really interested i like the idea of not having to cut out my bump stop mounts to go lower Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted September 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 which issues? I do shorten the arms a bit during the build to help counter act the neg camber. The tension control rod mount gets placed at stock ride height......so I think the arm still gets pushed rearward a bit as the suspension is compressed. I'll have to check that during this build and see if that can be countered. I don't think there's room to do it, but the tension rods can be modified to take care of the issue. I've put a slight rearward slope in the dogbone mount so that the UCA can be shimmed for a bit more caster. The shimming pulls it in, so it's better to do the tension rod instead. These trucks only have 1.5deg of caster IIRC. That's okay as long as the truck sits level.....as soon as there's any rake, you have no caster. Lack of caster adjustment is the biggest downfall of kingpins over ball joints. The ride on the NL with these arms was great! The first year I took it to Canby, it was on the bumpstops with stock arms......that was brutal! Quote Link to comment
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