Since my last thread is long and over worked.
How I did my 3 link suspension on my 1999 Silverado 1500
Parts to obtain:
NP241 Transfercase from a 90's 1500 (Has a fixed front yoke)
Ford axles from a 73-79 F250 (If using divers side drop/axles have 4.10's)
Crossover steering kit [Sky Manufacturing, Offroad design, etc....]
Link Brackets [Barnes 4wd, Ballistic Fab., Ruff Stuff]
Heims or Johnny Joints [Barnes 4wd, Ballistic Fab., Ruff Stuff]
2'' DOM tubing for links [Local metal yard or www.metalsdepot.com]
1.5'' Dom tubing for track bar
Coilovers [King, Fox, etc....] FOA HAS A BAD REP
or
Coil Springs
Manual Prop Valve [No ABS sensors in older axles, I eliminated it all]
Swap out the T-cases first and test it out.
See previous post.
http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/4x4-o...246-np241.html
Now get rid of all the IFS junk in there.
Try to get your truck at the desired ride height. Set the axle at what would be its center in the wheel opening and at its proper height.
Now is the time to make alot of measuring and calculating. The help of a 3 link calculator will help put you in the right direction. There are all kinds of roll axis, this axis, that axis, and antisquat/antidive. This is the most important measurement. It dictates how much your front end will dive upon breaking or drop out when climbing. 50-90% is the range to achieve.
I had to make a large drop bracket to help obtain a better lower link angle. The flatter the better.
With the drop bracket hung on the frame and the axle set, I started wleding my brackets on where I calculated for them to be. Behind the axle. This willl give all pressure pushing back on the bracket and not over it if I would have mounted it under the axle. Plus it helps on clearance.
Then after a quick mock up I could tell that the upper link was way to steep and going to be a problem. So i just dropped the frame mount bracket down some and stood the axle mount bracket up a bit more.
Before:
After:
Now with the links mocked up I put the actual numbers into my calculator. Final result was 51% anti dive.
Time to weld it solid. I used a bunch of gussets and added metal for the top link on the axle. Why? Cause if it fails, the whole axle is going to wrap forward under the truck. Not fun, it happened on my Jeep back in the day. No wonder Rock Krawler redesigned the setup later that year.
Track bar time. The track bar should be made as long as possible and MUST be parallel to your steering arm. If they are on different angles, they will continually fight against eachother. Make sure that you cycle your steering and your suspension movement to check for any clearance issues.
[Pic to come later]
Figuring out your desired coilover.......
Get a rough idea of where your hoops will be and measure that distance down to the top of the axle. The height on mine was 27 inches. So i ordered the coilovers that had almost 29 inches of length at full extension. After the proper brackets for the coilovers for mounting the distance was around 25 inches. I had my coilovers valved for 4 inches of sag and used a spring combo of 300 over 350 to help obtain it.
Go over everything for final bolt check. Run the brake lines if you haven't already and set up the wheel base and caster to the best you can.
Time to pull it outside.
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Originally Posted by pl4yboy
