For this issue, we decided to tackle the ever-illusive homemade four-link. This is something that most people would not be willing to do, and who can blame them? It's way easier to purchase a pre-built four-link and install it. It's probably way faster, too. However, being the hardcore and crazy minitruckers we are, we decided to four-link this thing on our own. We also did it on a budget and on a crazy time schedule. The deal was we wanted to make it to the Forbidden Fantasy show to compete for the lowest club trophy, and we made it. Stay tuned for more on STK TRUK in the next few issues.
1. First, we hooked the driveshaft...
1. First, we hooked the driveshaft up to the rear-end and jacked it up into the notch, then checked for driveshaft clearance for our new crossmember.
2. Next, we measured our inner...
2. Next, we measured our inner framerails to find out the size our crossmember will be.
3. We decided to draw our...
3. We decided to draw our crossmember on the concrete floor in the shop. Measuring from the 1-inch mark on the tape measure, our crossmember width was 36-3/4 inches, so we made our mark.
4. At 18-3/8 inches we marked...
4. At 18-3/8 inches we marked our half-way mark.
5. Placing the square at the...
5. Placing the square at the half-way mark, Steve drew our mark for the bottom of our crossmember to clear our driveshaft. By using our measurement from square one, and taking into account the fact that the truck was on jackstands, we had to also subtract the height of the frame to the floor.
6. Here was our laid-out crossmember....
6. Here was our laid-out crossmember. We were using 2x3 square tubing for our crossmember. Laying it out on the concrete not only looked cool, but it gave us a pattern we could check later when we put it together.
7. By using various shop junk,...
7. By using various shop junk, we laid out our four-link tabs on the cardboard. Here, Steve used a Mitsubishi Raider rotor to draw our 3-inch diameter for our rearend.
8. Now, by using some Teflon...
8. Now, by using some Teflon tape, we drew more tabs.
9. We set up our four-link...
9. We set up our four-link as follows: We wanted to achieve 10-inches of travel, so we first set it up at half travel, which was 5 inches. So, our half-travel mark was at 8-1/2 inches from the ground. (We were going to be running a 27-inch tall tire.) Second, we drew our crossmember, which was 2x3, and it was going to be placed about 1-1/4-inches from the ground to be level with the top of our frame. Next, we drew tab C, keeping in mind the size of our bars so they didn't touch the ground when laid out. Then, we drew tab D, which we needed to keep our bottom bar parallel to the ground. After that, we drew tab B with enough room for the bushing to clear the rearend. Then, we measured center to center of our bushings on tab D and B, ours was 9-3/4-inches. To find tab A, we subtracted 2 inches off of 9-3/4-inches. This gave us our Instant Center.
10. We cut out our cardboard...
10. We cut out our cardboard patterns, then cut them out and drilled them.
11. Steve handmade our adjusters...
11. Steve handmade our adjusters on the lathe by using some 1-5/8-inch DOM tubing and some 3/4-inch fine thread F911 bolts. F911 are super-duper high-grade bolts, and they also make great paperweights.
12. Here, we have our tabs,...
12. Here, we have our tabs, bushings, and sleeves. Bushings and sleeves can be picked up at most off-road shops, or can be found through most of our advertisers. Steve made our sleeves out of 4130 Chromoly.