jakes long travel a arm

donetheconversion

Hey guys
I'm going to try to make some a arms for my g2.. I've been looking at the Jake's long travel kit to get an idea for what I need to shot for.. right now my question is what diameter tubing are the a arms in the kit..they don't look very big.
thanks
Zach

BGW

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sho305

The long travel dual arm kit? I don't know but have thought of doing the same thing. With all the ball joints and stuff I figure it better to use an ATV front and widen it, adapt to the cart. That way you get disk brakes in the deal as well as the shocks and hardware/etc. The only issue is I think none of them are 4/4 bolt patterns but I have a machinist that could make some spacers if I wanted.

kellys~hotrods

My Jake's LT lower control arm measures 0.89 in. with the powder coat. They definitely use DOM tubing, not seam welded tubing. If I were you I would look in to using chromoly steel DOM for your control arms. It is stronger than mild steel DOM and would allow you to use smaller diameter tubing, saving unsprung weight and improving ride quality and handling. It is possible to weld chromoly tubing with a MIG machine, but the strongest way to bond it is by using a properly set up TIG outfit. The Jake's kit may use chromoly, but I'm not sure on this.

Another consideration (among many) is how long do you plan on making the arms? If they're similar in length to the Jake's kit then you should be ok using that as a guide. If you want to go longer to gain travel and width, I would consider bumping up the tube diameter to compensate for the increase in leverage forces exerted on the arms.

How ever you decide to proceed, good luck and post some pictures!

Kelly

donetheconversion

Sho-- using the quad front is a good idea and would probably be the better idea but I'm trying to build this beast on a budget..

Kelly-- that is exactly what I needed, I was hoping that is was no bigger than an inch because that's the diameter pipe I can get my hands on for free!
I was thinking of widening the front about an inch or two longer than the stock front end. I will definitely post pics of this when I get started on it as of now I'm still planning it out.

sho305

True if you can't get a front cheap, it will not be cheap lol. You can also widen the mount points for more track instead of longer arms, if you are not looking for more travel.

Another option is build a long single arm style, it would be easier. A 3' arm or something would give a lot more travel than stock before camber got strange. You could use the stock spindles and all. But sure, dual arms are nice.

donetheconversion

i could do all that but my problem that is fueling all this is with my current front end setup. my tires always have a pretty bad tilt in, i believe my front shocks are proably shot b/c they are basically compressed all the time except when i gas it then they come back out..so my idea was to build a second pair of arms so my vertical position of the tires are set all the time because the upper arm wont allow them to tilt in..right?...then i also have a pair of dirt bike front forks/shocks.(they are air shocks not coil and where off a 400 honda bike) so im going to use them as shocks in the front, it will look crazy with those things under there.
pros of this - being able to adjust stifness, the double arm setup will keep my tires vertical, also ill be able to add width because im making my a arms.
cons - look odd with dirt bike forks? haha not sure if there are any.
what do you guys think of all my logic..

sho305

Technically you could almost use the fork half for a strut and not need another arm, but not knowing how you would fit it under there. IIRC some Polaris ATV are strut fronts but been a while since I looked at one.

Some use ex400 shocks on G9s.

Lol, I'd never say don't build something that is how all the cool stuff gets on here. You might have to do some planning though.

donetheconversion

ya i could just do the stock a arm setup with the fork but wheres the challenge of that! haha i think im gonna make 4 a arms out of 1 inch tube and and about an inch to the stock length..but my next question is do i use ball joint rod ends on the top a arm and bottom a arm like the jakes lift or is there a better way to connect the a arms to the tire assembly?
thanks for the input guys

donetheconversion

this is what im thinking of using in the front

Attached Images

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blake80

I am in the process of building a complete long travel kit for my cart. I have examined all the available long travel kits out there. I have also found houndreds of way to build these kits. Here is a killer way I found to set up my front. I am going mount my hubs to a wood jig so I can set the camber with the cart at rest. I also have figured out how to use a club car king pin setup (which I am altering) to mount my spindles. I still have to build my sub frame, but once I build and mount it I will beable to configure my a arms. I am going to use 1" .120 wall tubing for my arms. cromolly is great, but if you dont know how to weld it, usuing glass might be stronger. Just remember that strength is not determind by the material, but by design usuing thecorrect material and correct assymbly. Also note that the fewer the welds the better.