There is a story about this and a bit of technical infomation along the way. In an effort to get decent flex and performance
out of my GQ I decided a few weeks back to contact one of our sponsors of the DGR Hilux - Mick at Superior Engineering to
pick his brains on what can be done to my lwb GQ.  It was worth the call as he had a heap of options for me to look at and
he was currently building his comp car so I was able to try different things on it - so long as I put it back to how it was
(5" lift, Drop Arms, Longest Tough Dogs . . . . . new Longarm rear rear end).  Firstly I tried his rig on the travel ramp to see
how it went and he also had a customer there who wanted to try his 5" lifted GQ wagon on the ramp as well, so this gave
me a great 'baseline' for the amount of flex available from different setups.

Here comes the technical bits! Basically what I discovered was that 3-4" lift didn't hurt the rear pin mount too much in terms
of bind but the radius bushes "maxxed" out long before the shocks (first we tried the longest travel tough dogs) thinking
the shocks might be the problem, I removed them and brought around a set of 15" travel pro-comps and some
16" racerunners, just in case!!! Even with the shocks removed I could not get any more than 110mm differential measured
across the shock mounting position. These measurements are also very similar to both the 5" drop arms and the STD arms
with drop boxes, although the ride with the drop boxes is much better. The boys also had all the test data kept from
Brian's 5 link conversion, so it gave me a great target to aim at to design a setup that had similar flex. My main design
objective is always drive-ability and the way it puts power to the ground (comes from my drag racing background), which is
why the DGR Hilux has been so successful over the years - STABILITY, GROUND PRESSURE AND POWER TRANSFER.

So a few beers later, a lot of measurements and a lot of chalk sketches on the floor, I came up with an idea!! So off to
work to draw it up and test it using our FEA design package. Well the numbers looked good so it was now time to make a
dummy arm, so Monday night we started cutting out the plates and making a new arm, finished it off last night and pressed
in a pair of std bushes, then it was off to the ramp for the moment of truth!  The newly designed arms are a blend of two
different styles of arms, each complimenting the angles of deflection required for controlled flex. The key is to change the planes
of deflection to allow full movement and resist that terrible binding and tearing of bushes that always occurs. The other
main design criteria was to transmit complimentary torque back into the chassis to reduce the 'ROLLY' feeling that 5-links and
X-links are known for.
This eliminates / reduces the need for a front swaybar both on and off road. This was the hardest part to calculate as the
amount of torque required is non-linear across the axle width. But after having a good play on a hill close by (insane angles!!!)
it works unbelievably well. These links are purely for a test ATM, but after seeing how well they work Mick at Superior Engineering
wants to start selling them as a kit. They will be purely bolt on, well I did it so it cant be too hard. They will compliment his
new long-arm kit perfectly, at least now we have all the data documented such as  spring rates, shock lengths, shock
tower heights, and travel lengths.

I have certainly learn't heaps about getting flex out of nissans, a lot of setups I had always thought worked well have
actually proven to be very disappointing, but hopefully this might give you guys some ideas.  The parts are all designed
around a complete bolt-on setup. Also one thing that I did find out in testing is that with that amount of flex it needed
230mm of shock travel in the front, so the longest toughdog limits travel only by about 10-15mm, so there is no need
for weird shocks  & towers just std ones modified to a set height ~100-120mm depending on the spring combination,
and vehicle setup.

ALL NEW DROP BOX SUPER FLEX ARMS !!
Superior Engineering has now added a new product to our Super Flex Arms!! The single passenger side
Super Flex Arm that is for use with our Drop Boxes.  We all know that you can't beat the driving quality
of Superior Drop Boxes and who doesn't want more flex out of a 4wd providing it still retains the same
on road handling.  This is where Superior Engineering came up with the great new idea to combine
Drop Boxes and Super Flex Arms together to create the best of both worlds.

The GU wagon pictured here is using 350 lbs rear coils and 315 lbs front coils, it tows a car trailer with
the Team DGR Nissan to competitions as well as being an every day driven vehicle.  As you can see it
certainly does not lack flex in the front end considering how thick the coils are, remember that the front
bullbar is alloy and it is only a petrol engine without a second battery.  If you already are lucky enough
to be one of many thousands of 4wders with Superior Drop Boxes than why not take you 4wd to the
next level!

Below is some helpful forum links that
discuss these "SUPER FLEX ARMS"
www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic158202.php
www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic117558.php
www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic146037-0-asc-0.php
www.patrol4x4.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=11
www.patrol4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23652
www.monster4x4.com.au/blog/2008/06/15/superior-engineering-flex-arms-test/
www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic163081.php

07-09-2008

#27 (permalink)

turbo gu Member Join Date: Sep 2003

We fitted some superior arms into the front of a mates GQ recently and it has changed the car. It has had a wild shimmy in it since my mate lifted it(about 2 years) it had everything in the front end rebuilt or replaced including a GU steering box and front diff and was always there but as soon as the arms went in what a change! For a big lifted GQ(6/7inch) it drives sensationally. Offroad it never had any sort of front end flex, with the arms in it easily maxed out the tough dogs. We reversed it up a rock with the r/h/r and got the r/h/f tyre off the ground and the l/h/f tucked up into the wheel arch and that was with heavy duty dobinson coils. My mate can't wait till some long shocks and soft coils go in it so he can use the arms properly. Once i've sorted out my ute i will definately fit up a set to it. __________________ 42td GU wagon 5inch EFS lift 35inch MTRs, plus all the usual stuff!!! 4.2tdi GU ute. 5 inch EFS lift, 37inch krawlers. locked, crawler gears. tube tray and sliders by BADFAB

08-09-2008	#30 (permalink)
turbo gu Member Join Date: Sep 2003	PP, my mates truck is a petrol auto gq wagon. Its pretty light. only one battery, steel bar and winch and outback roller drawers.i'll get a couple of photos and measurements later this week. DGR01 my mate loves them. Almost too much. LOL. great product. __________________ 42td GU wagon 5inch EFS lift 35inch MTRs, plus all the usual stuff!!! 4.2tdi GU ute. 5 inch EFS lift, 37inch krawlers. locked, crawler gears. tube tray and sliders by BADFAB

Leeroy Joined: 16 Feb 2007 Location: Perth

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:47 pm   I have the fancy superior arms (extremely happy - on road behaviour exceptional for the amount of wheel travel off road), am I correct in assuming that the smaller bush on the passenger side is a Nissan rear control arm bush? Just need to know for when the time comes to replace it. Like to see the look on the Nissan parts bloke's face when I ask for 3 front bushes and one rear... Also if one were to drill and tap sway bar mounts in to the bottom of them would this unacceptably weaken them? It's only once or twice a year on big trips up north I like to put the sway bars back on but no biggy if superior do not recommend it.

Overall flex direct comparisons (test#2 – test#4) show a huge improvement in front end flex, with useable travel increasing from 155mm to 235mm+ as
measured at the shock position. This amount of flex (230mm+) is equal to or greater than the maximum shock travel as offered by most OE manufacturers.
Test #5 was performed as an indicator of overall component integration, and the maximum constraints of standard suspension components. Continued
testing and development is recommended to attain the better commercially available shock and spring alternatives. So for the first time a good bolt-in
solution is offered that can finally use ALL of the available shock travel in most ‘long-travel’ lift kits!