Topic: 4Wheel Underground 3Link Review

[toyocrawler113]

As the title says this will be a review on the 4wheel underground 3link suspension, it will be installed on a 1985 toyota pickup. The reason I decided to review this product is because there wasn't much information or builds on this product. I have looked at a lot of other manufacturers for 3links, they all seem to be pretty good products but this  kit stood out because of the design and the geometry. The reason that I say that the geometry stood out is because it is not only designed to handle low-speed crawling but it also handles high-speed desert sections. More than just the geometry and the design, the bracketry stood out as well, it is well fabricated and boxed in. This kit seemed superior to other designs I have seen, it fits the Diamond axle which not many manufacturers make products that do. The 4Wheel Underground 3Link is said versatile, instead of being constrained to one activity you can conquer any obstacle with this setup.

Review Topics:

-Performance: After the kit is installed I will give a full review on high-speed and rock crawling performance.

-Quality: This will cover craftsmanship, strength, and design.

-Installation- This will cover how thorough and accurate the directions are and how easy the installation is.

-Customer service: This will cover communication and responsiveness of the company.


This might be a slow build because I will be doing this on the weekends, but I am hoping to have the truck completed and ready to go out to King of the Hammers to put the product to the test, have some fun, and give everyone a thorough review.

Cheers.

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

Here is the first update, I picked up all the parts from Brian at 4wheel Underground, got it home, and took a good look at everything.

Review Topics:
-Quality: Everything looks great. The welds are beautiful, a true work of art and well penetrated. Looks super strong. And the design looks amazing not only visually appealing but looks structurally sound as well.

-Customer service: Brian is very informative, very personable, and more than willing to spend time with you to ensure that you have all your questions answered. Brian helps you make a knowledgeable well educated decision. He replies very quickly and keeps you up to date on the status of your order. The only problem I had was on the delivery time but that was not Brian's fault, it was out of his control. The problem was with the laser cutter, they had a machine down and put Brian's parts on the back burner. As soon as Brian got the parts back from the laser he worked long and very hard to get it out to me as soon as possible, which was great.

So far, my experience has been amazing and I am a very satisfied customer with the product I have purchased.
[/IMG]

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

OK guys,

It is time to go a little more in depth into the process of installing this rear bracket on the driver side frame rail. First, what I did was obviously read the directions and the directions specifically say that the bracket will need to be bent to fit in the intended location. I was curious to why they were not pre-bent so I contacted Brian, he told me that this kit was intended to be installed in one location, however he did not bend them to give people the option to move the bracket on the frame rail for what ever reason they may have. The process of bending it is fairly easy, all you have to do is locate the bracket against the frame rail, look at it and figure out how much you have to hammer to line up the holes on the bracket and the original bolt holes for the t-case mount. It took me a couple tries to get it perfect because I did not want to over bend it and have to bend it back. After I got that perfect, I went in with my angle grinder with an 80 grit flap wheel to get all the paint off, then I hit it with a 90* grinder with a scotch pad to ensure the surface was as clean and smooth as possible. Finally, I had my girlfriend give me a hand to locate and clamp it so I could burn a couple tacks into it. The whole process took roughly 30 minutes, however I am going to go back to cut off the the t-case bracket on the out side of the frame. By cutting the t-case bracket off it will make it look cleaner, it is not necessary but is a nice touch in my opinion.

The unused T-case Mount I will be cutting off to make the driver side frame rail look clean!

I did run into a problem with the exhaust flange hitting but nothing a grinder cant fix:smokin:

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

Hey guys,

Here is your next update, this will consist of me installing the lower and upper link brackets on the passenger side.
The first step to mounting these was the biggest pain in the butt, it was to remove the t-case bracket on
the inside of the frame-rail. It was such a pain because the truck and tranny are both on jack stands until
I get my cross member and skid from Front Range Off-Road, so there is absolutely no room under there to get situated. Another pain is that the
brackets are fully welded around, they are close to the brake lines and also close to a line that goes to the charcoal filter.
So, before you can even start to cut the brackets off you have to take all the lines out completely or
push them out of the way. After you spend a long time under the truck cutting off the t-case bracket, you now have
to cut off the parking brake cable tab, which holds the parking break cable to the frame-rail. The reason for cutting off the parking break cable tab is
to make room for the link bracket, this was very easy but you want to cut it off in a way so you can still use it.
How I did it was, I just took a cut-off wheel to it right above the welds, later on I will clean and weld it back into place.
After that was all said and done, I followed the directions that were very clear on where to locate the bracket. Again, just like the driver side bracket,
it instructs you to bend the bracket a little to fit snug up against the frame-rail. That was all pretty straight forward, now I am to the point where I
have the freedom to make my own decisions, such as front axle placement, max bump, etc. I ran into a lot of problems with my oil pan and panhard at
max bump, so I decided to move the front axle as far forward as I needed to get the max bump desired. It was not hard to determine what could and
could not be done, so after I compromised a little I came to a great solution which gave me great up travel.

Passenger side lower link bracket

Front view

side view

lower link with upper link bracket frame side

Upper link axle side

A little fitting was needed due to the fact that I moved my center diff. towards the driver side. When I originally ordered it and was planning on using leaf springs.

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

boxing the frame with provided frame plates

checking for clearance issues

on
passenger side bump. I did forget to put on the doubler plate so I have to cut it off and re-tack it:rolleyes: and the panhard is clamped into place to ensure perfect placement before drilling the mounting holes in the brackets

[Yopar]

Bump for some updates 

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

Bump for some updates 

Sorry for no updates I have not gotten much done on the front lately, I have been focused on the rear. I will have updates hopefully this weekend, stay tuned

[Slolyfe]

Sweet, subscribed. Been looking at Brian's kit for a while, nice to see an install.

[BirdDog]

Sweet, subscribed. Been looking at Brian's kit for a while, nice to see an install.

Same here.

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

Right on!.... I will post updates as soon as I get a chance to work on it again.

[jeradx10]

So to clear the elephant in the room, how much does this kit run$$$ compared to say the trail-gear 3link???

[Wainiha]

http://www.4wheelunderground.com/

4WU is top of the line.  TG is probably half the cost.  I'd save for 4WU.

[hiluxtrux]

Thanks Toyo, for taking the time to document this installation.  I have been trying to justify buying Brian's kit for a while.  I am convinced that the geometry this kit provides is the shiz.  Can't wait to read your driving impressions.

[hilux-1983]

Hmmm.....

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

I know it has been a long time since my last post and I won't bore you with my personal life, let's just say I got busy. As far as the build, I finally started working on it again a couple months ago in order to finish it in time for the Hammers. I was so caught up in trying to finish it in time that I had no time to update this thread. So from the last time that I posted, all I did was: mount the shocks and cycled the crap out of the suspension to ensure maximum travel and clearance. For the suspension I had to make small adjustments to achieve the up-travel I desired, for example I put a slight bend in the panhard bar but in the end it was well worth it.

Other than that, I just had my buddy weld everything together, which took no time at all. The front suspension was the easiest part of the whole build, it went together as intended and the most time consuming part was cycling it to ensure the suspension would be used to its full potential. After that, I was occupied with finishing the rest of the truck, which I pretty much finished the day before I went to the Hammers. I went to my buddies house later that night to use his forklift to double check that I had no clearance issues and the next day I drove it all the way to the Hammers with no problems. It drove like a dream on the road.

Once I got there I put it to use right away, eating up the whoops at 45-50 mph no problem, walking up Chocolate Thunder, and other small trails. The only problem I had all weekend was not related to the build at all. In fact, it was due to a friend's stupid mistake which ended up ruining my grill, headlights, hood, and core support. Despite all that, I had a great weekend and I couldn't ask for the suspension to have worked any better than it did, and it drove home with no problems what-so-ever.

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

[jrock]

Very nice

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

Very nice

Thank you 

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

Here are a couple pictures from TDS. I will have some more pictures and videos soon.

[Wainiha]

Looking good.  I'd love a 4WU link kit for my Taco.

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

Looking good.  I'd love a 4WU link kit for my Taco.

Thanks man, it's the best! It works soooooo good. It always seems to amaze me.

[helipilot77]

so how did you get your high steer arm modified so that the tie rod end is on the other side?

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

so how did you get your high steer arm modified so that the tie rod end is on the other side?

I just used a tapered reamer.

[TacoRunner]

So to clear the elephant in the room, how much does this kit run$$$ compared to say the trail-gear 3link???

Last time I checked the TG brackets by them selves were $525. While ours are $775.

[mudmaster]

Last time I checked the TG brackets by them selves were $525. While ours are $775.

You get what you pay for..........

[toyocrawler113 [OP]]

You get what you pay for..........

Exactly! I was honestly looking at TG's kit before I bought this one and I am glad I spent the extra money. It performes great both on the street and the dirt. The brakets alone are so much stronger I have no fear to slam them or dragging them across rocks, which I have .

[helipilot77]

The two really can't be compared. The trailgear kit will get to by if you want a link suspension kit for a trailered rig. The 4WUnderground kit is a masterpiece of art and engineering that you can weld onto your truck to improve its performance in all on-road and off-road conditions. When you look at how close Brian has priced his no compromise kit to the trail-gear kit it is truly impressive. With the time he has involved in tig welding all those brackets I don't see how he is making any money on them. 

[HogCanyonHopper]

how well do the 4WU kits fit under a first gen with the frames being a little smaller than say 2nd and 3rd gens?

[Nation]

Very nice!

[TacoRunner]

how well do the 4WU kits fit under a first gen with the frames being a little smaller than say 2nd and 3rd gens?

I believe they fit just fine. I am fairly certain that the link lengths may change some but that's about it.