FWD vs. REV

OK guys gimme your opinions on forward tri-4 links vs rev tri-4 links...

Is one actually better than the other for a four banger truck? Trying to decide on which I wanna do on my daily dragger i just got. I am kind of leaning toward a rev so i ain't got to move the gas tank, and I ain't coughin up a couple hundred for a fuel cell, and i don't want my gas tank in my bed.. So hollar at me and let me know what you think.

Reverse links are completely wrong. It makes the axle arch backwards instead of forwards. The only place you will ever see reverse links is in the minitruckin world, because people cant seem to think around the gas tank problem.

My advise is do what i did with my tri 4-link. Install the link, and chop the corner of the stock tank off to clear the upper link bars. Its not very hard to cut off the corner, and weld a filler plate in its place, then you can leave it in the stock location.

well thats not gonna work either, cuz i am planning on running my bars on the inside of the frame. This ain't a fullsize where I can run them under the frame... I guess I will have to move the gas tank out back behind the axle if this is the case..

I want some more opinions... But thanks dwight for that little bit of insight.

Edited: 11/17/2005 8:51:13 PM by AiredOut

No room to run the lower bars outside the frame? Never really played with minis before, never looked at the spacing available. I didnt have enough room on my fullsize to run a proper lenght bar under the frame, they are run outside.

if you run your bars reverse..when you hit the brakes..the rear end of your truck is gonna fly up in the air..and then your rear end is actually going to fall OUT of the truck causing 600 car pileup on the road and everyone will die....

Edited: 11/17/2005 9:42:09 PM by xtreme_tacoma

so yea...go ahead and run them forward so you can "safely" drag down the road for 30 miles at a time >in all seriousness (is that a word?)..YES reverse is the wrong way to do it..but in all reality..damn near EVERYTHING we do to minis makes them unsafe in some way..regardless of how good of a welder, fabber, whatever u are...YOU DID NOT engineer that car....so no matter how "strong" u think u just made your frame with all your crossmembers and sweet welded notches..cut out your wheel wells and bed floors (which are part of how the car helps SAVE you in a crash cause they are designed to crumple a certain way).its not going to be the same or as safe as when the factory made it...plane and simple.....but dont get me wrong..im not saying we shouldnt do what we do..its just that people that say that rev 4links are not safe because of what "could" happen with them..should realize all the bad things that "could" happen because of every other thing weve hacked and modified on our trucks

I guess i will jump on the other side of the boat and try to even this out some. Not all reverse 4 links are WRONG.. its the application and R&D that goes into them. The CanDO reverse 4 link for tacomas is just fine, and if your bars are the same length and put on correctly.. you shouldn't have any problems with it. However I do plan on running a forward link setup on my personal vehicle.. but to say that its the WRONG is retarted.
Mike

"Reverse links are completely wrong. It makes the axle arch backwards instead of forwards"

I dont think that makes sense at all. Can you explain yourself because I've never seen a reverse setup have that problem.

Think about the way your axle moves if you when you run the link bars forward, when it gets lift it puts the axle on an arch that travels forward (essentially making everything in the drivline get tighter). In a reverse application it moves the axle toward the back end of the vehicle, which in rare cases could cause serious problems. Reverse links changes how the suspension loads and unloads, which is why i would personally never use one.

I misunderstood how you were saying that, i guess. Makes sense to me now