64 OCTOBER 20194-WHEEL & OFF-ROAD 4WHEELOFFROAD.COM
TECHNICAL
THREE-LINK
IN A BOX?
SWAPPING TO
LINKED REAR
SUSPENSION
ON OUR
TRAIL TRUCK
BY Jay Kopycinski
[email protected]
PHOTOGRAPHY JAY KOPYCINSKIW
E HAD RUN REAR LEAF
packs with lift for
many years. They of fer
simplicity and reliabil-
ity. However, as they
age and are flexed
abundantly over the
years, they will often start to sag and lose
some of their ability to resist axlewrap.
We opted to swap our 2001 Toyota
Tacoma from rear leaf springs over to a
linked setup. For our trail truck, we wantedto more accurately control our ride height,
plus have some adjustability for a wide
range of uses. We al so knew that the
linked configuration would put traction to
the ground more effectively.
RuffStuff Specialties offers several sus-
pension kits in both three- and four-link ver-
sions for front or rear applications. They are
aimed at the do-it-yourselfer and those who
want to take advantage of simply buying
quality-designed mounts and other com-
ponents. We opted to use one of the com-
pany’s three - link kit s to conver t the tail of
our Tacoma. We ordered it complete with all
mount brackets, link rod ends, link tubing,
shock towers, limit straps, and hardware.Why a three-link instead of a four-link?
For several reasons. It’s true that a trian-
gulated four-link does have the advan-
tage of possibly limping off the trail with
one missing link, so hardcore survivabil-
ity may offer an advantage there. How-
ever, we opted to build a three-link setup
with a Panhard bar. This would allow us
to retain the gas tank in the stock loca-
tion to maintain emissions compliance
and not encroach on bed cargo space,
something we imagine is of interest to
many truck owners.
We chose to use 14-inch-travel Radflo
coilovers with remote reservoirs. We pro-
vided Radflo with sprung and unsprung