Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

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Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby hockeydad4-22 » Sun May 24, 2020 10:04 am

Hello Folks -

Its been a while since I have done much on the forum, been busy with work and life up here in the PNW. But have pulled Wilma into the shop (ok drug Wilma into the shop - pulled makes it sound like she moved there under her own power and we are not there yet) and I am putting together the steering & suspension portion of the build. To that end, I am asking for recommendations on heavy duty extended radius arms.

I am running a full width HP D44 with 5.5" progressive coils I picked up a while ago in Denver. They are new, never run but i did not purchase them from the vendor. I will likely purchase the radius arm brackets and bushings from the same vendor at the same time unless there is a better option that you all come up with.

Plan is to run 37's and I want good on road manners with good off-road capability (I have a 20 mile 2 lane highway commute to town and tend to use my 4x4 playing in the sand, snow and of course general wheeling. Remember, my ultimate goal with this bronco is to use it to replace my daily driver and be able to drive it to Holy Cross, run the trail and drive it home. Now days - Holly Cross is a ways away but the goal remains the same.

I was originally planning to build my own but have decided the Lars-Bars might not be ideal for my build.

Lets have a discussion, what are the pros and cons of the different vendors extended arms. What do you all recommend? I will be placing the order in the next 2-3 weeks.

Thank you
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby Eck » Sun May 24, 2020 11:28 am

Glad to see you’re picking back up on this. I’ve been hearing and seeing good reviews on the Duff arms. Looks like they have re-engineered them for 2020.


https://dufftuff.com/product/stage-3-tu ... 77-bronco/


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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby Kinder » Sun May 24, 2020 1:55 pm

Eck wrote:Glad to see you’re picking back up on this. I’ve been hearing and seeing good reviews on the Duff arms. Looks like they have re-engineered them for 2020.


https://dufftuff.com/product/stage-3-tu ... 77-bronco/


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I’ve had the Duff arms on my bronco since I bought it back in the day, over 10 years ago, and they’ve been great. When I actually wheeled my bronco they added great articulation (I have the full long travel setup), and they improved the on road handling as well.
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby TOOLMAN » Sun May 24, 2020 2:44 pm

I did my Duff arms two winters ago with Wild Horses springs and Bilstein 360/80 shocks and I really like the setup!
Wilma - 71 1/2 Wagon; 3 1/2" WH lift, 1" BL, NP435, Chebby disc front, WH twin stick D20, EFI 302, Cool hood scoop, mucho cancer; purchased in 1990.
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby Gunnibronco » Sun May 24, 2020 4:08 pm

Mine are Bloody Knuckle Garage long arms (Cage), but from most accounts they are similar/identical to the Duff arms. I wouldn't hesitate to go with Duffs or BKG again. Drove great on the highway & wheeled, until I pulled it all apart.
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby hockeydad4-22 » Sun May 24, 2020 8:48 pm

Thanks guys. So Duffs is preferred. Anyone have any experience with Toms?
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby TOOLMAN » Sun May 24, 2020 9:48 pm

Not sure about Tom's, but Duff's has been making their's for about 20 years I think. That's why I went with them. Plus I just looked at Tom's. They have the urethane bushings with the nut on the end like stock while the Duff's have heim joints at the end...offers better articulation.
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby Gunnibronco » Mon May 25, 2020 12:07 pm

Speaking of the heim joints, many have swapped the solid heims out with Metalcloak with rubber bushings. I have, but haven't run them yet. Might be worth asking if that was an improvement.
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." – Claire Wolfe
74-AWB 98", ZF5, Atlas4, TGW HP1060 and HP1014 axles, ARBs, 37's, 3.5" lift-5.5" front coil springs, Tahoe rear springs, EFI 302, h-boost, York OBA, 4x4x2, custom dash & gauges
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby ZOSO » Tue May 26, 2020 4:50 am

+1 for duffs. The ride quality and flex over stock and even over the lars bars we built is worth it. I'll be adding them to my 77 which will be 99% street just cause of the ride quality. You do get a bit more body roll with em since it frees up a lot of the bind but not enough to make is scary.
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby hockeydad4-22 » Sat May 30, 2020 8:35 am

Thanks guys - I preferred the Duffs as well but have no real world experience with any of them so hearing from those of you who do is priceless. Placed the order this morning.
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby ManTruck » Tue Jun 02, 2020 9:04 am

Good call on the Duffs. I love mine
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby RJLougee » Fri Jun 19, 2020 1:40 pm

Gunnibronco wrote:Mine are Bloody Knuckle Garage long arms (Cage), but from most accounts they are similar/identical to the Duff arms. I wouldn't hesitate to go with Duffs or BKG again. Drove great on the highway & wheeled, until I pulled it all apart.


They should be, Jim Cole is the one who designed the long arms when he worked at Duff many years ago.

Personally, I would go with the Cage/Bloody Knuckle arms simply because he is the originator.

He's also in Columbia City, OR. so you'd think shipping would be a lot less.
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby Gunnibronco » Fri Jun 19, 2020 7:54 pm

RJLougee wrote:
Gunnibronco wrote:Mine are Bloody Knuckle Garage long arms (Cage), but from most accounts they are similar/identical to the Duff arms. I wouldn't hesitate to go with Duffs or BKG again. Drove great on the highway & wheeled, until I pulled it all apart.


They should be, Jim Cole is the one who designed the long arms when he worked at Duff many years ago.

Personally, I would go with the Cage/Bloody Knuckle arms simply because he is the originator.

He's also in Columbia City, OR. so you'd think shipping would be a lot less.
My $.02, Joe


Jim was also very helpful and great to deal with when I bought them.

I didn't think of the shipping, but it could make a significant difference for you.
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." – Claire Wolfe
74-AWB 98", ZF5, Atlas4, TGW HP1060 and HP1014 axles, ARBs, 37's, 3.5" lift-5.5" front coil springs, Tahoe rear springs, EFI 302, h-boost, York OBA, 4x4x2, custom dash & gauges
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby hockeydad4-22 » Fri Jul 31, 2020 1:25 pm

Finally!!!!

Received notification yesterday that Duffs has shipped my new radius arms! Apparently, Covid has caused them lots of delays in production and procurement of materials. Duffs kept me informed regularly of the status of my order which was greatly appreciated.

I tried to get a hold of Jim at BKG but after a couple of messages and emails that seemed to be having difficulty in getting through, I went ahead and ordered from Duffs. Jim at BKG did finally reply last week but the deal was long done by then.

Radius arms, shims, etc should arrive on Wednesday.
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby TOOLMAN » Fri Jul 31, 2020 7:43 pm

thumbs up You will really like the ride!
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby NateMob » Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:05 pm

Gunnibronco wrote:Speaking of the heim joints, many have swapped the solid heims out with Metalcloak with rubber bushings. I have, but haven't run them yet. Might be worth asking if that was an improvement.


Having used a few and built a full 3 link with the Duraflex joint from MetalCloak, i can say it is hands down the best joint on the market. Do you recall the size needed for the duff/cage arms?

Thank you.
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby Gunnibronco » Mon Aug 17, 2020 11:10 pm

NateMob wrote:
Gunnibronco wrote:Speaking of the heim joints, many have swapped the solid heims out with Metalcloak with rubber bushings. I have, but haven't run them yet. Might be worth asking if that was an improvement.


Having used a few and built a full 3 link with the Duraflex joint from MetalCloak, i can say it is hands down the best joint on the market. Do you recall the size needed for the duff/cage arms?

Thank you.


I tried to log into my Metalcloak account but it must be under a long lost email address. I have my old heim joints from my arms and will figure out what size they are. I think they are 2-5/8" x 1-1/4" shank. They are big bastards for sure.
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." – Claire Wolfe
74-AWB 98", ZF5, Atlas4, TGW HP1060 and HP1014 axles, ARBs, 37's, 3.5" lift-5.5" front coil springs, Tahoe rear springs, EFI 302, h-boost, York OBA, 4x4x2, custom dash & gauges
72 U15- Explorer Sport-Candyapple Red (1 of 141)
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Re: Extended Radius Arms Recommendations.

Postby Jesus_man » Tue Aug 18, 2020 5:20 am

NateMob wrote:Having used a few and built a full 3 link with the Duraflex joint from MetalCloak, i can say it is hands down the best joint on the market. Do you recall the size needed for the duff/cage arms?

Thank you.



Glad to hear. Want to use one in my anti-wrap bar design.
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