FEEDBACK WANTED: Rear Upper Trailing Arms

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

Hi all.

We wanted to gauge interest in getting Adjustable Rear Upper Trailing arms made up.

We had to order replacement Upper Rear trailing arms from Toyota for our resident KZJ95R after discovering the state of the upper trailing arm bushes whilst doing the lift on it. I realised that if mine were this bad, that others must be getting similar now that the kms are getting higher on these cars.
Bushes for these arms cannot be purchased separately from Toyota, they only come as a complete arm unit.
Ours felt a bit wobbly in the rear end & you can only see the wear in the bushes with the car on the hoist with the diff on full droop.

I have 95 series arms for a sample, but i'll have to purchase or borrow a 120 Series arm to Spec it up.

I have taken a couple of sample pics of the 95 Series Toyota Upper arm with some Commodore arms we had custom made just for reference pictures.
As in the pictures, Fabricated the arms are much more rugged in construction & would offer pinion angle adjustment for the big lift cars.
We would look at getting these made with Rubber bushes & not the Poly bushes shown in the Sample Commodore arms.

http://www.wholesalesuspension.com.a...trailarm01.jpg
http://www.wholesalesuspension.com.a...trailarm02.jpg
http://www.wholesalesuspension.com.a...trailarm03.jpg
http://www.wholesalesuspension.com.a...trailarm04.jpg
http://www.wholesalesuspension.com.a...trailarm05.jpg


Please let me know if this is something there is interest in having made, as we believe that we should be able to offer them at less cost than Toyota arms.


Regards, Jason.

[prh Member Find all posts View Profile Close prh]

What are the symptoms of wear in the bushes? Would the bushes be replaceable?

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

What are the symptoms of wear in the bushes? Would the bushes be replaceable?

I will take photos of the bushes when i swap the arms over.
They are worn badly on one side. The back side of the bush that sits with all the load on it when driving.

The arms we are looking at doing will be custom manufactured & it will be possible to replace the bushes in them.


Regards, Jason.

[8608 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close 8608]

Hi Jason,

i am definitely keen for some 120 series rear uppers.

i am currently running the superior engineering rear lowers and are great.

things i have been looking into.

if the diameter or adjustment section is too large, the upper left arm may interfere with the fuel tank through suspension travel.
i would prefer a non adjustable arm as opposed to having it adjustable.
the Prado arm is no longer than 300mm. they are a lot shorter than cruiser or patrol uppers.
i would prefer to run Nissan patrol bonded rubber bushes (like the superior lowers), as they are readily available, and offer a lot more rubber then most other bushes available. also has the benefit of a better ride and more angle for articulation with the shorter upper arms.

also, i have been looking into getting a adjustable panhard rod too.

credit to you guys for looking into the minority and helping us out with new bits and pieces.

cheers

[PLAYDOH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PLAYDOH]

I to like Steve would like some bigger upper control arms, but I am not after adjustable ones. Just bigger bushes like the Superior lower control arms have. I to have the Superior Lower Control arms.

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

I'm part of the minority with my 95 series.

I did a bit of speccing' up on a 120 Series here today.
Arms are very similar to the 95 series & i saw what you meant about the fuel tank clearance..
We are thinking that we may be able to leave the arm the same size, but offset the bush at front end to give more room around the tank.

Regards, Jason.

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

Hi guys, i have been doing a bit of research into some bushes for these arms.

-The Prado upper arm bushes are 55.5 & 56mm wide respectively for the 95 & 120 Series.
-Both model Prado's Run a 12.3mm I.D on the crush tube.
-The Patrol upper & lower rear trailing arm bushes are 60mm wide and run a 14mm I.D crush tube.
-Prado 95 Lower arm bushes are 59.5mm wide with a 14mm I.D crush tube
-Prado 120 lower arm bushes are 60mm wide with a 14mm I.D crush tube, hence the ability to use the Patrol goodies for the lower arms.


If we put the arms into production, we will have to stick with the Prado style bushes, but we have spoken to a manufacturer of ours that has the right size bushes that we need in good quality Rubber and they will be readily available for $28.80 a bush.

We should be able to offer these arms complete with bushes in the vicinity of $215.00 to $225.00 a pair.

Please let me know what you guys think?

Regards, Jason.

[PLAYDOH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PLAYDOH]

Good on you for doing the research into this, to be honest if the rear upper control arms are only adjustable then it's not something I'm after. The difference in size up top though makes sense why no one is making aftermarket up grades for the Prado.

[pjorek Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close pjorek]

i'd call myself a complete beginner anything suspension (well i know what shocks and springs do) can you explain what are the benefits of installing these as opposed to having the factory setup at the back?

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

i'd call myself a complete beginner anything suspension (well i know what shocks and springs do) can you explain what are the benefits of installing these as opposed to having the factory setup at the back?

The aftermarket arms should offer a couple of benefits.
Firstly, the ability to replace bushes individually without having to purchase an expensive complete arm.
Secondly, they will be bigger and stronger in construction.

Regards, Jason.

[pjorek Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close pjorek]

The aftermarket arms should offer a couple of benefits.
Firstly, the ability to replace bushes individually without having to purchase an expensive complete arm.
Secondly, they will be bigger and stronger in construction.

Regards, Jason.

My vehicle has only 70k kms at the moment but it's definately something I'd be looking at in the future.

[prh Member Find all posts View Profile Close prh]

What would be the benefit - on or off road - of adjustable and/or stronger arms?

Would there be a noticeable difference in driving, or would it just basically beef up the rear end?

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

What would be the benefit - on or off road - of adjustable and/or stronger arms?

Would there be a noticeable difference in driving, or would it just basically beef up the rear end?

We had thought the arms could offer 3 benefits. 1: The adjustability of the arms was more for the bigger lift cars to re-adjust the pinion angle on the diff after the lift. 2: They are much stronger in construction than the O.E arms. 3: They offer the ability to replace bushes individually without the need to buy a complete arm.

-After a bit of feedback from the guys, we may make these fixed, without the adjustment in them.
We will probably use a 120 Series style bush in the arms & make them of a heavier construction material.


Regards, Jason.

[prh Member Find all posts View Profile Close prh]

Cheers Jason. I'd consider them as an option at such time as the bushes on mine had clapped out.

Heavy duty with replaceable bushes, great. Adjustable, maybe not so much.

Paul

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

Hi again guys.

We have done a bit more discussing about these & our supplier tells us it will be no probs to make these up Non-adjustable in a beefier construction.

Might need to pinch a 120 off someone in the future for an hour or 2 measure up clearances etc, unless we have one in for work in the meantime.


Regards, Jason.