Project Tundra: Dirt King Lower Control Arms

The stock ball joint is at the limit of articulation with a longer travel suspension.  This isn’t really good for it.  The Dirt King arm uses a stainless FK spherical bearing at the right angle so you won’t over articulate it.  The bearing uses stainless high misalignment spacers as well for a long corrosion-free life.  When the bearing wears, it’s easily and quickly replaceable.  The tab you can see on the side of the arm is the steering stop.

The Dirt King lower control arm has sturdy mounts for the main coilover shock, a bypass shock, and the front antisway bar integrated into the arm.  We like this better than the bracket we had welded onto our stock arm for the bypass shock.   Unlike a lot of off-roaders, we take a queue from the offroad racing trucks and run a front antisway bar as we feel that it greatly helps cornering, even in the dirt.  The top of the control arms have two impact pads for hydraulic bump stops if you are going to be running them.

All of the mounts are in double shear for extra strength, all of the mounts are completely boxed in and are very, very strong.  You can see the steering stop on the lower part of the arm pictured.  The steering stop is angled and progressively shaped to give maximum steering angle but to prevent you from over-articulating the axle CV’s and tie rods over the length of wheel travel.

The control arms come with spherical bearing equipped end links for the front swaybar. They are all compliance-free and couple the swaybar directly.

There is a tab for droop limiting straps as well if you choose to run them, you can see it in this picture.  The metal welded on the top surface of the arm is the impact pad for a hydraulic bump stop.  The arms are finished in tough black powdercoat for corrosion resistance.  The arms are fully rebuildable with all bushings, bearings, and parts available individually for rebuild and repair.

We can’t wait to install these lower arms along with the rest of the parts we have gotten to strengthen and improve the performance of our front suspension. Stay tuned.

Sources

Dirt King Fabrication