opinions on pie cutting the upper arms????

i was trying to get out doing this to my arms, but looks like thats my only option since i didnt Z my truck.

and im not looking to put tubular arms on it yet.


any help at all would appreciated fellas. i understand to reasoning behind it.

Just wondering if theres any tricks to it but i go and ruin a set of arms. PICS PICS & MORE PICS please.

with all that said, dont forget, it has a cummins settin between the rails so beefy isn't gona hurt nothin lol. its heavy.

and while im at it, whats a good pinion angle to shoot for out of curiosity? right now liad out, its at -9* it pivots above 0* as it raises cuz the rear end is mounted solid to the bars. (2 link - with a "billy bar")

What's the engine tranny angle?
Center shaft angle?
And current pinion angle?
Upper control arms... I've seen some cut up to correct the ballpoint angle so when layer out it doesn't bind. If this is what you mean, I don't see a real problem with it as long as it is done well.

absolutely nothing wrong with it.


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you can see the unwelded slit on the upper in this pic
blue painted is all welded up.

if i remember correctly i sat the engine & trans angle at layin 2 degrees back. thats what it was originally in the dodge.

and the pinion angle is set at 9 degrees below when layed out. ive never really played around with drive shaft angles a whole lot, (This is my first airride truck).

What are you referring to as "center shaft"??? (the carrier)


i havent had the drive shaft shortened yet.

I figured the straightest line possible is best, but i wasn't sure how much i could get away with (tolerance).

im sure that im prolly gonna get schooled on this part of the build lol.

thanks for the pics bk2life, and for confirming that. Im gonna do it for sure now! you can see in one of my pics on my build thread how bad the ball joint angle is.

1000lbs engine & tranny combo setting on those joints is sure to end badly if they aren't addressed.

i dont wana spend all this freakin time and money only to build my own coffin.

I think is could use a little relief on the ball joint angle.

What yall think??

I normally shoot for 3 degrees down for the engine and tranny. But 2 degrees down will work even better for as low as you are shooting for. The shaft from the trans to the carrier bearing you will make it 2 degrees down as well. This way it will just be an extension of the trans, and you won't have to try to jack the angles all over the place to try to achieve 0 degrees. Forget the rear shaft for now and jump to the pinion. Set the pinion at the ride height you want, and it needs to be 2 degrees up. The rear shaft will end up having equal angles at both ends by this method.
I went round and round with jacking angles years ago, finally got in contact with Spicer. They have a technical manual for drive shafts, from single to multiple with all the do's and dont's. And finally success. Of course in my case I end up having a bent coupling and rear shaft. The previous owner must have ran over something at one time. $900 buck later...
I'd definetly relieve the angles on both arms at least 10 degrees up on the lower arms and 10 degrees down on the upper. It would work like it is but things flex. Wouldn't want the ballpoints to snap......

Actually in that pic of my suspension GJF, the lower ball joints weren't stepped 2" yet. so its actually worse than the picture shows.

Also I really appreciate this angle advice! i have heard somewhere before about the angles havin to cancel each other out to 0*
(-2*,+2*) = 0*. I wasn't quite sure how to use that info lol. it makes sense though now. ill be sure and check that tonight. i can change the pitch of the engine and trans easily if needed.