triangulating lower arms

is it necessary to have an adjustable bushing on the end of the new bar when triangulating the stock arms? most of the triangulated stock arms i've seen have them, but cando, etc. arms don't give you the option. I have everything i need to make mine, but i got normal bushings, not ones with a threaded stud on them. that should be okay as long as the holes line up right?

also, for the people that have done this, how much turning radius do you lose? it seems like it would be a lot, maybe not...

My control arms are built with an adjustable mount. Your lower is adjustable from the factory so that you can adjust your caster. You can only adjust so much with the upper arm before you start to flex the cross shaft and increase the wear on your UCA bushings.

If you do it right you won't loose any turning radius. Pay attention to where the strut rod attaches to the arm. If it doesn't protrude past that point, you won't be loosing any steering. You can mount your shock on top and still not loose any turning.

If you can get the lowers perfectly straight by measuring and cross measuring then you wont need the adjustment... BUT thats very difficult to do. If you are very close on the measurement you are also good. Even the best frames can also be off a bit and then your measurements dont mean anything.

Its best to go ahead and do the adjustable thing IF you are triangulating the lowers. Most aftermarket arms dont have that option and require you to get the parts straight. Thats fine of your frame is straight or very close to straight.

I wouldn't worry about it if you already have the parts. When Innovative did mine they didn't worry about it and I never had a problem with it. I rode 1/2 inch from the ground at all times and didn't see any wear on my tires in the 4-5 months I drove it...

If I where to do it without adjustable mounts, I would probably have the truck aligned, and the castor set with the upper arms shimmed straight, or no shims at all. And then I would weld the tabs on for the triangulated arm while the strut rods are still attached, then remove them once you are done.

so i need to have it aligned before i triangulate the arms? and im not familiar with how the caster is set and how the shims work or anything having to do with an alignment for that matter, so do i need to tell the guy to do it a specific way, besides a normal alignment?

thanks for the help so far guys.

Get it aligned with an even thickness of shims on the upper arm, so that the cross shaft is parallel with the mount. Make him adjust the caster with the strut rod. He will probably hate you for it, because it is more work, but it is the correct way to do it.

I would try to find a place that does alignments at a flat rate. Some shops will charge extra to do it right. I go through a shop that is $65 no matter how long they work on it, 10 minutes or 3 hours.

ok, last question. if i have to align it first, which is what i think you are saying, can i go ahead and triangulate the arms, mount the shocks to them, but don't make tabs for the bushings yet and leave the strut rods on. so after it is aligned, i can weld the tabs on, then take the strut rods out. i guess it would be ok for the shocks to be mounted even though the bushings won't have tabs yet...just to get to the alignment shop and back.

Ya you could do it that way too. I am just saying to weld the tabs on when it's aligned. So the order you do things doesn't really effect that.

Has anyone got some good pics of some stock arms that have been triangulated??