Atvman, as good as all that looks and you didn't paint the tierods???

Lt230sman, did you box under the arms too? I didn't do that to save weight. And I think I used thinner steel. All that welding kinda makes those little squares a mute point now. I'd definitely grind it all down and make it smooth. With so much welding, strength is not an issue anymore. The upper arms will be more challenging to make as strong. Luckily, they only really come into play when you hit the brakes (or a tree).

 

yeah i boxed the underside, i decided not to take any chances lol.

but now i gotta get a set of used uppers (cant put the ol 230 out of commision lol) and figure out what im doin for them.

i think im gonna butt weld 3" on each, and then run one long piece of angle over the joints (that will let me get a nice, straight, flat bead, since i dont do very good with round objects haha.

im also definatley gonna run a "crossbar" of round tube between the two joints.

 

hey, ive been looking at heims, and i think i found a good deal, but first, let me just give you a background on my research. once i decided to get beefier heims (1/2-20), i looked at a bunch of places. first, pegasus auto wanted like $50 each. haha!!! ok, so thats obviously not happening. then i look at grainger, $20 each. better, but not good enough. then i check mcmaster-carr; $10 each. NICE! but im cheep and still think $80 is too much. so, i found these:

QS Components Inc. Quality Racing Rod End & Components

wow! only $40 for all 8! i can do that! and they even come with jam nuts, what a nice extra touch lol!

but my question is, is it too good of a deal? are they cheep quality? does anybody know the fancy steel grades and what they mean?

 

hey everybody, i just got back from taking some measurments (havent taken any since BEFORE i changed my plans to +3 a side), and it sounds like im building the new LTR230

but that might not be such a good thing, since i race TIGHT woods. but i think i may have a solution. my front rims are 2+3 offset, and they are running in the wider of the two ways they could go. so, i guess if i flip my front rims, i would lose 2 inches overall, and when you add in my +7 inches (i added an extra inch to allow for at least .5 inches each heim is gonna add compared to the stock bearings.) so that means long arms and long travel, without excessive witdth, i hope. but that's the secret to success in XC racing suspension.

my only question is, what will happen to my steering characteristics? more or less bumpsteer? what about balljoint wear?

 

My girlfriend's brother's 230 came with a set of way offset wheels for extra width and its substantially harder to steer tan mine with the stock wheels. So pulling in the wheels I would think, would make you steering lighter.

I haven't though about it a ton, but I would think reducing the offset would take away from the moment load on the ball-joints and reduce the amount of wear on them.

If we ever get a 1" diameter die for our tube bender at work, I think it would be kind of a fun challenge to try and make a full set of a-arms and be able to have full adjustibility of all the different components. But that wouldn't be for a while if I did that, haha.

 

I've thought about it quite a bit. In fact, I added another 1.5 inches to my arms just so I could put stock offset rims back on. Btw, my rims added 1.5 inches a side when flipped. You might wanna double check your measurements.

Never run offest rims or wheel spacers on the front if you can help it. There's a LOT of downside to it. Ideally, you want the center of the tire to ride in the axis of the kingpin (balljoints - whatever). Either side of that axis and you'll have bumpsteer and increased wear. Neither ITP or Douglas offer offset rims for the front. At least I can't find them.

 

 

alright, so then once i flip my rims, i should have even better steering feel.

 

I would think so.

 

alright guys, FINALY another update:

ive been super busy (finishing the 250r rebuild and just starting the 230's rebuild 2 weeks before the first race of 09!!!) but i think ive got things figured out:

im gonna keep my stock arms on my current 230. since i ride tight woods, dam near ltr450 width is gonna get me hurt, and i dont wanna cut down my nice work so far.

so, im gonna go on a hunt for a rolling 230 chassis for cheep as soon as i have a little spare time and money, and im gonna take my time with the project, and go thru things completley like i should (+2-4" swingarm, monster front shocks, etc). i should end up with a serious handling package. but because im going so far with the project, im THINKING (key word -THINKING, JUST thinking) about going for a different motor. i want something aircooled, cheap, and STUPID! i would like an old rm500 motor, but i can get a yz490 motor from my friend for cheap if not free, so idk...