It's hard to say... From everything I have learned, it seems like its all about what the plans for the truck are. I originally was going to triangulate my top links... After talking to a couple of friends who are very very into drag racing (low 7 sec cars) He told me if I was going to drag race,and pull my truck, the parallel setup would work best. Im not a huge fan of the huge cross member... IMO its heavy and bulky, when really you don't need it. I think going from the center of the axel out would be good setup. The only thing I see is it would be tough to keep the bars short in a triangulated setup. When do you want to start on your setup??
ASAP. I was gonna start on the axle truss tomorrow but I have way to many things going on to try and squeez that in. So I guess it will be after work starting next week... Assuming the wife doesn't kill me for starting another extensive project.
My truck is a street queen. Its lifted but they all ride like crap so I dont even pretend that its fun to go offroad. Beats you to death! It sees the drag strip a few times a year but mostly just kills on the street. I am going with airbags as I do not have the budget or time/tools to set up a proper coilover for it. I figure it will have about 9" of rear travel which is enough for me, unless I move the bags up the bars. That would mean a better ride but less I can haul.
I still want the truck to be functional and not limited due to a poorly executed suspension change.
Probably go with the bags right over the axle along the frame. I want to move the shocks outwards on the axle and have them both facing the rear. Lower bars will be right off the frame and the uppers will triangulate towards the axle. I want to keep the bars as close to equal length as possible.
I have limited resources when it comes to getting things cut. Everything I have ever built has been done with a torch, grinder, mag drill and a welder. No plasma table, hell, no plasma at all. I build everything by hand, including some black smithing. I have always found that no one ever has the exact part I need so I end up making it anyways.
One day, if EvilArcFab ever takes off I will have a press break, 1/2" shear and at least a plasma table(prefer a lazer though). Until then its all done poor boy style.
Here is a bumper I just finished for my Father in laws 01 dodge. Started as 2 pieces of 8"x1/8"x10' and a piece of 4"x1/8"x10'. I have about 40 hours in it (layout, cutting, welding, changing, and paint) and did it without ever having the truck, just the original smashed up bumper.
I layed the whole thing out in a 2D/3D format on my "road plate" work table. I had to teach myself (if thats possible) how to draw what needed to be a 3D image on a flat surface so I could get each angle of every bend with out having to cut each piece as I went. Mind you this was also on a 45° upward angle off of a 90° angle into another 90° angle. Took me a night of not being able to sleep to figure out how. Now that I know how, I could build almost anything off that table with a straight edge, tape measure, tri-square and a flat angle finder.
Inside is framed with 2"x4"x1/8" square tubing and frame mounts are made out of 3/8" hot roll. It is all done by hand (grinder and a hole saw) and welded with 3/32" 6010++++ stick, inside and out, off my Lincoln Vantage 400. One of a kind, custom, EvilArcFab bumper.
^^^^^ This is the "road plate" table its sitting on.
Sorry for the derail, just wanted to show you what I meant by poor boy. Also it looks a little bare because it is getting a full bar in front of the grille and around the lights. I had the races coming up and needed to get my truck ready and he was getting a little anxious to throw it on his truck. I should have it 100% done in a couple weeks.
