Sasquatch_Ryda's Extended Radius Arms

Forum member Sasquatch_Ryda built a custom set of extended radius arms for his 1991 Ford Ranger 4×4. These new arms will enable far more wheel travel over the stock radius arms.

He started by cutting off the end of the radius arms and adding a 30-inch section of 2×2 .250 wall square tubing to extend them. The total length of the new arms will be 41 inches.

The end of the radius arm that was cut off was inserted into the end of the tubing and welded in place. You can also see where he drilled holes in the tubing and plug welded the square tubing and radius arm end together versus just having the weld at the end of the tubing.

Below you can see where he drilled holes into the old radius arm to plug weld it to the 2-inch square tubing behind it.

Here is the square tubing tack welded into place before being fully welded.

And this is the other side of the radius arm tack welded in place before being fully welded. Again, you can see the holes drilled out for the plug welds. This will increase the strength versus just having it welded on the edges.

Notice the white line. The square tubing was angled up slightly to correct the wheel caster. Once he had the caster (4-5 degrees) where he wanted it, the line was drawn as a reference to make sure it’s still in the proper position when it’s welded.

The radius arm and steel tubing have been welded together.

On the backside, 1/4 inch steel plate was cut to fill in the void between the square tubing and radius arm to prevent the tubing from bending or breaking off.

An end cap was welded in place to add even more strength and to prevent mud and debris front getting lodged in there.

With the radius arm finished, it was time to move on to the frame mounts.

Sasquatch_Ryda built the radius arm mounting brackets out of 1/4 inch steel plate and then welded them to a new transmission mount / cross member that he built out of steel tubing and bent to make room for the exhaust and driveshaft.