Truck arm suspension ?s

[joemac]

I have a '95 Ranger that I'd like to get rid of the leaves. I'm thinking that a link from the stock front spring hanger to the rear, a panhard, and coil overs is essentially a truck arm suspension. Every truck arm setup I've seen does not have straight arms, they are mounted well inboard. I'm assuming there is a reason for this.

Will they work if they were mounted outboard of the frame? What would be some of the drawbacks? The benefits to me are simplicity of fab, cost and an improvement in ride and handling over the leaves.

In the meantime I'm adding a panhard to the leaves and Caltrac bars. This should be a major improvement over stock.