If you have cash for a link-type setup or already are blessed with one such as those in the '94-and-up Dodge front ends or '99-to-current Tahoe, Yukon, Suburban, or Avalanche rear ends, you're loving it. You can either have coil springs or splurge for coilover shocks to keep your ride cushioned in harsh hits. The links that connect the axle will have to control vertical, lateral, forward, and backward movement.
All the preceeding suspensions will benefit greatly from using a remote reservoir shock as well. Remote reservoir shocks have extra fluid capacity that keeps heat dissipating much better than a single reservoir shock. The reason is this: When you are going fast and taking air, your shocks cycle up and down very fast, which heats up the oil in them quickly. When the shock's oil heats up, it can thin, foam, and make for inconsistent damping. A good rule is the more fluid capacity you have in your shocks, the longer your good ride will continue. The reservoir allows the shock body to stay full of oil and moves potential foaming to the reservoir. Plus it allows more shock travel for a given extended-length shock.
Experimental and the FutureThe future of this sport lies in IFS front suspensions that will give the travel needed without binding front drivelines. New types of joints will give the freedom needed for the suspension to travel. Tires will be getting a little bigger, with 39-inch competition tires coming to the scene. Motors will continue to produce more horsepower and there will be even greater evolutions in safety than ever before. The trucks will be lighter, faster, safer, and stronger, with the only limits being what we can physically withstand.
For link-type solid-axle suspensions you have two basic choices that have numerous but slight variations. The first choice would be a five-link system using four control arms to control forward/reverse and vertical movement. Two control arms are on the top of the axle, and two on the bottom. The fifth link is the Panhard rod, aka the track bar. It mounts parallel to the axlehousing (lengthwise) and controls the lateral movement. The second choice would be a triangular-arm setup. This type of design needs no track bar because the two upper links are angled in the shape of a triangle instead of being run parallel to each other. This upper triangle not only locates the axle vertically, but also prohibits lateral movement. The lower links in this design are kept close to parallel, the same as in the five-link setup.