thanks man, might be up your way this fall!
the joedoh rule struck again. I think if something is a giant pain in the rear to install, I will get to experience that posterior pain over and over and over. like the shocks. the little captured nut thingys were rusted and broke when I took the shocks off. I got some more from the auto parts store but they were clearly more universal. when I tried to put them in it was a process of trying to get the bolt started without bending the captured nut part, took an hour for that side that was broken. then in great cosmic hilarity I thought I had the wrong shocks, so off they came again for some new shocks, that had the same problem, turned out the sway bar was upside down. so even though it took an hour to get the new shocks in, I still opted to put the original new shocks BACK in, another hour.
fast forward, wife drives it and says the front is banging more than she thinks it should, I pooh-pooh her obviously neophyte critique. when I jacked it up to put the bumper on, of course the lower bushing of both shocks is GONE. after apologizing (it was that really cold day in someplace hot) I replaced the new shocks AGAIN. an hour for the passenger side. sigh. rides better though.
here is the worms eye view of the bastardo clip.
IMG_7190 by
Joe Doh, on Flickr
I didnt show my neighbors gargantuan a frame. he says he has pulled more iron on that thing than I will in a lifetime. I believe him!
IMG_7163 by
Joe Doh, on Flickr
bumper mounts welded in and job complete. I dont want to talk about it. ever. sure looks nice with the bumper though.
IMG_7195 by
Joe Doh, on Flickr