All for another 1" of wheel travel...
From the start of this project, I have had serious concerns about the front axle contacting the engine at full spring compression. I measured the distance between them with the weight of the truck on the stock springs and determined that the axle tube would hit the oil pan about 1-1/2" before the differential housing hit the block.
Because I had to reverse the oil pan (in the original installation, the sump was in front and I need it to be in the rear) the turbo oil return would be on the wrong side. Since, I was going to have to modify the pan anyway, I decided to take 1" out of it and gain some wheel travel.
Here's the pan marked for cutting. The hole is where the turbo oil return was originally:
Here's the pan fitted:
Here's the pan welded:
Because I moved the sump from the front to the rear, I had to add some tubing to the oil pickup. Here it is installed:
Job done:
While I had the pan off, I pulled all the main & rod bearings and inspected them. They all look good and the clearances are within new spec. I still need to do a compression check; but, I may not need to overhaul the engine.