[Dieselwrencher]

Well the forecast was looking grim for this next week with a lot of strong winds. After I got some snow fence up for my mom, and picked up some junk out of the yard, I decided to see about getting a rear axle back under the Longhorn and get it inside. I noticed earlier in the day that my jack stands had started settling into the ground, and the truck was starting to lean over. I didn't want this thing falling over. I had my brother go get our neighbor's skid loader while I started cutting the leaf spring perches off the D80. What a PITA that was. I was running out of acetylene, but finally got them off. When I went to clean them up, I noticed I bent them while beating on them trying to knock them off the axle housing. I will just purchase new ones. We took the rear end out there with the skid loader and started getting ready to put it in. Then I realized the axle pads were wider than my u-bolts a long with my lower mounting plates. I drilled out the mounting plates and opened up the u-bolts in the vise. Next we went back out there and started putting it together. One more slight issue, the U-bolts are too short because this axle tube is much bigger and so is the new mounting plate. I removed the lift block and put it together. Once I got it on the ground back on tires, I'm getting the vibe that I might just remove the 4" lift kit altogether. The truck only sits maybe 2" lower in the rear now. Here are some pics in the shop again.