Figured I'd post a little update about the small progress we've made in the last few months....Time has been scarce with high school sports dominating most of our free time, but we've managed to make a little progress somewhere in there at least.
We finished stripping everything off the frame and will end up splitting the rails and have everything sandblasted clean after we fit a few things up and do any cutting / drilling / welding we need to on the frame.
The rear of the truck is going to be somewhat of a one off "custom" setup in a few ways... I drew up some crossmembers in CAD and had OSHcut laser cut/bend the steel for us to weld together as a fun little addition, Aiden really liked putting those together, and he's picked up welding really quickly, so it was pretty awesome to see them come together with him on the end of the gun.
I also drew up some C-notch braces for the rear....mostly because I don't like C-notching frames and using the typical open ended overlap bracket that is widely available, I much, much prefer a boxed design. I know PB makes a boxed style, but I wanted to keep the plates in between the frame rails, rather than overlap the outside, so I designed an internal box notch that will also be reinforced within the box (you'll see what all the holes are for after I get the suspension put together), and I think it will be pretty overbuilt and stronger than it needs to be, but that's not an area I want to be a weak link.
Everybody's favorite Boyd Welding tank made a test fit appearance between the frame rails as well
That's pretty much where she sits right now, we've got a pile of "custom" rear suspension parts to get put together and fit up back there next, hopefully I'll have another update sooner than later! The last high school sport ends this weekend, so i have my fingers crossed for some summertime progress!