It's been some time since my last update, but I have been making progress on the truck. It has been slower than I'd like since my family and I are also in the process of building a new house, but I am thankful that I was able to keep the truck through this process. Onto the updates!
After sitting outside on the cart for several months, I finally was able to drag the truck back into the shop to get the front end reassembled.
The biggest change, and reason for sitting so long without front suspension, was that I sectioned the front crossmember 1.5" with the help of my friend. I realize now I did not get a pic of it after completion, but it was a very standard sectioning job. What made it easy was marking all the cuts with a laser level. I stole this idea from another member (can't remember who) that used this technique to mark the cut lines when he shortened his bedsides. Excellent idea, and the sectioned pieces fit back together nearly perfectly.
As most others have experience, I ran into a few clearancing issues once installed. I had to notch the upper left a-arm for the steering shaft, and still need to add a filler piece there. I also had to clearance for the tierods. This required cutting the small lip off the bottom piece of the crossmember. Ultimately, I also had to trim the right side outside lower a-arm bolt flush with the top of the nut. Other than that, I was pretty lucky and did not experience any other clearance issues. Also not explicitly pictured here are the modified lower control arms. I incorporated the common practice of moving the lower arms forward 3/4" to increase caster and improve handling. This also has the added benefit of centering the wheels better in the wheel well.
Along with the 1.5" crossmember, I also added 2.5" modular CPP spindles and 3" CPP springs for a combined drop of 7". The front is very close to where I want it and once the springs settle in and I get a motor in the truck it will be perfect. My goal was to get the fender just covering the top of the tire. For motivation, I pulled the rear springs out just to get a visual of where it will sit at ride height. I will update in a later post the surgery required in the rear to yield such a low stance.
My truck still has the original spare under the bed, so for fun I threw it on to see what it would look like with the correct wheel/tire setup. If you hadn't noticed, my truck actually has OBS wheels on it and I plan to swap these out at some point.
After completion of the front suspension, it was back outside for a short hibernation until the next time I can get it back in the shop to work on the rear suspension. At least it looks good while sitting there!
