12.Before you put the 'bags...
12.Before you put the 'bags in, you have to cut around the stock coil bracket for clearance. There's not a lot to cut, but it's important to remove this bumpstop mount. We used a plasma cutter to take ours off, but a die grinder or torch will work, too.
13.With everything cut and...
13.With everything cut and cleared out of the way, we were able to bolt in the 'bag assembly. The KPC cups have a threaded rod welded into the top cup, which then bolts into the stock shock mount location.
14.This new spindle design...
14.This new spindle design offers the 2 inches of drop needed to lay this truck flat on the ground on 22s, which also requires you to run a 17-inch-or-larger wheel. Since we're rolling on Bonspeed 22s, we'll be fine.
15.The IFS reassembles simply,...
15.The IFS reassembles simply, except for this nut located at the top of the spindle. The new spindle has a stud mounted in place of one of the hub bolts. You'll have to use Loctite on the threads and tighten it down really well, but it works fine.
16.With the shock bolted to...
16.With the shock bolted to the mounts, we tacked the mounts to the lower control arm, where the stock shock mount was, and to the frame. Then we cycled the suspension to be sure that nothing rubbed and that the shock had full travel.
17.As you can see, the tires...
17.As you can see, the tires hit the front fenders pretty hard when the truck was laid out, so we'll need to do something about that.
18.Cutting out the fenders...
18.Cutting out the fenders isn't too bad, and we used an air saw for more precision. The tricky part is getting the inner supports cut out, which just takes a bit of patience.
19.Now for the next problem....
19.Now for the next problem. The tires hit the firewall pretty hard and stopped the truck from laying out.
20.We marked out the area...
20.We marked out the area where we wanted to cut, then moved everything away from the area on the inside of the truck.
21.Using a combination of...
21.Using a combination of a die grinder and a Sawzall, we cut out the offending areas.
22.A piece of 18-gauge sheetmetal...
22.A piece of 18-gauge sheetmetal was tacked into place. Once it was fully welded, we put some seam sealer over it and called it good to go.
23. For this installation, we're using Slam Specialties' new Digital Stealth Valves (DSV). These valves offer two different speeds of lift and drop. If you've ever wished that gravity wasn't the only way to drop your truck, take a look at these.
24. There are two different types of connections you can use for air delivery line. On the left is a compression fitting. You put the hose through the connection, then tighten it down with a wrench. The one on the right is a Push-To-Connect (PTC) fitting.
PTC fittings are more convenient because you just push the hose into the fitting, pull it back to lock it in place and you're done. The problem is that you can't do that too many times or your hose end will eventually wear out and leak. We used both types of fittings in our installation.