The Install Cont'd 9a. With...
The Install Cont'd
9a. With the upper bar locations determined, those brackets were tacked into place. Then, Mike C. let the jack down to see how the rearend acted.
9b. It went down nice and...
9b. It went down nice and smooth with no binding, so we knew everything was fine.
10. The rearend housing was...
10. The rearend housing was removed from under the truck, and the upper and lower mounting brackets were fully welded. Under the truck, the brackets on the gas-tank crossmember and the new frame plates were also fully welded with a Miller MIG.
11. Just to mess with Mike,...
11. Just to mess with Mike, I threaded the upper pivots all the way in so when the rearend went in the pinion angle was all messed up. After listening to him freak out, I told him I was messing around. He told me it was way too late for funny. This just shows how much you can adjust these bars.
12. After tossing in some...
12. After tossing in some axles, Mike mounted the new 20-inch Torq-Thrust II wheels and we dropped the truck on the shop floor. As it sits here, the rear axlehousing is bottomed out on the framerail. To lower the truck farther, a C-notch needs to go in and the bed floor needs a little trimming. Mike likes the muscle-car raked look and is happy with this stance, but he'll still need the notch just so the suspension will cycle.
Chop, Chop!
During the install, you should have noticed Mike C. is converting to a Ford 9-inch rear differential. Because the 9-inch has a drop-out third member and bolt-in axles, it's a bit easier to narrow than the Chevy diff with its C-clips. Mike C. took me over to M&B Hotrods to have his other friend, Mike Larabell, chop down the tubes and put the 9-inch back together.
1. Because of the measuring...
1. Because of the measuring Mike C. did prior to my arrival, he knew the rear axle needed to be 47 inches wide. Mike L. made this cool plate that drops over the studs for the third member to find pinion center. The little slot is exactly the center of the pinion, so Mike could make measurements from there.
2. After Mike L. squared up...
2. After Mike L. squared up the rearend in his bandsaw, he cut off the bearing cups and trimmed the tubes.
3. After cutting the centersection...
3. After cutting the centersection to the appropriate size, Mike L. fitted it onto his homemade jig, which consists of an old centersection mounted to a vise and a huge, solid piece of round stock. The round stock slides through the middle of the tubes and through the inner axle bearings mounted to the centersection.
4. The third part of his jig...
4. The third part of his jig is these machined pieces that index into the bearing cups cut off the axle and the round stock. With the machined pieces in the cup and the assembly slid on the round stock, Mike can be certain the axles will be straight.
5. All that was left to do...
5. All that was left to do was weld the cups back to the tubes and let the assembly cool in the jig.
The Final Word
There it is folks-how to weld in a triangulated four-link and fit some fat tires. The kit is just what you need and nothing more, and at 160 bucks it's a great deal. There is still some work to be done before this truck can be driven, so we'll give you an update once Mike has completed the work. For this mini universal four-link kit or just about any other custom suspension part, check out Airbagit.com.
The diagram showing how the...
The diagram showing how the kit is laid out for normal size tires. For the wide tires, we had to move things to the inside of the framerails.