90-1500

[Cheezebandit]

My cats were going to conflict with my factory crossmember, so I built my own dropped crossmember out of some leftover 1.75" .120" wall rollcage tubing, some 2"x3" .080" wall square tubing, some angle iron, and some 1/8" flat stock.

If I were to do it over again, I'd get some more mandrel bends and raise the exhaust. The dropped crossmember is a little bit of a pain to work around.

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Thank you for sharing.
I definitely don't need a dropped crossmember, just something not as wide as the factory piece. I looked at the elevated concepts frame stiffener with the built in trans mount, I just don't think it will work with the QA1 torque arm brace/mount.
Dirty dingo may work. Building something may be a better option. we'll see in the future.

 

[Cheezebandit]

Front suspension tear down.

After inspecting the brake lines, and front a arm bushings, I decided it was time for the front to be re done. All of the rubber bushings were dry cracked. Ball joints were definitely needing help. Splash guards were crusty and broken.

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[Cheezebandit]

Front continued..

I was pretty surprised at how heavy the factory AArms were. I weighed the arms and springs at 46 pounds combined.
Still more to tear down. Steering box and linkage is next.

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Stay tuned for more updates. I'll hopefully have more this week. Waiting on parts currently

 

[RShrimp]

Just read from Page 1. Nice work. These upper control arm bolts without cams look factory. They put plugs in there at assembly so no cams needed. That means the truck has never had a real FE alignment but just "Tow and Go" There is a $29 tool to remove the plugs before cam bolt install. I highly recommend you buy the tool.

 

[Cheezebandit]

Just read from Page 1. Nice work. These upper control arm bolts without cams look factory. They put plugs in there at assembly so no cams needed. That means the truck has never had a real FE alignment but just "Tow and Go" There is a $29 tool to remove the plugs before cam bolt install. I highly recommend you buy the tool.

They may have been factory arms, but they had been off before. the plugs were knocked out already and the bolts were on the passenger side were mismatched.

Like the the theme for the truck one of the upper bolts was loose on the passenger side.

Thank you for the tool recommendation, while its not needed (you didnt know that) any input, tips, advice is appreciated here.

 

[Scooterwrench]

With all the upgrades you've done to the rear suspension you're not planning on running those stamped steel A-arms are you? Those are fine for a stock daily driver but you're way beyond that now.

 

[Cheezebandit]

Side note, when I purchased the truck it came with a handful of receipts for parts that were "on the truck". The 2 inch drop spindles being one of those parts. Either the PO was trying to upsell or he didn't know and someone ripped him off.

I was told it had Belltech 2 inch drop spindles. when I pulled them off during disassembly, I noticed they look nothing like the spindles I'd seen from belltech in the past. I started looking at other brands to see if any of them matched. I found a set from a company called Max track, or something like that. They seem to match a few characteristics and aesthetics. I'm sure they are just as spindly as any other brand, I was actually wanting the wider track width from the belltech stuff. Ideally I'd like a lighter spindle, these are pretty heavy. I don't see any companies making aluminum spindles or anything marketed as lightweight.

 

[Cheezebandit]

With all the upgrades you've done to the rear suspension you're not planning on running those stamped steel A-arms are you? Those are fine for a stock daily driver but you're way beyond that now.

we've made it this far Scooter, you think I'm putting stock stock A arms back on it? No credit..

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I decided on the level 2 front kit. I didn't want to quite go with the lvl3 kit and cut everything off the front.
I went with a borgson quick ratio steering box.
Steering shaft is from Cunningham machine. I also got some tie rod sleeves from them.

I am using stock replacement inner and outer tie rods and linkage.

 

[Cheezebandit]

I looked at the red head steering box, after seeing some pretty bad reviews, denied warranty for an aftermarket steering shaft, and talking directly with a distributor, I decided this was the way.

 

[Cheezebandit]

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