DSCN5819.JPG
389 hits | 69.68 KB | Posted: 1/25/08

Out with the old
DSCN5821.JPG
366 hits | 60.53 KB | Posted: 1/25/08

DSCN5859.JPG
346 hits | 72.95 KB | Posted: 2/7/08

Off with the TTB coil buckets. Very minimal rust behind them.
DSCN5871.JPG
401 hits | 71.56 KB | Posted: 2/7/08

Driver's side coil bucket
DSCN5875.JPG
393 hits | 72.58 KB | Posted: 3/17/08

Driver's side coil bucket, note that I couldn't use the lower front hole in the bucket, so I drilled...
DSCN5878.JPG
380 hits | 73.04 KB | Posted: 2/7/08

Passenger side coil bucket mounted
DSCN5879.JPG
363 hits | 70.12 KB | Posted: 2/7/08

Cage arms with old style mounts, Bilstein 5150 14" travel shocks.
DSCN5881.JPG
400 hits | 69.26 KB | Posted: 2/7/08

Weld on radius arm mounts for Cage arms instead of C's.
DSCN5882.JPG
311 hits | 69.88 KB | Posted: 2/7/08

Alloy USA 35 spline outer shafts, stock inners, Spicer greasable u-joints.
DSCN5885.JPG
343 hits | 63.16 KB | Posted: 2/7/08

Stock Ford '97 F-350 shock towers
DSCN5887.JPG
303 hits | 73.51 KB | Posted: 2/7/08

'79 Dana 60, with ARB and 4.88 gears.
DSCN5892.JPG
386 hits | 74.19 KB | Posted: 2/7/08

My first attempt at a new tranny cross member, formerly Josh's trailer hitch. It's a great design a...
DSCN5900.JPG
370 hits | 62.71 KB | Posted: 2/15/08

New cross member. Same basic design as the trailer hitch, but made with 3/8" angle instead of 1/4",...
DSCN5901.JPG
361 hits | 63.31 KB | Posted: 2/15/08

Other view of the new cross member.
DSCN5923.JPG
340 hits | 68.02 KB | Posted: 2/15/08

My first attempt at a foot to mount the tranny to the new cross member. Very similar to what some o...
DSCN5916.JPG
326 hits | 61.56 KB | Posted: 2/15/08

So I ended up fabbing this much beefier foot instead.
DSCN5908.JPG
352 hits | 64.64 KB | Posted: 2/15/08

The new foot is made out of 2 1/2" box tubing with a 1/4" wall. I didn't want it to fill up with wa...
DSCN5913.JPG
317 hits | 66.99 KB | Posted: 2/15/08

DSCN5914.JPG
327 hits | 66.23 KB | Posted: 2/15/08

DSCN5921.JPG
296 hits | 66.16 KB | Posted: 2/15/08

Assembled tranny cross member. Note the two little tabs for the transmission wiring harness to bol...
DSCN5924.JPG
319 hits | 68.65 KB | Posted: 2/15/08

Cross member primered.
DSCN5927.JPG
316 hits | 70.17 KB | Posted: 2/15/08

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322 hits | 71.59 KB | Posted: 2/16/08

Painted
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316 hits | 73.41 KB | Posted: 2/16/08

New cross member mounted under the truck, and the radius arm mounts are mocked up for mounting.
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379 hits | 70.38 KB | Posted: 2/16/08

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360 hits | 68.36 KB | Posted: 2/16/08

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363 hits | 62.11 KB | Posted: 2/16/08

Tabs on cross member for bolting tranny wiring harness too.
DSCN5978.JPG
326 hits | 68.19 KB | Posted: 2/29/08

Coil cups mounted on lower radius arm mounts. I drilled the mounting holes out from their stock 7/1...
DSCN5972.JPG
335 hits | 65.01 KB | Posted: 2/29/08

1/4" spacer between coil cup and radius arm mount, which lets coil cup sit flat. Without the spacer...
DSCN5970.JPG
344 hits | 65.35 KB | Posted: 2/29/08

Note that with the 9/16" nuts the sides of the radius arm mounts will hold them captive, so there is...
DSCN5983.JPG
366 hits | 68.58 KB | Posted: 3/1/08

Removed anemic stock power steering cooler.
DSCN5985.JPG
346 hits | 70.35 KB | Posted: 3/1/08

Cut the end of the tube with the fitting off.
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304 hits | 69.17 KB | Posted: 3/1/08

Bent tube 90 degrees, then added a 3/8" compression fitting to 1/4" NPT adapter, which allowed me to...
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315 hits | 60.33 KB | Posted: 3/1/08

Installed back on power steering gear box.
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325 hits | 73.66 KB | Posted: 3/1/08

With the stock power steering cooler out of the way I now have room to cut out the front side of the...
DSCN6005.JPG
337 hits | 67.26 KB | Posted: 3/1/08

Chunk removed from TTB cross member.
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339 hits | 68.53 KB | Posted: 3/1/08

Plasma cut the front of the cross member off. No going back to the TTB now!
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306 hits | 68.37 KB | Posted: 3/1/08

New cross member reinforcement plates, 1/4" thick.
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334 hits | 70.62 KB | Posted: 3/1/08

Upper cross member brace welded in. It clears the front of the oil pan by a good inch and a half, s...
DSCN6002.JPG
337 hits | 72.82 KB | Posted: 3/1/08

Lower brace welded in. Boy I suck at out of position welding.
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327 hits | 66.6 KB | Posted: 3/5/08

Instead of routing the air line over the bearing cap I routed it around the bearing cap to avoid hit...
DSCN6069.JPG
300 hits | 65.09 KB | Posted: 3/5/08

I did end up needing to do a little clearancing in the diff cover. I wasn't too surprised to need t...
DSCN6072.JPG
368 hits | 70.25 KB | Posted: 3/5/08

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333 hits | 68.17 KB | Posted: 3/5/08

I went ahead and wire wheeled off some paint on the axle tubes for welding on the radius arm bracket...
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303 hits | 64.25 KB | Posted: 3/5/08

Ground down the mounting area for welding.
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302 hits | 66.99 KB | Posted: 3/6/08

At long last, the D60 gets wheeled out of the shop! Pushing it around on a creeper is much easier t...
DSCN6081.JPG
307 hits | 69.99 KB | Posted: 3/6/08

I had originally intended to leave it all on the creeper during the set up, but it turns out that wa...
DSCN6084.JPG
314 hits | 69.87 KB | Posted: 3/6/08

Either one of these angle finders would be fine to use, but the digital one is easier to read and mo...
DSCN6090.JPG
336 hits | 67.41 KB | Posted: 3/6/08

Not having the knuckle hung on the C makes it a little easier to measure the caster.
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331 hits | 67.32 KB | Posted: 3/6/08

On this '79 axle the spring perch is only .2 degrees forward of the C, so that makes it a pretty goo...
DSCN6092.JPG
332 hits | 72.99 KB | Posted: 3/6/08

I went ahead and assembled the Cage arms and mounts.
DSCN6096.JPG
356 hits | 72.67 KB | Posted: 3/6/08

A coupe of plumb bobs hung through the center bolt hole of the coil bucket help get the axle centere...
DSCN6098.JPG
348 hits | 67.99 KB | Posted: 3/6/08

Arms in place, and I jacked the pinion up with my tranny jack to set the caster to the right spot.
DSCN6097.JPG
366 hits | 68.79 KB | Posted: 3/6/08

This seems to be the best way to measure the position of the coil cups to make sure they're dead eve...
DSCN6101.JPG
358 hits | 64.98 KB | Posted: 3/6/08

Radius arm brackets are just held in place for mock up with a C clamp.
DSCN6104.JPG
311 hits | 71.31 KB | Posted: 3/6/08

I ran out of daylight, and all of these measurements to make sure it's all perfectly square are a PI...
DSCN6105.JPG
319 hits | 38.19 KB | Posted: 3/13/08

Made a story board to work as a go/no go gauge for the proper compressed coil height. It greatly sp...
DSCN6108.JPG
344 hits | 66.1 KB | Posted: 3/13/08

Had to shim the jack stands to get the axle set to the proper ride height.
DSCN6110.JPG
309 hits | 74.16 KB | Posted: 3/13/08

Using a spring clamp to hold the plumb bob string makes it much easier to adjust the plumb bob heigh...
DSCN6111.JPG
308 hits | 66.54 KB | Posted: 3/13/08

Also, when setting up the plumb bobs make sure that they are both in the same spot on the coil bucke...
DSCN6113.JPG
322 hits | 69.21 KB | Posted: 3/13/08

Before you can set up the radius arms first you need to center the axle under the truck. The king p...
DSCN6114.JPG
326 hits | 63.67 KB | Posted: 3/13/08

After the axle is centered you need to make sure that the radius arm mounts are sitting square on th...
DSCN6115.JPG
327 hits | 58.78 KB | Posted: 3/13/08

You can use what ever too you want for checking to see that the mounts are sitting square, but I fou...
DSCN6117.JPG
314 hits | 66.67 KB | Posted: 3/13/08

DSCN6118.JPG
339 hits | 68.63 KB | Posted: 3/13/08

Now center the coil cups on the plumb bob. Take measurements both side to side and front to back.
DSCN6126.JPG
342 hits | 65.27 KB | Posted: 3/13/08

Now raise the rear of the axle at the pinion to set the caster angle to where you want it. Go back ...
DSCN6127.JPG
325 hits | 66.75 KB | Posted: 3/13/08

Make sure your tack welds are strong, because the next step is to wheel it out from under the truck ...
DSCN6131.JPG
335 hits | 68.75 KB | Posted: 3/13/08

In the process of moving the D60 around my long suffering HF tranny jack got owned. RIP cheap trann...
DSCN6137.JPG
336 hits | 72.32 KB | Posted: 3/17/08

I needed some additional clamping to make sure that the radius arm mount sat flat on the frame while...
DSCN6146.JPG
332 hits | 67.92 KB | Posted: 3/17/08

I just put in a couple bolts through one side of the bracket to hold it temporarily while I'm workin...
DSCN6139.JPG
318 hits | 69.85 KB | Posted: 3/17/08

1.5 inch per foot tapered reamer, ready to ream the knuckles for knuckle under. Remember to use a l...
DSCN6140.JPG
375 hits | 72.76 KB | Posted: 3/17/08

Reamer in the knuckle.
DSCN6143.JPG
351 hits | 71.88 KB | Posted: 3/17/08

Knuckle reamed for knuckle under using Chevy TRE's. Note the space between the TRE and the knuckle,...
DSCN6144.JPG
336 hits | 71.35 KB | Posted: 3/17/08

A shot of how much was reamed out.
DSCN6167.JPG
318 hits | 67.93 KB | Posted: 3/18/08

Cleaned up the slingers in the sand blasting cabinet. Damn I love that sand blaster, it made these ...
DSCN6158.JPG
310 hits | 67.86 KB | Posted: 3/18/08

I welded some little DOM guards onto the lower king pins to protect the zerk fittings from getting s...
DSCN6160.JPG
312 hits | 69.34 KB | Posted: 3/18/08

Mounted the knuckles. It takes a clamp to compress the spring enough to get the cap bolts started.
DSCN6163.JPG
329 hits | 70.13 KB | Posted: 3/18/08

DSCN6165.JPG
377 hits | 68.02 KB | Posted: 3/18/08

Got just a touch of interference between the knuckle at near full lock and the lower coil cup. Moun...
DSCN6173.JPG
324 hits | 67.89 KB | Posted: 3/19/08

Passenger side TRE, with tube adapter & jam nut.
DSCN6171.JPG
325 hits | 65.13 KB | Posted: 3/19/08

Driver's side TRE, with tube adapter & jam nut.
DSCN6174.JPG
320 hits | 66.49 KB | Posted: 3/19/08

Once the TRE's are in place, adjusted to where you want them, and knuckles placed parallel, you can ...
DSCN6176.JPG
311 hits | 71.65 KB | Posted: 3/19/08

I'm using 1.5" O.D., 1" I.D., 1/4" wall tube. Here it is getting cut to length.
DSCN6185.JPG
344 hits | 64.93 KB | Posted: 3/19/08

Cut tube end with tube adapter seated.
DSCN6188.JPG
339 hits | 66.86 KB | Posted: 3/19/08

After the tube is cut I chamfered the cut edges on my belt sander to open it up for a fatter weld ar...
DSCN6179.JPG
353 hits | 68.75 KB | Posted: 3/19/08

Get everything fitted up and drop it in place or a test fit before welding it.
DSCN6181.JPG
347 hits | 42.38 KB | Posted: 3/19/08

Crap, another interference problem. The tie rod hits the diff cover when turning.
DSCN6184.JPG
340 hits | 65.9 KB | Posted: 3/19/08

Worse, it's hitting the diff cover when the steering stop bolt is still 1/2" from the C.
DSCN6192.JPG
311 hits | 69.7 KB | Posted: 3/20/08

Having seen way too many bent tie rods I wanted to do something to beef mine up. My tie rod is alre...
DSCN6194.JPG
360 hits | 69.47 KB | Posted: 3/20/08

If you do this make sure you chamfer the edges so the won't mushroom out while you're driving it in...
DSCN6198.JPG
335 hits | 48.03 KB | Posted: 3/20/08

Can't have it sliding around in there, so I welded it in place on both ends. It's about six inches ...
DSCN6205.JPG
347 hits | 56.4 KB | Posted: 3/20/08

Welded on the hex tube inserts.
DSCN6216.JPG
317 hits | 55.31 KB | Posted: 3/23/08

Okay, so I had to saw one of the tube adapters off of my tie rod. That sucks bad enough, but now yo...
DSCN6217.JPG
316 hits | 56.09 KB | Posted: 3/23/08

Solution: Weld a 1/2" nut to the center slug. Weld it inside the nut so you don't wind up accident...
DSCN6218.JPG
342 hits | 65.91 KB | Posted: 3/23/08

That second nut gives you something to thread your slide hammer adapter into, and the slide hammer w...
DSCN6220.JPG
300 hits | 67.03 KB | Posted: 3/23/08

Looking down in the end of the cut out tube adapter you can see that it was only threaded in a half ...
DSCN6225.JPG
325 hits | 57.87 KB | Posted: 3/23/08

This time when I welded in a tube adapter I put something threaded into the adapter to not allow the...
DSCN6226.JPG
316 hits | 68.42 KB | Posted: 3/23/08

Since I had already messed up a couple TRE's, I went ahead and cut off part of their threaded sectio...
DSCN6234.JPG
332 hits | 72.65 KB | Posted: 3/28/08

Reaming passenger side TRE for the drag link end.
DSCN6235.JPG
311 hits | 57.94 KB | Posted: 3/28/08

Passenger side drag link end welded on.
DSCN6239.JPG
260 hits | 71.5 KB | Posted: 3/28/08

Tie rod in place, doing a quick toe in alignment. I just put a couple short boards on the spindle s...
DSCN6242.JPG
340 hits | 70.52 KB | Posted: 3/28/08

After the quick tie rod alignment is done, next the drag link is mounted.
DSCN6247.JPG
319 hits | 56.54 KB | Posted: 3/28/08

If you care, 8.2° drag link angle.
DSCN6249.JPG
372 hits | 68.82 KB | Posted: 3/28/08

DSCN6250.JPG
384 hits | 58.35 KB | Posted: 3/28/08

Note, plenty of room between tie rod and drag link. Getting the round tube adapters for the passeng...
DSCN6251.JPG
364 hits | 71.14 KB | Posted: 3/28/08

Drag link from driver's side.
DSCN6254.JPG
337 hits | 69.06 KB | Posted: 3/28/08

Lowered radius arms to finish drilling bolt holes in frame.
DSCN6253.JPG
358 hits | 57.86 KB | Posted: 3/28/08

Drilling holes in the frame is a pain in the ass, especially big 1/2" holes. This 1/2" bridge reame...
DSCN6255.JPG
327 hits | 71.64 KB | Posted: 3/29/08

Test fit coils to verify ride height. Brand new coils put in place for the first time, 20" compress...
DSCN6260.JPG
328 hits | 71.77 KB | Posted: 3/29/08

Full droop, 26". Clearly they will droop more when the full weight of the axle is on them.
DSCN6296.JPG
338 hits | 64.81 KB | Posted: 4/10/08

External axle tube seals.
DSCN6300.JPG
326 hits | 38.67 KB | Posted: 4/10/08

Started working on the bolt in frame boxes. I was kind of dreading the upper mounts for these, but ...
DSCN6303.JPG
358 hits | 59.74 KB | Posted: 4/10/08

You can see that I needed to but weld an extension onto the angle that I used to fab these frame box...
DSCN6304.JPG
368 hits | 56.28 KB | Posted: 4/10/08

Once it's in place I center punched the bolt holes for drilling.
DSCN6307.JPG
363 hits | 69.8 KB | Posted: 4/10/08

Cut some spacers from 1/2" pipe.
DSCN6323.JPG
324 hits | 60.74 KB | Posted: 4/10/08

Bolted in place. The upper bolts go all the way through and have a spacer in between the box and the...
DSCN6326.JPG
355 hits | 57.94 KB | Posted: 4/10/08

Here is a good shot of the inside of the frame box and how everything is bolted together.
DSCN6327.JPG
400 hits | 68.65 KB | Posted: 4/10/08

DSCN6316.JPG
320 hits | 67.25 KB | Posted: 4/10/08

You can see that there is a LOT more stuff to contend with on the drivers side. Fuel lines, brake l...
DSCN6374.JPG
329 hits | 64 KB | Posted: 4/27/08

Hole drilled in radius arm mount for through frame brake fitting.
DSCN6376.JPG
299 hits | 59.71 KB | Posted: 4/27/08

Makes a nice mount for the AN3 flex lines to the caliper.
DSCN6377.JPG
322 hits | 30.53 KB | Posted: 4/27/08

Back side of radius arm mount. This trough frame adapter has a 1/8"NPT fitting on the back side, wh...
DSCN6379.JPG
347 hits | 71.57 KB | Posted: 4/27/08

Ran a 3/16" hard line to the splitter block where the single brake line drop is going to come down. ...
DSCN6382.JPG
299 hits | 72.62 KB | Posted: 4/27/08

Trac bar fabbed and painted. It's 36 3/8" center to center if I recall.
DSCN6383.JPG
310 hits | 72.89 KB | Posted: 4/27/08

Started working on my trac bar mount. With misalignment spacers the 7/8" heim mounting width is 2",...
DSCN6384.JPG
336 hits | 70.12 KB | Posted: 4/27/08

When selecting a trac bar bolt make sure you use one that is long enough to let the shoulder of the ...
DSCN6385.JPG
314 hits | 74.15 KB | Posted: 4/27/08

Sawed out a 1.75" hole to allow the heim room to pivot.
DSCN6386.JPG
321 hits | 71.1 KB | Posted: 4/27/08

Sawed out the bottom of the hole.
DSCN6390.JPG
309 hits | 68.52 KB | Posted: 4/27/08

Heim in the trac bar mount
DSCN6391.JPG
326 hits | 71.37 KB | Posted: 4/27/08

Side view
DSCN6392.JPG
309 hits | 45.61 KB | Posted: 4/30/08

I've noticed that some coil buckets have this thing at the bottom and some don't. Why is it there? ...
DSCN6395.JPG
304 hits | 74.09 KB | Posted: 4/30/08

Tacked the upper mount into place just for mock up. I think it's ultimately going to need to be abo...
DSCN6397.JPG
388 hits | 69.75 KB | Posted: 4/30/08

DSCN6399.JPG
336 hits | 68.24 KB | Posted: 4/30/08

Here's my lower mount.
DSCN6401.JPG
318 hits | 63.85 KB | Posted: 4/30/08

DSCN6409.JPG
321 hits | 68.6 KB | Posted: 4/30/08

Mocked up on the axle, not even tack welded in place yet.
DSCN6414.JPG
339 hits | 68.29 KB | Posted: 4/30/08

DSCN6412.JPG
330 hits | 58.74 KB | Posted: 4/30/08

DSCN6421.JPG
332 hits | 70.1 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

I decided to make a bolt on upper trac bar mount instead of welding one on. You can see here where ...
DSCN6424.JPG
355 hits | 41.42 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

This preexisting hole on the cross member also gets drilled out for mounting the trac bar mount brac...
DSCN6417.JPG
340 hits | 66.26 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

Trac bar mount tacked together,
DSCN6419.JPG
335 hits | 60.27 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

Here is a better shot of the three mounting holes.
DSCN6420.JPG
323 hits | 50.69 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

Upper trac bar mount brace. Note the 28° angle, which is to match the slope of the engine cross me...
DSCN6428.JPG
295 hits | 68.79 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

All welded up and sand blasted, ready for paint.
DSCN6429.JPG
304 hits | 68.47 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

DSCN6431.JPG
315 hits | 67.82 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

DSCN6432.JPG
314 hits | 72.94 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

DSCN6446.JPG
348 hits | 68.14 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

Painted
DSCN6447.JPG
326 hits | 67.05 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

Mounted
DSCN6449.JPG
332 hits | 69.32 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

DSCN6448.JPG
340 hits | 73.97 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

DSCN6448a.JPG
330 hits | 61.71 KB | Posted: 5/4/08

I do think it's a little ugly from this angle though. I'm thinking of removing this area with the p...
DSCN6456.JPG
340 hits | 69.9 KB | Posted: 5/6/08

I should have taken a pic of this before I painted it because you really can't see it here, but the ...
DSCN6457.JPG
332 hits | 73.22 KB | Posted: 5/6/08

Coils and shocks mounted, I used Bilstein 5150's, mounted for 5" up travel and 9" down.
DSCN6459.JPG
347 hits | 58.07 KB | Posted: 5/6/08

Outer axle tube seal packed with grease and ready to install. You just pack them with grease, put s...
DSCN6460.JPG
347 hits | 62.06 KB | Posted: 5/6/08

Outer axle tube seal installed.
DSCN6464.JPG
382 hits | 68.2 KB | Posted: 5/6/08

And at long last...the truck NOT SITTING ON JACK STANDS IN MY DRIVEWAY!
DSCN6472.JPG
387 hits | 67.39 KB | Posted: 5/6/08

DSCN6466.JPG
402 hits | 63.78 KB | Posted: 5/6/08

DSCN6469.JPG
384 hits | 70.52 KB | Posted: 5/6/08

DSCN6452.JPG
396 hits | 71.34 KB | Posted: 5/6/08

Trac bar and drag link 1/2 degree off!
DSCN6485.JPG
418 hits | 72.03 KB | Posted: 5/8/08

Did I mention that my rear springs are very worn out? The do flex well though.
DSCN6510.JPG
399 hits | 73.87 KB | Posted: 5/8/08

DSCN6507.JPG
445 hits | 73.81 KB | Posted: 5/8/08

DSCN6502.JPG
931 hits | 72.84 KB | Posted: 5/8/08

DSCN6513.JPG
477 hits | 73.02 KB | Posted: 5/8/08

DSCN6475.JPG
429 hits | 74.28 KB | Posted: 5/8/08

DSCN6483.JPG
382 hits | 68.55 KB | Posted: 5/8/08

The axles umbilical cord with the vent tube, ARB air line, and center drop brake line.
DSCN6478.JPG
361 hits | 67.05 KB | Posted: 5/8/08

DSCN6496.JPG
390 hits | 73.67 KB | Posted: 5/8/08


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