Truck is in the workshop now, I got the rear axle out in a little over an hour today. I'll change out the bent axles and fabricate new shackle mounts this week.

Wow ,I bet that was fun. I went up to the bodyshop on friday to put the tag on my truck to let it know I have not given up .

It was a fairly easy job, being that everything is new/rebuilt and clean. I picked up the steel for the new mounts today on my way into work, damn swing shifts again. I'll get it all wrapped up and back together this weekend.

The it's down to: front end alignment, and a dyno tune.

And... even though it was a small change, it is going to lead to a lot of re-engineering. :(

Ah yes... more nonsense. :grumpy:

Got the truck back on the ground today. The ride height is fixed, the axle is in the correct spot on the leaf springs. But, required a 2" longer driveshaft and new traction bars to be fabbed. Now the wheels are not centered in the rear wheel wells. I'll be moving the bed back over an inch next. He never liked how close the bed was to the cab. But, I wish we would have addressed these things before it was painted. The old man is getting extremely impatient in his golden years. (Creating lots of extra work and headaches for me)

I have to agree with him that it will look better with wheels centered ,truck looks good.

It definitely needs to be done, I just wish that these issues were addressed during the build. One other issue I forgot, the cross member that the fuel tank straps connect to hits the rear differential cover. I'm going to have to notch it quite a bit.

Installed rear emergency brake cables and the 15" wheels and tires today. I am going to work on getting the bed moved back next week.

Looks good ,love the color .

Had a very productive morning. The shackles were in a bind after all of the changes last year. Got those relocated and the bed off. Just need to move the bed mounts back about 1.5-1.75 inches and put the bed back on. That will happen Monday.