fletch & son's build thread

[fletch]

Performed a very quick & crude first go at assembling the front & rear suspension mostly to confirm we've got all the right parts & fasteners.




Learned a few things:
1) The rear trailing arms need to be flipped.
2) We need to figure a way to properly mount the steering rack. The spacers on hand don't fit properly and, more importantly, the cradle interferes with one of the power steering fluid ports. Mechie's cradle seems like a good solution, but I'm not 100% certain it will be a proper fit.
3) I do have a steering rack spacer to extend the rack on the passenger side. I'm assuming I'll also need a longer boot on that side. Can anyone confirm?
4) I'm really not happy with the way the front LCAs fit. We had to fight very hard to get them installed in the outer holes. Even then, they are not square to the brackets. Here's an example of the misalignment. Note the angle between the rear edge of the "hurricane" bracket and the mount point on the frame. Input would be most welcome.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Performed a very quick & crude first go at assembling the front & rear suspension mostly to confirm we've got all the right parts & fasteners.


Learned a few things:
1) The rear trailing arms need to be flipped.
2) We need to figure a way to properly mount the steering rack. The spacers on hand don't fit properly and, more importantly, the cradle interferes with one of the power steering fluid ports. Mechie's cradle seems like a good solution, but I'm not 100% certain it will be a proper fit.
3) I do have a steering rack spacer to extend the rack on the passenger side. I'm assuming I'll also need a longer boot on that side. Can anyone confirm?
4) I'm really not happy with the way the front LCAs fit. We had to fight very hard to get them installed in the outer holes. Even then, they are not square to the brackets. Here's an example of the misalignment. Note the angle between the rear edge of the "hurricane" bracket and the mount point on the frame. Input would be most welcome.

Your front strut adapter are on backwards.
You don't need a longer boot for the steering rack extender.
The LCA fitment has never been good. here is the original picture: lca.jpg

On my rack extender, I added a roll pin for safety. rack extension.jpg

[fletch]

Bob,
Thanks for the info on the steering rack. It was apparent to me that you had trouble with the LCAs given the oval mounting holes. We'll just do our best to get all the bolts to seat securely and move on.

Your front strut adapter are on backwards.

Can you tell me more about this? I'm thinking you mean the lower attachment points for the struts should be rotated 180. (But secretly hoping that's not the case since we welded them... Maybe this is the excuse I was looking for to buy the aluminum LCAs. )