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The front end suspension has been harder to do but things are slowly coming together. Here’s a few progress pics. This is the first time sitting on its own weight with the new front suspension. Also shown is the offset bracket I made for the spring buckets. Since I narrowed the axle the...

It’s been a little bit since I’ve posted so I wanted to check in with a status update. I sprayed the bed with rattle can bed liner and installed a tailgate net. Pretty happy with how it turned out. I backed the truck into my single car garage so when it’s time to work I just open the garage...

Progress update... As I mentioned in previous posts I wasn’t happy with the texture of painting it so put 3 compressors in parallel and resprayed it. I got a lot better results this time, it’s not car show quality but I’m happy with it for a backyard paint job. I also am finishing up a lot...

Here are the photos of the hydraulic mounting. I bought the truck this way so I did not install it. Let me know if you guys see anything concerning I should address. I can get different angles or closer up if there is anything of particular interest to anyone. View from the drivers side the...

I finished up the Dana 44 axle shortening tonight. I followed the narrowing guide on this site. I took 6 inches off the housing so I can go with the 71-77 bronco axle shaft on the passenger side. I also welded up the diff spider gears. I’m waiting on the new ring and pinion to show up in the...

Sure thing, I’ll get some pictures of it. I know you said you aren’t interested in the wiring but I plan on doing a post about how I did the wiring for anyone else interested

I used a 20 gal 1.3 HP the first time around. I’ll get some more pictures of the orange peel that I was left with. I had a regulator at the spray gun to keep it at the desired 23 psi the gun calls for. When spraying it was dipping down to 10ish psi halfway through spraying a panel. I am going...

I put this together and might try respraying the truck with multiple compressors hooked up.

Thanks for the tip!

Continuing with the body work I addressed a few other small cosmetic issues with bondo. Then I sanded the whole vehicle with 80 grit because there was already some type of primer covering it but I didn’t know it’s history of when it was applied. So after sanding I masked everything off and...

For me, this truck has been about learning about a topic such as welding, body work, suspension and steering setup etc... and then having a vehicle to apply it to. Currently, I have the Dana 44 in my garage getting striped down to be shorted and rebuild parts on the way. I am still researching...

When I last left off I was mocking things up to get as much height as I could. I ended up installing an add a leaf because I wanted every inch I could easily attain. I ended up having to cut the exhaust off because the tips were blocking the 39 inch swampers. In the future I’ll most likely...

I mocked up the the rear end installation. I installed a lift shackle and the ~3” blocks that came with the 9 inch to see how much lift I could get. Shown here is a set of 35s I had on hand. Ultimately I am trying to clear 39” super swampers for mudding and 37s for daily driving. I’ll test fit...

Thinking ahead a little I am looking for recommendations for the drive shaft situation. Should I stick with the single cardan drive shaft currently installed or use a double cardan drive shaft from my 1979 f150 donor vehicle? I am leaning towards the C. V. double cardan drive shaft but I still...

It’s been 2 steps forward 1 step backwards but things are progressing... The axle shafts I ordered ended up being a different bolt pattern then I thought. They accommodated multiple bolt patterns: 5x4.50/5x4.75/5x5.00. Well when I ordered them I misread that last size for 5x5.50. As such I...

I got the axle shafts cut to length today. I only had to take about an inch or less from each axle shaft. The cut guide tool below has been really useful throughout the whole axle narrowing process to take measurements from. ICT Billet 9" Rear End Axle Tube Narrowing Cut Guide Rearend Pinion...

Thanks for the motivation! I have plenty more I’ve learn so far I can share so hopefully future readers will find it helpful

I finished up the ring and pinion install on the carrier tonight. Here’s a pic of the old rig and pinion. You can see chipped pinion teeth and the ring gear wearing away. Some one did a terrible job setting it up. No shims anywhere and they used the pinion pilot bearing retainer as a spacer...

To narrow the axle housing I bought some alignment pucks for a Ford 9” on eBay. Then I went to a local metal supply and got a 60” long piece of 1.25” diameter solid bar stock (1018 cold rolled steel). After cutting off the desired amount from either end of the housing you put the pucks in the...

That’s a pretty serious bed! Thanks for sharing