Cliff-notes from the repairs this weekend:

I got kind of a late start on Saturday because the place I went to have the U-bolts bent up was REALLY busy and I ended up hanging out for almost 2 hours before they could get my parts done.

^^^
Proof that I need a bigger garage



Engine crane coming in handy for something it wasn't intended for yet again!



Thank god for REAL bumpers, haha!



Old vs new. New spring perches are much thicker than the old ones were when they were new.



All cleaned up and ready to tack the new perch in place



Dodge surrealism. New perches tacked in place on the axle.



Time to put everything back under the truck.





Everything reinstalled, torqued, and ready!



Post-test drive celebratory beer.

I spent a good part of the week beforehand planning out how I was going to do everything involved, and it all went very smoothly. The one step that took the longest was actually welding the new perches into place, since I was only doing about 1/2 inch at a time and then letting it cool to avoid heat warping the axle tubes. Welding the two perches probably took around 2.5-3 hours. But, I used the cooldown time to bend, fit, and flare new brake lines on the axle, and to clean and lubricate the parking brake cables since I had it off and they were right there.