The spring perches will be removed completely and new ones put on. That is the pretty much the fab work. Other than that, regear and axleshafts. Probably new brake pads too. Rotors should be fine.

 

Ok, here is the portion that did the following beauty mark.




It's shown in realtime so you get a sense of the pace. It's quite painful and is also why I slapped in a few songs.

 

On the run in the previous post, at some point I over drooped and overextended the vacuum line on the CAD. The red one to be specific. This is good news as you are still able to engage/disengage 4wd. The only issue becomes vacuum havoc on your HVAC. My A/C would do the classic stop when the engine was under load.





I ordered the harness part from autopartsasap.com, but they are NOT ASAP. Ordered on May 23 and received May 31.

Mopar 52105299AB Vacuum Front Axle Harness for $31

Here is what you get:




I then decided to EXTEND the line to not break it again.

Picked up some unions and such from VatoZone



My hard lines were fine, so keeping that for spare.



Now installed



Maybe this will help someone out.

 

Got some SJ 5" Coils for free, so I put them in along with 14" Bilstein 5125 shocks.

The shocks only come in two mounting sizes, 1/2" with a sleeve or 5/8" w/o a sleeve. Dodge bolt is 14mm ~0.56" plus the brackets are not flush to the shock. So I had some sleeves made that were 3/4" OD seamless DOM, with ID for the stock Dodge bolts, and finally cut to length to match the brackets.

I then used my rotozip to open up the ID of the rubber bushings from 5/8" to 3/4". Done. For the front I got some JKS Shock Mount Conversions so no more stem. So only 6 new sleeves and bushing mods were done out of the 8 total.

Here is the initial install.



I knew my uptravel (~1.5") was going to be an issue, but not "how much". hahah It's not fun bottoming out....I was very careful.


So...





Now about 4" of shock showing. These SJ springs are soft!


Messed up the Driver side Leaf Hanger:





So...

 

Those shackles are sexy.

 

Holy smokes. I don't think you are going to bend that shackle any time soon. Nice work.

 

the shackles are beef.

 

Those shackles are skookum.

 

^thanks dudes.

and what does skookum mean? lol U Canadians.

Gotta to cap the holes and paint. What color?

 

Skookum is a Chinook Jargon word that has come into general use in the Pacific Northwest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skookum
It has a range of positive meanings. The word can mean 'good,' 'strong,'[2] 'best,' 'powerful,' 'ultimate,' or 'brave.' Something can be skookum meaning 'really good' or 'right on! 'excellent!', or it can be skookum meaning 'tough' or 'durable.' A skookum burger is either a big[3] or a really tasty hamburger, or both. Homecooked food described as skookum, is delicious and hearty. A person described as skookum, has a purpose and is on solid ground, and in good health and spirits. When used in reference to another person, e.g. "he's skookum," it conveys connotations of trustworthiness, reliability and honesty as well as (possibly but not necessarily) strength and size.