D52:Rear End Mods and Mockup

Another day working on the rear end. I've done a little finish welding on the mounts for the rear sub frame. Below is a shot with the sub-frame installed.

I also build some additional support around the rear "control arm" mounts.

Below is a picture of the rear end half installed. It shows how everything should fit together during final assembly. The control arm does hit the frame in full droop, but that is about 7" inches below what I'm guessing is normal ride height which shouldn't cause any issues once the shocks are installed.

D50:Rear Sub Frame Support

I figured out a way to still use the factory rear sub frame and reinforce it to keep the rear end from flexing. The last time I had the frame on jack stands I noticed a pretty large amount of flex in the rear end and realized I needed to tie the sub frame into the rear of the frame instead of just the top.

The sub frame can still slide in and out of the frame and now has support from the bottom of the frame as well. I know the rear sub frame doesn't really fit into the rest of the frame, but it should be thoroughly hidden once everything is assembled and the body is on. It definitely makes adapting the rear end to this build much easier.

D49:Rear Suspension Mods D3

My third and final attempt at modifying the rear arms was probably my best. In my last attempt I built a simple jig to hold the stock arm and then cut the ends off. With the ends cut off I began reconstructing the center section. I started with the old piece of 2" square 16ga tubing that I used for the steering rack mount and cut it lengthwise into quarters. I reassembled the quarters into the center section channel. I think most people will agree that the final attempt is the cleanest, but I think both of the last two will work fine.

D48:Rear Suspension Mods D2

Here is my second attempt at rebuilding the rear upper arms. This time I took the original, cut the sides off one at a time and then welding on new sides. This way it preserved the length and angles of the factory arms. I wanted to mod these because the originals are obviously designed to use separate springs and also weigh a ton. The new ones are lighter and a little sleeker. They also don't look as factory which I like. The first pic shows the original next to the newly modified one.