Pete M

how did you bleed the air?

axles are not a good recovery point (and no, that's not me)

45* is way too much. the coil buckets would then lean backwards and the coils would follow suit. I had to go look up what I used. from my photo account: I'll draw a picture when I get back home later today so it's more clear.

might just need new bearings. :dunno: I've read that any 2.5L AMC lower block from 84-04 (or whenever they switched to the 2.4) can be swapped in with minimal effort. :thumbsup:

low compression? rod knock? and welcome! :waving:

get a straw from a wd40 can and put it on a pb blaster can. stick the straw up in there as best you can and be sure to have eye protection. then get yourself an appropriately sized brass punch and wail on it. :D

google gave it to me. :yes:

The Ford radius arms (which you have modified versions) are designed to be parallel to the ground when under a stock late 70s ford truck. When you lift the truck and angle the arm downward, the coil bucket goes with it. and since the coil is bolted to the bucket, the base points forward and bows the coil. My solution was to make a pair of steel wedges the lean the coil bucket back. Wasn't especially hard or expensive. I had a local shop cut 2 steel bars in half on their big bandsaw and then I drilled the holes. and in case you're wondering how I bolted that up, the cut bar gave me 2 wedges each, with matching angles. one went under the coil bucket, the other got trimmed to size and went inside the bucket so that the bolts had a flat place to tighten down on. lower wedge: upper wedge: before wedges: after wedges: That lean you're experiencing might be due to improper tightening of the radius arm bolts (the ones that pull the 2 halves together around the axle). If done one side completely and then the other, the arms can twist your truck to one side. somewhere online I saw the proper procedure for that spelled out. haven't needed it in years though, so I'd have to hunt it down again. make yourself familiar with some older ford sites. I like fullsizebronco.com also jeffsbroncograveyard.com has lots of useful parts for sale. also, in order to get any decent flex, you'll want to cut off the stock lca brackets to get them out of the way and dump those poly C-bushings for some old rubber ones. but after you do that, you'll need to get the bumpstops properly positioned to get from eating the fenders or shocks. they'll need to point to the side slightly to keep from hitting the coils and to hit the coil bucket squarely upon compression.

ahhh, so you're running the ford arms, eh? :brows: I don't have time to do it this second, but later tonight I'll explain how I worked that issue out on my truck. :thumbsup:

if you have a T in the fittings, then someone removed the prop valve. If nothing else is found to be wrong, I'd look into an aftermarket prop valve for adjusting the rears. factory unit:

did you use one of these?

I can dig the primer look. :D (long as it's not actual primer of course) wyk, have you started a project thread yet?

does your truck still have the rear proportioning valve?

anyone see mention of a dana 44 frontend?

yes and yes

might want to take an angle finder to it and see.

our trucks tend to rot from the inside-out. water drain holes in the rockers and doors get plugged with debris, or water gets under the carpet, or as you're experiencing, dirt accumulates on that ledge behind the rear fender and that attracts moisture which rots the bedsides. :(

Depending on how they are made, it'd might be more work to make a smaller one. plus as I understand it, the sides are made up in batches and so are sitting on a shelf somewhere waiting for your call. :D It would be awesome if they made a small patch panel for the typical flare rust.

any update on the dodge?

all depends on how you wanted to mate them up to the truck.

a small brass dowel is your friend here. :thumbsup:

What is your caster set to?

since the front and back ends are open, it should just be a matter of cutting them to length.

how nice does it need to look in the end? I don't think you'll ever get the XJ stuff to look perfect. close maybe, to hide the gaping rust holes... there's a company stamping out replacement panels. look at the sticky in the tech forum