Well, I managed to get lucky on Craigslist, and the old rear axle, leaf springs, shocks and brakes are gone. I’ve brought the new axle housing down from the attic and put in in place where the old one was, but not without a small snag.

I put the axle in place on jack stands, using a plumb bob against marks I’d made on the frame to make sure it was in the right position front-to-back. I then had to face the reality that I needed to know the vertical position of the axle at a resting midpoint with all the body parts in place, and that was a measurement that I didn’t make before disassembly began. I knew however, that there was an auto parts store with a small fleet of white S-10s and Ford Rangers sitting in front (for some reason), so I decided to go there and ask if I could take some measurements off of one of those. Fortunately they were friendly and indulged my odd request.

Returning to the garage with a dirty sweatshirt and the proper measurements, I lined up the axle pretty close to where it needs to be. The whole point of this is so that I can see the rear 4-link mounts in position, figure out where the front mounts need to go, and decide how to reshape the frame so that this can happen and allow the link bars to swing through their range of motion during suspension travel. Starting with the “do I really need to change that much?” frame of mind, I’ve once again concluded that the change is going to be pretty drastic. The frame as-is extends through much of the area where the link mount needs to go, and where the bars need to move.

Tonight was mostly head-scratching, but I took away a couple of definite points for moving forward. First, the front leaf spring mounts and bump stops need to be either ground or cut off (probably a bit of both). Second, the front tubular crossmember needs to go, and fortunately, its position is not critical. Examining the bottom of the bed, it appears that the bed rests on it, but not without pressure applied, and not in a special location. The crossmember could easily be moved several inches to the front or rear without interfering with the crosswise reinforcing ribs on the bottom of the bed. It seems it’s there mostly to strengthen the frame, and in that capacity it will need a suitable replacement.

Many thanks to Erik, who stopped by to help out.