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Old 11-13-2014, 08:12 PM   #30
Tx Firefighter
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Azle, Texas
Posts: 14,162
Re: 82 stepped retired farm truck

I'd like to see you re-route those front brake hoses back down underneath the control arms like they originally were. When you install drop spindles you have to bend the ends of the lines to make them clear, but they will bend without issue. Myself and others on here have done it many, many times.

Here is my 78 driver truck with drop spindles.





They're tucked tidily down in between the castle nut and the spindle and don't rub or hit anything.

Also, your upper ball joint hardware is upside down. They are to be installed with the bolt heads beneath the arm and the nuts and washers on top. I know this is counter intuitive to standard procedures, but necessary as the exposed ends of the bolts will abrade the rubber boots on the ball joints when the boots are fully poofed out with grease and the suspension cycles. This is well illustrated in my second picture above. Imagine if that were a threaded bolt sticking down under that ball joint rather than a bolt head. It would be rubbing the rubber boot.

Be very, very cautious about your rear differential. I've done a pile of sandblasting over the years and tried many different ways of fighting it, but have never seen an assembled differential sandblasted that did not get some sand inside of it. Even using duct tape around all of the seals, it still happens. I'd like to see you open the cover, pop the axles out, and thoroughly clean the inside of it before you run it down the road.
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