Bagging the square....FINALLY!

[smoothandlow84]

So I finally decided to bag my square. I already purchased all of the parts and hardware last Thursday, and over the weekend I bagged the front. The air compressor, valves, switches, tank and all of the lines are installed. The only part remaining is to install the parallel four link out back. This will be the first time installing a four link, so if anyone who has experience doing this, your input is appreciated .

I plan on setting up the four link bars and panhard bar, then once everything is in alignment, start fabbing up the rear bridge and bag mounts. The rear bags are due to arrive in the next few days (2600lbs bags).

I have a basic idea of how to line up the axle and panhard bar to be parallel at the desired ride height. I alo realize that the pinion angle is key as well.

What is the best plan of attack to start with other than taking initial measurements to start installing the four link bars?

I will take progress pics to help others if they plan on doing the same.

 

[74 Shortbed]

I'll be following this thread..

 

[Honky Kong jr]

I'll be following this thread..

There is 2 of them lol

 

[74 Shortbed]

There is 2 of them lol

Yeah, just saw the other one, lol.

 

[cooperhw]

What I did was take two large hose clamps and put them together. Used them to attach the lower rear trailing arm bracket to the rear end axle tube, attach trailing arm to it and install front arm bracket and raise/lower it till it's level at ride height. then tack both front and rear bracket in place, repeat on the other side. I plated the area where the front upper bracket will connect to the frame and leveled it as well. tacked all in place, then welder up.

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[radio2000]

What I did was take two large hose clamps and put them together. Used them to attach the lower rear trailing arm bracket to the rear end axle tube, attach trailing arm to it and install front arm bracket and raise/lower it till it's level at ride height. then tack both front and rear bracket in place, repeat on the other side. I plated the area where the front upper bracket will connect to the frame and leveled it as well. tacked all in place, then welder up.

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what kit(s) is this?

 

[cooperhw]

I bought my parts from Airslammit.com. they are local to me so I just picked them up as needed.

 

[smoothandlow84]

What I did was take two large hose clamps and put them together. Used them to attach the lower rear trailing arm bracket to the rear end axle tube, attach trailing arm to it and install front arm bracket and raise/lower it till it's level at ride height. then tack both front and rear bracket in place, repeat on the other side. I plated the area where the front upper bracket will connect to the frame and leveled it as well. tacked all in place, then welder up.

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I'm going a little bit of a different route than you did. I was pondering making a triangulated four link, but since I dont plan on raising the floor of the bed (no body drop...yet), I will be installing a parallel four link setup. It has been suggested by others that I use old u bolts to hold the axle in place by tacking them to the frame. The panhard bar that I bought is straight, so I realize now that I will have to re fabricate the axle tube bracket to allow for the needed clearance of the rear differential. The bracket I bought is about 3 inches too short (go figure). Luckily I taken this next week off to gather the necessary hardware and misc items as they pop up. I am still waiting patiently for the rear bags to arrive from the supplier. The rear tunnel that I built in the bed is plenty tall and wide enough for the bridge. Once the four links are on, it will help to determine the position of the bags and what other materials I will need to make further progress.


I am not looking forward to grinding and drilling out all of the hanger brackets.

I bought my parts from Switch Suspension locally. They have been a great resource for my build.

 

[smoothandlow84]

Made some progress today...



I ended up using some old u bolts to hold the rear axle in place in order to maintain the ride height that I wanted. I tack welded the threaded portion of the u bolts to the frame, just enought to carry the weight of the axle. In doing this, the pinion angle is maintained at this height, the axle is centered and the leaf packs can be removed without the weight of the axle bearing down on them.

The next step is the real pita.....grinding down the oem rivets in order to remove the front and rear hangers....yeah...it took some time and involved quite the colorfull vocabulary. It's a good thing my kids were at school when I started this part.

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[smoothandlow84]

Removing the hangers and the dreaded rivets

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[smoothandlow84]

Mocking up the front and rear four link brackets....to be parallel at ride height. All four of these bars were adjusted to the same length, installed into the brackets and then the brackets were tacked into place.

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[smoothandlow84]

Rear axle mounted brackets...

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[smoothandlow84]

Four link bars all adjusted to the same length and set into place temporarily. These bars will be removed then the brackets will be final welded, ground down and ready for paint.

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[smoothandlow84]

Front mount with four link bars temporarily set ...

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[smoothandlow84]

Tomorrow I will be at it again, tackling the passenger side, cutting off the hangers....oh what FUN!!. Now that I have the length determined it's just a matter of tacking the passenger side assembly in place.

I will have to fabricate (modify) the axle mount side bracket for the panhard bar. The bracket that I have is not long enough and won't clear the rear differential. I will make a new bracket and mount the panhard bar. Once the panhard bar is mounted, the u bolts will be removed and I will test cycle the fourlink and verify that everything cycles as it should.