rascole
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 2,714
- Location
- Bellflower, CA
Worst 3.5 weeks I’ve had. Well almost. Started my install the week before Christmas, right when one of the largest chain of rain storms hits SoCal. I had 2 weeks off work dedicated to this project and only got to work on it 2 days. Then a 6 week work schedule of 6/12 hour shifts killed my motivation. So an hour after work and a little on the weekend and I am almost done. Still waiting for our friends shop Wicked Creations to squeeze me in to do the SOA, next week (fingers crossed).
I was fortunate enough to buy the Rancho and a CI diff with E locker from Panzer. From the start I had planned on making a few upgrades which added to the delay. The front cradle was slightly bent and Rancho replaced it under warranty. I took the new cradle to my friends shop and he added the cut out for the steering rack and reinforced the sides/ears since that’s were the last one was bent. The trailing arms that attach to the frame and rear cross member was bent and I straightened it out and reinforced it too. That I did myself at work.
While the front end was apart I replaced the leaking steering rack and power steering pump. Drivers side top ball joint was bad and had to replace the UCA at the last minute. Found out the hard way that rims with 4.5” backspace 8” wide and 35” tires don’t work, tires rubbed the UCA and I had to use 1.25” spacers.
While I had LCA’s off I decided to replace the lower ball joints, figured it’s cheap enough and now’s the time to do it. Ran into a problem with the grease zerks hitting the CV shaft and breaking off. The geometry from Rancho lowers the hub just enough so the shaft hits the top of the zerk. Had to use flush plugs and will have to add a zerk to grease on occasion.
For now I am using shock extenders on the front until I figure out what shocks to use, they work great but do limit drop. UCA has about 1” clearance before it hits the stop. Right now the front is 25" hub to fender and the CV is only at a slight angle with about 1" of clearance between the LCA and the jounce/bump stop.
Replaced all the brake lines with 6" longer ones from Crown Performance, that was a journey, at some point someone put O rings in all the fittings. O rings do not belong in there.
Anyways, almost done and some small items to follow up with and it will all be done.
I was fortunate enough to buy the Rancho and a CI diff with E locker from Panzer. From the start I had planned on making a few upgrades which added to the delay. The front cradle was slightly bent and Rancho replaced it under warranty. I took the new cradle to my friends shop and he added the cut out for the steering rack and reinforced the sides/ears since that’s were the last one was bent. The trailing arms that attach to the frame and rear cross member was bent and I straightened it out and reinforced it too. That I did myself at work.
While the front end was apart I replaced the leaking steering rack and power steering pump. Drivers side top ball joint was bad and had to replace the UCA at the last minute. Found out the hard way that rims with 4.5” backspace 8” wide and 35” tires don’t work, tires rubbed the UCA and I had to use 1.25” spacers.
While I had LCA’s off I decided to replace the lower ball joints, figured it’s cheap enough and now’s the time to do it. Ran into a problem with the grease zerks hitting the CV shaft and breaking off. The geometry from Rancho lowers the hub just enough so the shaft hits the top of the zerk. Had to use flush plugs and will have to add a zerk to grease on occasion.
For now I am using shock extenders on the front until I figure out what shocks to use, they work great but do limit drop. UCA has about 1” clearance before it hits the stop. Right now the front is 25" hub to fender and the CV is only at a slight angle with about 1" of clearance between the LCA and the jounce/bump stop.
Replaced all the brake lines with 6" longer ones from Crown Performance, that was a journey, at some point someone put O rings in all the fittings. O rings do not belong in there.
Anyways, almost done and some small items to follow up with and it will all be done.
