Shock and Awe
Today’s battle was waged against the ears of the rear IRS lower control arms. They just weren’t wide enough – by merely thousandths of an inch. Using a threaded bar, a couple of washers and nuts, I was able to spread the ears just enough to slot the knuckles into place. The knuckles are the mounting bracket that holds the spindle to which the wheels will be attached. They in turn are attached by an upper control arm and a lower control arm. After some spreading with the bar and a little help from BFH, they went in. Shocks attached, axles pushed into the differential, all is good. The nuts are not yet torqued up and I’ve got thread lock for the non locking nuts.
Next job will be to work on getting the brake calipers and hoses attached. The calipers are pre-packed (another $hortcut from Breeze Automotive), but the brake lines are all going to need to be bent into shape, and riveted to the chassis. Will need to do some research – I’ve a feeling that another tool is on the horizon (single and double flare tools).
