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Hi Josh! (Keep your head down...)

 
    The '55 Dodge had a pretty bad "stink bug" condition, i.e. the back was way too high (14"!). It is back now, for a set of ladder bars.    
   
Here's the truck on a trailer, last time it went to the muffler shop. The wheels have since been changed.   The frame is stripped down. That is the new rear end housing, which is 4" narrower than the old one.   The old suspension. It was welded in with a stick welder and a bunch of 1/2" plate.
   
8" frame extensions, to replace what I had to cut off, due to the aforementioned stick welder.   Hard to see here, but I boxed the frame where the dropdowns will attach. The original frame had previously been bent, cracked and welded back up. This will make sure everything stays in place.   Dropdown sections. Funny thing, truck frame rails are much higher than car frames...
   
Here's a shot of the dropdowns in place, as well as the new crossmember.   Rear view of the same. We had the muffler shop remove some exhaust for this project. They will replace when we are finished.   Here is the rear ladder bar bracket...
   
...and the spring mount bracket.   Entire rear end. I'll install seals, axles and brakes tomorrow, and maybe put the bars on. I'm waiting on a couple brackets that were missing.   Here's the ladder bar. Kit is from Chassis Engineering. I've installed several of their suspension and roll bar kits. Numero Uno.
         
   
Rear end with bars on...   Here is the brackets that were missing. I found out the fuel tank interferes with the crossmember in this area...   ...so I sectioned one side of the crossmember by 3/8" and modified the brackets.
   
Closer view of the sectioned area.   Final mockup before finish welding. We stuck the bed on to see how it looked...the axle is about 1 1/2" forward from where it was. This centered it in the wheel well opening.   Crossmember welded in, primer going on. You can see the difference in the bracket.
   
Another shot of front crossmember.   Rear end housing painted.   Front crossmember painted. You can see the trans and trans crossmember in there also.
   
It's in for the final time. Axles and brakes are in and adjusted.   Here you can see the rear end, panhard bar (shiny cross bar) and the shock crossmember (black). Lower shiny pieces are lower shock mounts. I'm waiting on springs.   Shot of the fuel tank in place. There is about 1/16" clearance between it and sectioned area of crossmember.
   
Side view of custom aluminum fuel tank.   Here is the completed job   Truck on the ground. I did a "test cruise" on 'Fe Friday night. Drives great.
         
 

Follow the link above (or this one) to more pictures of cars and "stuff" from my shop.