Cleaning up the axle

I gave the big kids a couple scrapers and set them to work getting the
big chunks of gunk off the axle.

Frame painting done

The final coat of Eastwood chassis black has finally dried. I am
starting to reassemble the rear suspension.

Frame painted with primer

Cleaned the frame with Eastwood Pre and painted it with Eastwood Rust
Encapsulator primer.

Back down to the frame

I have torn the rear end back down to the frame in preparation for
paint. I need to reinforce the cab mounts a bit first and then it's
time to paint the frame.

Rear sway bar and shock relocation brackets

The past couple weekends I have been working on installing a new rear
sway bar and some shock relocation brackets. The brackets correct the
shock angle on lowered trucks. I also installed some new U-bolts on
the axle. One of the old U-bolts was worn almost half way through.

Mounting the new fuel tank

Today I worked on mounting the new fuel tank. It's a 16 gallon "pro
street" foam filled tank. I fabricated a few brackets and welded them
in place.

Test fitting the truck bed

Today I dropped the bed on the truck to check for clearance with the
tires and suspension. I also checked the clearance for the new gas
tank. Of course one of the bed supports lines up right over the filler
cap. I think I have a plan to fabricate a new support with an opening
for the filler.

To lift the bed I used some 4x4 posts, an engine hoist and a load
leveler.