Well , got a little more accomplished.The crossmember is in and all welded up , and the 2 gussets are welded in.I started to put some of that blue steel on , but only did a small portion of the back part of the frame so far.Also I did some stuff on the front end.The upper control arms are gone , the tie rods are off , the axle is almost off , just have to get the sway bar out of the way to get it out of there.I can't get the ball joints off the lower control arm , for some reason unknown to me , one of the bolts on each end has some kind of plate around it , and only a small portion of the bolt is sticking out.Hopefully Jerry will chime in and have some knowledge on how to get those puppies off so I can get the lower ball joints off.The torsion bars are all off , and I painted the brackets on each end with rust paint , plus they are gonna get re greased when I put the new bars in.The new bars , OME don't seem any different in size or weight compared to the stock when I took the stock ones out , so not sure how they get the extra percentage stronger <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I'm still debating whether to take the sway bar off and leave it off , or put it back on.I will have 4" suspension lift , and 3" body lift when I am all done , with the heavier torsion bars , and 33" tires.Once I get the axle out , and the lower ball joints , then I will start cleaning up the front and putting that blue steel on.Then the frame will get painted up , or possibly some of that paintable rubberized undercoating , I haven't decided yet.Then the new stuff will be going back on.All new ball joints , tie rods , torsion bars , shocks , brakes , brake lines , etc , etc. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> Still lots of work to do , but its slowly getting there.A bigger shop and the proper equipment would make a huge difference.Anyway , heres a few pics of the frame , then a couple pics of the front end stuff , with pics of the lower ball joints , and the one bolt that you can hardly get a wrench on , let alone get a grip on it at all.















Now why they put that plate there leaving just a bit of that bolt exposed , I'll never understand.Either they have a special tool for this , or there is a trick to getting a grip on it somehow.I know a socket and a wrench won't work as I tried.There just isn't enough of the bolt exposed to grip on too.As for getting the sway bar off , thats a silly setup too.Its a 12MM nut on top and another on the bottom , which you can't get anything in there to grip onto.So , all that happens is the top one keeps turning.I tried loosening one of the bolts on the lower control arm , thinking it might be easier to take the whole thing off.No idea what they are torqued up at , but I broke my 29" extended handle cheater bar trying to break it loose <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> I thought I had snapped the socket , but it was the bar that broke <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" />