Let it begin, let it begin, LET IT BEGIN!

I know it's been a couple of weeks but work calls....and takes me out of town on occasion.  Last week I had to make a trip to one of the hottest places in the state.....but it's not quite summer there yet.  Since the Forest Service gate was not unlocked for the season yet, a 2-1/2 hour long, five-mile hike was now on the travel itinerary.  That's five miles in......and five miles back out.  Did I mention the 1400-foot change in elevation?  I took the opportunity to hike sections of the old road to save time and enjoy a little adventure.  I'm all about "the old roads".  I don't care how arduous it was at the time, it was serene and beautiful.

The old Warner Lake campground road - long abandoned but oh how beautiful

OK, so it's time to begin the second part of the journey, the part that will take time, patience, and money.  I'm mostly worried about the patience.  If I have the patience then the time will be shorter.  And about the money part?  Well.....you know.....

I was able to locate the brass pipe necessary to create the axle bushing.  Persistence paid off in scrounging up the pipe, patience came into play in making the saw cuts.  Test fitting proved successful!

Seems to fit OK

Looks good from the other side, too

A matching set!

Enough talk - let's get to work!

At this point there was a pause in the action as the holes in the cap pieces (the smaller part of the pillow block) were slightly undersize for the bolts to pass through.  Chasing them with a drill cleaned things up.  I used 7/16-14 square nuts as they fit perfectly inside the lower blocks without rotating.  I'll probably see about putting a tack weld on each nut when we drop the axle to put the "lift kit" back in place (more on that below) to keep them in place should the axle need servicing in the future.

Torsion spring engaged and ready for assembly

One down.....

....two down....

...left side in place but.....

....I guess a little persuasion will be needed here!

Meet The Persuaders:  Mr. Sledge and Mr. Bar

Lest you fear, gentle readers, I had to wail (I love that word when describing work - wail - I crack myself up!) on the pillow block to get it into place to slide over the carriage bolts, I actually found the crow bar gave me more precise positioning and once the springs compressed slightly, over the bolts it went.

There you go and Bob's your uncle!

Now you might notice I haven't put the "lift kit" back in place.  I'm working on the tapered washers; once I have those, I will measure the frame carefully to more precisely drill a new set of holes in the I-beam sections.  After things are ready, then the "lift kit" will go back in.  It'll be improved with a piece of square tubing running laterally between the left and right I-beam sections to eliminate any chance of sideways motion.  It's worth the extra work:  I don't savor the thought of the drop down snagging on anything on the dirt roads I traverse to get to my favorite camping sites.

Cleaned and ready for further engineering before reinstalling

Eight of these and we'll be ready to put the lift kit back on

Next question:  How large should the wheels be?  I have 3 non-matching rims with 2 good tires but I'm not sure if these are quite what John Serro had in mind.  The tires are P205/75R15's which if I recall correctly is a light truck tire. 

The black cat caught a mouse earlier in the evening so I'll let it be in the photo

Do these tires make my wheels look large?

I'm sure you've noticed the missing frame laterals:  One in front of each wheel and one in the streetside rear.  Now that the frame is semi-roadable, it's time to talk to my friend Mitch and see about doing a little welding! He and his welder live down at the other end of the block - now to get on his schedule.  Between being a partner in a small business which builds robotic vehicles, family man and a lay clerical leader in our congregation, he's a busy guy!

This will be an actual weld repair as this lateral fatigued through

Both these laterals are more of a "weld me back on" job

Once the welding is done and the "lift kit" is back in place, it'll be time for the POR-15!