[Laser Stan]

Well, I certainly wasn't looking forward to this job, and it didn't fail to fulfill my expectations. I didn't have a helper (or at least one who was willing to help lift this chunk of metal), so I took advantage of a winch installed on my lift. [first image] The lifting solution actually worked pretty well, and I can assure you that there's no "f...ing" way that two guys on their backs could have done this. The space (front to back) was very tight, even when the 3rd member was leveled. I made an attempt to open the gap with a big ratchet strap, but that was only little bit successful. Eventually the rear bolts lined up pretty well, and I inserted them not-quite-tight.

BUT, the front chassis bushing alignment was another story. [second image] The left-to-right spacing of the sleeves in the chassis bushings is about 1/8" narrower (1/16" on each side) than the lug spacing on the 3rd member casting. I'm having a really hard time understanding how to open up the chassis weldment to make this fit, and I doubt that the bushings have enough compliance to accept the 5/8" mounting bolts. I'm afraid that whatever I need to do will require removal of the 3rd member and some sort of butchering of the chassis.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[railroad]

You need some tapered line up bolts, or ladies foot pry bar.
I know it does not sound good, but they can be driven in, to align everything.
A tapered bolt can be threaded in with an impact wrench.
I am sure others, as I can relate to the IRS struggle.

 

[edwardb]

I know it seems like a lot maybe. But there really is enough compliance in those front sleeves/poly bushings for it to work. I've installed several (by myself...) and can relate to the slight misalignment. Just to confirm, I assume you drilled out the front mounts per the IRS instructions. First up, get the two rear bolts started. Enough that they're several turns at least into the rear cover. But leave them pretty loose. With the bushings and sleeves in the front chassis mounts, I use bolts that I tapered on a disk sander to line things up. Pictured below. Drive both in. Then remove one and you'll be able to put in the bolt. Then the other the same. Then tighten all four corners. The first one I tried to install I pushed, pulled, hammered (not recommended!) to no avail. Took minutes with the tapered bolts. Each since then has been just as easy.

 

[Laser Stan]

Thanks, guys. Yes, I drilled out the casting lugs to 5/8" per the build book. I also thought about making my own tapered bolts (nice job on those, Edward). It just seemed hard to imagine that the bushing sleeves in the chassis weldment would tolerate that much "squishing". I doubt that the chassis weldment itself would be easily expanded. I'll give it a shot, and thanks again!

 

[Laser Stan]

Thanks, guys. Yes, I drilled out the casting lugs to 5/8" per the build book. I also thought about making my own tapered bolts (nice job on those, Edward). It just seemed hard to imagine that the bushing sleeves in the chassis weldment would tolerate that much "squishing". I doubt that the chassis weldment itself would be easily expanded. I'll give it a shot, and thanks again!

Well, you were right! I made the drift pins from bolts as you recommended. And, I also added a couple of 2x4 "wedges" to open up the tight space between the bushings. That worked great and allowed pretty easy insertion of the drift bolts.

 

[CarmenVictory]

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