Mess'n with axles this weekend - and there is a long backstorry I won't go into - but I ran into three reasons to do something with the bracket mounts on the rear frame crossmember.
1. Parking brake line:
I hadn't ever noticed before but my parking brake line was pulled taught. Probably a combination of things that make it more of an issue on my truck than on you're average J sprung truck. First is I'm running 14" travel shocks, so full extention for me has the J springs unseated 4". Second, I'm running a body lift, and at some point the parking brake line is attached to the body.
2. Brake hose:
I also had to replace my 4" longer than stock MAF SS line. It's too short with the travel I'm getting. Also, I cut it when trying to get the axle free (opps). Unfortunately the longer one I ordered was taking too long and I needed my truck back on the road by Mon. So, I got a Tacoma brake line. It's got the right ends, though it doesn't fit in the bracket on the frame well, and it's 1.5" shorter than the 4" longer than stock MAF line (so 2.5" longer than stock??).
3. ABS harness length.
Also because of the extra travel I'm running, the ABS sensor wires were getting pulled pretty tight. Now, the pictures show parts that aren't there anymore. They are from the '94 axle and my '97 doesn't have those tabs that mount on the top of the upper trailing arms. Without measuring, I think these are actually tighter than the '97's. Ultimately I ended up witht he '97s back under there (part of the long story).
So, here's the solution to all 3 problems. 6" wide piece of sheet metal (18 guage). Bolted to the frame where the ABS brackets were and the brake hose bracket, and drilled for all those brackets and their alignment tabs. The tricky one was the emergency / parking brake line bracket. This bracket actually is mounted below the crossmember, so it's set up for mounting on a horizontal, not a vertical I straighted out the bend in it after taking a grinder to cut the knee out of the bend (it was too strong with that reinforcement to get it straighted on the truck), then I took two adjustable wrenches and put a 90 deg. twist in it to get it to mount up right.
Ended up pretty straight forward, and simple, but I certainly feel much better about the lack of tension in all these wires, hoses, and cables.
1. Parking brake line:
I hadn't ever noticed before but my parking brake line was pulled taught. Probably a combination of things that make it more of an issue on my truck than on you're average J sprung truck. First is I'm running 14" travel shocks, so full extention for me has the J springs unseated 4". Second, I'm running a body lift, and at some point the parking brake line is attached to the body.
2. Brake hose:
I also had to replace my 4" longer than stock MAF SS line. It's too short with the travel I'm getting. Also, I cut it when trying to get the axle free (opps). Unfortunately the longer one I ordered was taking too long and I needed my truck back on the road by Mon. So, I got a Tacoma brake line. It's got the right ends, though it doesn't fit in the bracket on the frame well, and it's 1.5" shorter than the 4" longer than stock MAF line (so 2.5" longer than stock??).
3. ABS harness length.
Also because of the extra travel I'm running, the ABS sensor wires were getting pulled pretty tight. Now, the pictures show parts that aren't there anymore. They are from the '94 axle and my '97 doesn't have those tabs that mount on the top of the upper trailing arms. Without measuring, I think these are actually tighter than the '97's. Ultimately I ended up witht he '97s back under there (part of the long story).
So, here's the solution to all 3 problems. 6" wide piece of sheet metal (18 guage). Bolted to the frame where the ABS brackets were and the brake hose bracket, and drilled for all those brackets and their alignment tabs. The tricky one was the emergency / parking brake line bracket. This bracket actually is mounted below the crossmember, so it's set up for mounting on a horizontal, not a vertical I straighted out the bend in it after taking a grinder to cut the knee out of the bend (it was too strong with that reinforcement to get it straighted on the truck), then I took two adjustable wrenches and put a 90 deg. twist in it to get it to mount up right.
Ended up pretty straight forward, and simple, but I certainly feel much better about the lack of tension in all these wires, hoses, and cables.
