So Wednesday was victory number one. First day back at work. She made it the 32 miles there. Truck stayed together.
She drives like a new vehicle now. Ride is a bit stiffer but certainly to be expected considering the tired old springs she was born with are no longer on her. Feels so much more sturdy and in control. I really don't notice any additional slowness to the truck. She was slow before and just seems equally slow now with the 33's on her. Folks say taking off in first with 33's is quite a bit different than a stock setup. I don't really notice it myself. I am sure she is slower, but slow is slow. I am fine with how she rides. Maybe on a trail it will become more noticeable. But for now I am totally loving this setup. I think the overall stance of the lift is perfect. No rake here. Nice and level. When I bought the lift from
@cruiseroutfit, I talked to Kurt at length about how I wanted things to be basically stock looking but to be able to fit 33's. I think Kurt nailed it with the kit he set me up with. Looks perfect IMHO and I am so stoked to finally have the truck I always knew this one could be.
Some glamour shots:
Right after tire install:
Right after first drive to work:
So one thing with regards to the knuckle rebuild, I found that getting some studs that fit the knuckle where the spindle bolts up were extremely helpful in getting things lined up while you got the spindle bolts started. Look like this:
So you get those in the knuckle, slip the gasket/spindle over the studs to help hold everything on while you get all your remaining gaskets/parts on the knuckle. There are a lot of parts to put together right at this step and being able to slip the parts onto a stud to hold them in place was extremely helpful.
Also for those of you watching at home, just so its clear for future folks looking for clues on how to do this, I decided to follow my FSM photo on placing the gaskets. So spindle gasket-->spindle-->dust shield-->hub seal gasket-->hub seal. I don't know if this will prove to be a mistake or not in the coming months, but for lack of a definitive answer on that, that's the way I went. Again if its good enough for
@OTRAMM, its good enough for me.
Again thanks all for your input and help here. Could not have done it without you. Thanks.
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