Day 7: it all came together. First of all, the axle mounted under the springs in the front:
Then I stood back and looked... OMFG! This is not a photoshop job... this is the truck at rest with stock suspension and tyres (although slightly flat) in the back.
Time to see how level I can get it... out with the old axle, which is spring-under:
...and in with the Hilux one... one miracle measurement is that the width of the spring centres is within 5mm between the MU and the Hilux - no spring pad relocation! Wow... never saw that little piece of luck coming.
Then bolt it all up and stand back:
Better than I imagined, although the front is too high... and there is a MAJOR problem - the front driveshaft. Heres the sticky point - the front driveshaft in this photo is drooped as low as it can go... its sitting on the crossmember. Looks like I am going to go with that crossmember I made after all (you can just see the driveshaft above the spring):
And forgetting that minor inconvenience, here it is again... a thing of beauty - although I think I'm going to go Falcons in the back to give a bit better flex and more height to balance the front. I considered lowering the front, but I want to put 37" goodyear MTRs under it, and they will settle as they are brand new... so I will lower it later if I need to by drilling the shackle hole through the chassis rail rather than using the standoff mount.
Steve
