Getting ready to 4 link it up some ??s

[lil_redd_again]

ok so, im gonna weld my shit on and I have some issues / concerns. First let me start off by showing yous guys my sweet front X member I fabbed up along with his little custom tabbatry
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/FlarbiesandAmanda001.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/FlarbiesandAmanda002.jpg
yea yea its awesome I know :p anywho. Im gonna snap some more pics of what Im working with but I have 3 Questions at the moment and Ill prolly come up with more as I go first off

1- There is the little brake fluid uh, I dont know what to call it, little brake fluid level canister I guess? The cast piece about 4" long with 3 Hard lines going into it above the rear axle. Cant one of these lines be plugged? it seems like thats what Ive heard before. Ill get a pic today or tomarrow.

2- What did all you guys do with your hard lines and hand brake lines that run along the frame down there, Im looking at just keeping the hand brake lines as they are and just resting the hard lines on top of my X member but I know this isnt a good idea. The best course of action would be to re run them with soft lines but uh, Im not sure if Im down to do that at the moment.

and 3- and this is prolly easier than I think to fix but ok dig it and keep in mind im running bag on bars set up; The uppers come off the axle right above where the lowers mount correct? or thereabouts anywho, Im trying to figure out, how I will get my axle tabs to mount at an angle? I know the tabs you get from SD are made to ground down and cut up to fit but I havnt mocked it up yet and Im concerned that, by the time Im done grinding them to fit good, I wont have alot of material left to weld onto the axle, does that makes sense? Get back at me, Thanks!

[lil_redd_again]

heres a pic of the brake deal I was talking aboot
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/FlarbiesandAmanda.jpg

I wanting to know if one of these lines can be eliminated just so that I have less to deal with down there you know?

[lolyfe]

1 that is a load senceing valve throw it away you dont need it
2 i just junked my e brake i use the frame now it wont roll away
3 if you need help locating your tabs PM me ill send pic of what you need i have the same link from SD

[lil_redd_again]

so no one can help me out here? Ice, twisted, anyone?

I know I cant 86 the whole brake unit, its running fluid to my rear brakes but to my understanding I can get rid of one of the lines...

[91nissan94]

not sure about your truck, but on my 91 I just took the rubber line that goes to the tee on axle and connected it to the hard line that came from the booster. no extra fittings or anything, hooked right up.

[95PGHB]

You can plug one of the lines at the junction block under the pass side fender... I cant remember which one i pluged... someone else will prolly have a better explanations... but once you plug it you can do away with the valve and only use one of the lines that runs to the rear...

if nobody can figured it out i will go do some investigating on my truck and figure it out!!

[lil_redd_again]

ok so heres what Imw orking with... I figured out the deal about angling the upper mounting tabs so scratch that question, and Ill just deal with the brake lines and shit later my main concern at the moment is getting my pinion angles good. Now, Ive come to the conclusion that, mounting up my links with the leaves attached is OK if its at the ride height I want so unless someone has a big issue with that, I already know its unusual and what not blah blah anyways... My link bars are Really!!! long and at first I wasnt sure they were be long enough but uh, check it out.
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link007.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link004.jpg

so i was under the assumption the bolts should be about centered below and above the axle, yes? Im sorta hoping now that it doesnt matter, I figure Im just gonna tack it all up, drop the leaves, and alter the pinion angle with the adjustable upper ends... check this out
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link014.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link006.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link007.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link005.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link015.jpg

and I could prolyl move the xmember forward another Inch or so but, I dont know how much good it will do...
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link012.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link013.jpg

so what do you guys think, is this normal?

[lil_redd_again]

Progress??
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link001-1.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link002-1.jpg

check this cluster fuck out
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link003-1.jpg
i just hope the bars being positioned so far behind the center of the axle wont mess with anything too much

[Ice]

heres a pic of the brake deal I was talking aboot
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/FlarbiesandAmanda.jpg

I wanting to know if one of these lines can be eliminated just so that I have less to deal with down there you know?

if you look under the hood... at the master.. you will notice 2 lines coming out of them....
the front line (closes to the front of the truck) you can pull that one off.... then just plug it.....
now just follow the other line all the way to the back.. that will be your primary line... rest of the lines you can ditch....
just double check the path of the lines... cause the front one should go to the abs box under the cab and then goto the load sensor.... so thats the one you can do away with...

[lil_redd_again]

cool man but uh, any input on this link situation Ice, ever seen anything like this before, whats your take?

[lil_redd_again]

so uh, dig it this is my, pinion angle at ride height which looks way off to begin with Idk how thta happened, had to be when I redrilled the hangers
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link002-2.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link001-2.jpg

its call it, 5degrees? now check this out, and for some reason it doesnt seem right but, layed out its at 0 degrees
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link003-2.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link004-1.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/4link005-1.jpg
the chnge isnt very drastic, I mean, the angle of the driveshaft changes quite a bit but its moving up (or the trucks going down) about 10" so yea its gonna change. Im about to say fuck it and burn it all in. Someone stop me now if this dont look right.

[Ice]

the bars are too close way it looks in pictures on the front crossmember.. the uppers and lowers should have more of a gap... drop the lower bars down some...
just to keep it simple for you... if your looking from the side of the frame at the bars... they should be almost parallel from a side view, with the uppers just going in a slight down degrees... (depending on where instant center is on your truck) but to keep it simple 3degrees down on the top bars for the nissans...(but that depends on the length too , but im try'n to keep this simple again..lol)

sooo,, if your measure from the lower link bolt center on the axle to the upper link bolt on the axle.. like if you got 9.25" distance..... then on the crossmember end (closses to the cab) you should have 9" distance up and down from the center bolt to center bolt.....
if its really less.. it will cause the pinion to change major.. prob what yours doing...

also , on the angle finder tool you have... it needs to be flat sideways on the axle yoke.... not the top like that.... you will not get a good angle degree from that.....

[d21cruisa]

nigg you better start off cappin off the inside of those notches! thats no bueno!

[lil_redd_again]

ok lemme try to respond to this...let me first start off by saying that my bars are waaayyy to long, this was what I was pointing out in the start. Now, if I moved the lowers down any more they, will be pushed back even farther which is what I was concerned aboot in the first place. The bars, to my naked eye are more or less parallel at my set ride height. The, bolt hole-to bolt hole center on the xmember is about 7 1/2" and I cant really tell on the axle tabs but it seems to be a little more the thing that sux is I already started welding it all up :p I said fuck it I gotta get my shit back on the road.
Tabs are alla bout 75% welded in. If i end up eating bearings then, so be it but no body ever got anywhere by not trying eh?

I thought I had the angle reader in the right spot, what do you mean, on the side? and the top inside of the notches are welded up, I just need to do the in-sides, I ran out of metal when I first did it :p but now I have the metal and Im also redoing most of the welds on the notches cause...they look like ass :ninja:

[nissandoordragger]

when it comes to you truck suspension you never sau eh fuck it its good enough take the time to do it right plus bearings are 80 a peace that will add up and its harder to start over when youve welded it 100% than it is when its welded75% just cut it off and start over and shorten the bars if you have to cut the bushing of then grind it smooth and notch to link bar then weld it back on with the poly part off of course

[Ice]

this is what i mean about anglefinder position...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/doctor_iceman/1999%20frontier/100_1342.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/doctor_iceman/1999%20frontier/100_1343.jpg
....

just try'n to help ... but you rushing things are no good man.... why not do it right the first time ....
if the bars are too long.. then cut them down and reweld them... cut the bars.. get a smaller tubing in the middle for a guesset... then slid the bar together leaving little gap and then weld strong....

its not just gonna mess with your u-joints.. gonna be vibrations , breaking u-joints , and many other problems you might run into ... even tranny problems... and your carrier bearings.....
theres alot that can go wrong with out of align suspension....

so take a breather , step back... cut it off and redo it..
dont worry , your not the only that had to do this.... ive done it several times too in the past.... it sucks.... but get it right.. then you wont have to go back and redo it....

do you have any side pics of the suspension? hard to tell anything with the angle of the pics...

[Mr.Ryan]

Another option is that you could cut off your upper link tabs where they mount onto your cross member buy some new longer ones and mount them higher up on the cross member, the point of longer tabs is that you can cut a section out of them so that you can weld it onto the cross member on the side and on top to add more strength, cuz it looks like your upper bars are too close to your lower bars on the cross member side and need to be raised a lil bit.

[lil_redd_again]

hrm well this all sucks...I didnt really see why it wouldnt work, nothing binded up, everything moved fluidly, my pinion hardly changes at all...idk man. the thing is, time is not an option for me. Ive had a deadline, I need to give dood his welder back and I have no real cutting tools sooo what are my options?
Im just gonna go with it, live and learn I guess. Ill get more pics for you guys cause seriuously it all doesnt look half bad like, Ive seen worse work better. if it turns out it doesnt work and its all shit then I know a shop nearby that can fix me up it was just real important to me that I tried it out myself first. ive been toting these dam links around for like 5 years and I didnt want it all to be for naught...anywho, we'll figure something out ill snap some more pics in the morn

[lil_redd_again]

and as for mounting the uppers higher on the xmember, I got it all set up so it wouldnt get into the bed when it gets back on there, thats another thing I was trying to avoid

[lil_redd_again]

ok heres a but load more pics, sorry if I came off arrogant last night it was a long day and I was frustrated >.> I slept on it, woke up and stared at it for awhile, moved it thru all its motions, tooka bunch of measurements and I still dont see why it wouldnt work out just fine, Observe:

Ride height its at maybe, 3-4 degrees yes?
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link008.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link009.jpg and I know the leaves are on the ground thus supporting the frame but the ass end is on jack stands, the leaves are hardly touching, if at all.
Link bars are not only mostly parallel but mostly level as well, im sayin it looks good.http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link010.jpg

now layed lower than it would ever hope to go even on like 12"wheels we got this, Im gonna call it straight up 0 degrees
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link011.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link012.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link014.jpg

and here we have it jacked up higher than it will ever hope to go, I kept jacking it up till the leaves started pulling up the axle then dropped it just barely loose of them. Im gonna clal it 3-4 degrees the OTHER way as in negative or w/e
crappy pic but its there
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link015.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link016.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link017.jpg

it would be awesome if someone could tell me why this wouldnt work just fine, ive read alot about operating angles, ive done my measurements, nothing seems like it would be any more out of wack than it is static I think its all good. heres a few misc pics, this is also of it jacked way up

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link018.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link019.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link020.jpg

[lil_redd_again]

and looking at this pic, I saw the inside mounting tabs for the uppers on the xmember were way out of wack, I straightened them up a bit, looks better now and yes thats a 9/16" center punch :phttp://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/lilreddagain/pinion/4link019.jpg

[nissandoordragger]

why ask for help if your not gonna go back and fix it so its right seems to me you have made your mind up that its good enough because youve seen worse work just cuz they worked does not make it ok

[Mr.Ryan]

you show 3+ degrees on the pinion from what i have been told you want around 3-degrees on the pinion thas how i set mine up, that way it won't bind up when driving it around at full lift or slammed. I understand needing to give the welder back, but you don't want driveline vibrations out the wazzoo either, having the axle pointing up is a no-no, thas why when you lower your truck with like 3-4" blocks they are either angled or come with pinion correctors to help line things back up a lil bit.

[lil_redd_again]

fo sho fo sho, I feel like a douche cause you know I did ask for help and, didnt really do anything with it. Dont get me wrong I took it all to heart and used this info but I didnt have alot of options at this point in time and thats what really sucks. I t blows having to rush things and when you cant get them right like you want to and you run out of time then, you just gotta deal with, what you dealt yourself idfk lols. My axle and driveshaft havnt ever vibrated even with my static drop. I could do 110 and it stayed steady unlike my buddies hb and some others Ive heard about and the way I set this up it doesnt look like it will be any different.

The funny thing I guess I forgot to mention in the start is that Im not even bagging it any time soon, its gonna be a little while, maybe in the spring, so we wont know what really happens until then. Im gonna burn it all in, clean it up, paint it and put the leaves back on, pretty ass backwards huh?

[91hrdbdy]

Dude im not here to bag on any one. But why not cut it off put your leafs back on and wait till you gonna bag it. Have someone who has done it RIGHT! to come help you, most every one will give up a afternoon to help ya out. Why waste money? I give you props for giving it a shot we all learn some way. But dont make this a costly eductaion and find your slef with a bunch of messed up parts and no truck?

Just my .02