u can move the axle by hand more then u think...

 

Yeah, with the diff on a hyd jack, jacks on frame and wheels removed I see that it does move quite easily. What I'm fighting with now is the chassis-side bolt that is covered both sides by the tank wings. It's a PITA. I've got the axle side loose and am fighting with that chassis-side bolt. It has no banjo nut and is tough to get out. I know I have to loosen the in-car underseat back bolt and rotate the rear to get the back bolt off. If I could remove the axle back exhaust system it would be a piece of cake. If I ever have to tackle this again I will DEFINITELY drop the axle-back. At this point I'll just struggle to finish it up.

I'm going to have my coworker bring me to work tomorrow and finish up tomorrow night. I have to eat, shower and get up at 5:30 am in the morning...

 

me 2 bro dont sweat it... the day i got my afco i put it on and worked till about 10 and then i stayed up another time till 11 doing my upper and lower control arms

 

Haha, yeah.. all in a day's work I guess. I hate to rush an install and had to make a run to the shop for additional tools. I'll be on the downhill when I get home from work tomorrow.

 

well rest up and get ready 2 knock her out tom... the only reason i hate not finishing something is b/c the next day at work i will be thinking about it the whole day until i get off and get 2 finish it...

 

I just went back down.. tried to get a wrench on the chassis-side nut while backing the bolt out and it's IMPOSSIBLE to do on jackstands w/o dropping your axle-back. It's just not possible.... to get my 10-12'' forearms up into that space. The axle-back has to come out. That's what I will do tomorrow.

 

well good luck dude... i did the best i can of helping over the comp...

 

I do appreciate the assistance Zporta, it's just a pita with the exhaust hangers blocking the way. In the "how-to" they have a nice pic of the bracket... this picture was taken with the axle-back dropped for sure.

I think once I get those pipes out of the way this afternoon, it will be a simple matter of removing the chassis bolt the rest of the way (once I have the room to get a wrench on both sides!) and getting the new one in there. I almost think it would have been easier doing it like BMR suggests in the instructions, loosening the tank straps enough to pull the whole thing out, installing the new one onto the bracket out of the car and reinstalling the whole assy.

I'll be putting the aftermarket bracket on at a later date so I guess this is good practice .

 

yea i did do that... and i had no help... so my knees were jack stands...

 

Ok, I'm almost done. The new CA is in, and everything is tightened up (not torqued yet, haven't loaded the suspension back up). i still haven't gotten the axle side bolt tightened up. The original bracket used the banjo bolt but with the BMR there is nothing for it to snug up against. Does a regular socket fit on that thing or should I replace the bolt?
And I notice that the chassis side bolt is a bit too small for the bracket hole. Hope I don't get noise out of it. I know steeda makes a "stepped spacer" kit. I may need to get one....

EDIT: got everything back on and torqued down correctly. I was able to get an 18mm short socket on enough to torque to specs.

Now... to adjust all this crap! I'm no expert and now have adjustable upper and lower CA's. Should be fun trying to get the pinion angle correct again...