Got back to work on this today. I thought I'd have most the odds & ends done by this time, but somehow this week slipped by and I didn't get much done. All I seemed to acomplish this week was to drill out the frame to bolt up the radius arm brackets.
If I don't finish this soon, my dogs may mutiny, as they haven't had a trip to the lake in a few weeks. My other cars are "NO DOG" zones. I really didn't think this would drag out like this, but it is what it is.
First I "aligned" the front end with a tape measure, and placed the new TREs into the knuckles w/the new tubing adapters installed. Then I cut a piece of DOM to fit. I tacked the adapters to the DOM & reinstalled the tie rod back into the knuckles.
Then I made sure, using a plumb bob & tapemeasure, the axle was centered under the truck. I compared how the 74 track bar & the 79 track bar fit from the axle to the frame bracket. Although, too short, the 74 track bar seemed to "point" towards the frame bracket better. Plus the poly bushing in the 74 bar was in much better shape than the old rubber bushing in the 79 bar. I really didn't want to spend more time removing the old rubber bushing from the 79 bar, so it made the decision easy. I cut the frame end off the 74 bar & ground about 2" of the cut end down to 1" diameter.
ground track bar.JPG
Then I carefully measured the overall length needed for the new track bar. After some math, I cut another section of DOM to slide over the track bar. Then I tacked the DOM to the track bar & the new tubing adapter, and installed the new heim joint. That is when I realized Ruffstuff had NOT milled the misalignment to my specs. So I spent some time grinding about .35" off the two halves of the misalignment so it would fit in my frame bracket.
Begin

Between not knowing they shipped out my DOM, and not milling the misalignment, Ruffstuff has disappointed me. Their products & prices are good, but for some reason their customer service has fallen flat. The owner will get an email explaining what has happened. The day before my DOM arrived, I contacted them, asking why my order had not shipped. In fact, it had, but no one at R.S. noted it. They didn't even know they had shipped it & asked me to split the 2 day UPS charges, so it would arrive before the weekend. I really didn't think that I should have to pay to extra ship an order that had sat for 6 days, but I didn't feel like fighting, so I agreed. The next day (Wed), the order was sitting on the porch. I immediately called & told them, so they were able to stop the duplicate shipment. I asked that the $15 be refunded, but it still hasn't. I could have kept quiet & let them ship another set of DOM, but I didn't feel like that was honest. Now I'm out an extra $15, and I had to take an extra 45 minutes to grind off the misalignment they failed to adjust. End

EDIT: I'm not going to remove my

, but please read 2 posts below, they fixed the problem, BIG TIME.
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"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." – Claire Wolfe
74-AWB 98", ZF5, Atlas4, TGW HP1060 and HP1014 axles, ARBs, 37's, 3.5" lift-5.5" front coil springs, Tahoe rear springs, EFI 302, h-boost, York OBA, 4x4x2, custom dash & gauges
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