I've only got ****ty pictures but I wanted to update this thing. I've been working heavily on the rear axle pushing to get it finished. I've got the triangulated 4-link kit installed after literal days of measuring, calculating, and double checking. I'm not a suspension guru, but I wanted to make sure the bar angles wouldn't kill me and the car would handle well. Here's it all tacked up, it has since been finish welded:
Really the only brackets I was able to use out of the ridetech kit were the lower ones. I had to cut all the rest myself, there is just no room for what their universal kit calls for. One time saver was that I was able to use the stock trailing arm pickup bracket, I just moved the pickup point to get my bar angle level at ride height.
From there I moved straight into rear shock mounts. I ended up going with bagover style shocks. This will save me some time and space in theory, both of which I'm short on. They are the universal slam air ones from Air Lift Performance, sleeves for the rear, bellows for the front.
You can choose what ends you want on them, for now I'm going to use bushings on both sides of the rear and a stud on the top of the front one. These are significantly lower cost that the ridetech equivalent, I'll see if they hold up.
The front will mount in the stock spring location, I just have to cut enough out to make it fit. This will allow me to run the stock sway bar pick up points, which is something that has been a struggle point for guys putting bags on 122s in the past.
Here's the initial fitting:
I was able to just squeeze it to the inside of the frame rail to get everything to clear. I may have to notch the cross member behind the axle for some breathing room but that's no big deal.
Everything will get it's final install after the axle gets new gears and bearings next week, hopefully I can then paint it and get some better pictures.
I made a decision on management for this as well. I'm going to be running the Air Lift Performance 3H system. It uses potentiometers at each corner to monitor ride height and adjusts accordingly. I thought this was important as I intend to use this car as a station wagon, and load leveling will be nice when putting stuff in the back.
For now I'm going to try a 4 gallon tank, 3/8" lines, and one VAIR 444c compressor. I may end up wanting more compressor and tank capacity, but there really isn't much room in this car for it. I want to keep the components out of the cargo area and I want to keep enough space in the tire well for a spare tire.
I'll try and get some more pictures, I always forget
