I got a group 34 AGM battery at O'Reilly's for $10 less than Sears. Same battery. Different label.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...4PLT/07053.oap

 

Got my trailing arms welded up.

Here was my material list:
- 48", .25"x2.0" DOM. Each arm ended up using roughly 18.5"
- 2.0" Ballistic Joint. 1.25" LHT shank, 1/2" thru hole. Qty 2
- Reducer spacers, 5/8" to 1/2". Qty 4
- 1.25" LHT Tube adapter. Qty 2
- 1.25" LHT Jam Nut. Qty 2
- 2.63" Ballistic Poly Bushing. 1.25" RHT shank, 9/16" thru bolt. Qty 2
- 1.25" RHT Tube adapter. Qty 2
- 1.25" RHT Jam Nut. Qty 2
- Large Flat Link Tabs. Qty 4
- .25"x1.5" flat stock. 3' length for boxing the tabs
- .25"x5" flat stock, about 21" for making the backing plates for the frame mounts
I got everything welded up today at a friends house and did a test fit. everything looks good and lines up great. Since each arm has a LHT and a RHT adapter I could easily spin the DOM to lengthen/shorten the overall length. Its nice when something works out the way you plan.
The rest is pretty self explanatory by looking at the pics below.

The reducer spacers go on the axle trailing arm mounts. The stock hole is 16mm and these are 5/8" but that's damn close.

Frame mount. Tabs are boxed. Triangle backing plate.

Fit test.
The next step is for me to clean everything, then paint with POR15.
I also need to replace the zerks on the 2.0" Ballistic joints with the flush mount style so they clear the stock axle brackets.
As happy with these as I am there is one thing I would have done differently. That is the tabs for the frame mount. Originally I had bought .188"x3"x3" square tube. The inside width would fit the 2.63" poly bushing perfectly. The problem was it didn't leave enough room for the OD of the joint itself. My first thought was to get some .188"x3"x4" but honestly I was just feeling lazy and I already had the tabs. Then about 5 hours before we started welding I had an epiphany.
Next time I would buy these and hack the curved part off flat.
Lower Axle Link Brackets
I'm confident in my mounts, it just took some more welding than other options.

 

That's a good price, but it says that the warranty is 60 months, and the sears has a 100 month warranty IIRC.

 

I spent hours working on the wheel sensors and lost a battle with the ABS Gremlins. I hate ABS.

 

just purchased swivel pin kits. Now to play the wait game.

Can I use the fish scale method to check the preload? I have ABS in my vehicle but I disabled it.

 

I changed out my oil today in my 97 Disco.
I ran Rotella 15-40w and installed a Mobil 1-301 oil filter.
I used Permatex RTV for my gasket on my oil drain plug.
I used a 1 1/8 box wrench on the oil pan drain plug. I presoaked it with Liquid Wrench for about a minute. 2 good pulls and the plug was loose. I was able to remove and direct the oil into my drain pan with a spout that I purchased from Auto Zone so that I could pour the old oil into the empty Rotella gallon jug. I only had 4 quarts left in engine.
I accomplished this all by pulling into my local Auto Zone parking lot and running the tires up on the parking space blockers at the end of the lot. So I could employ Spikes tip of running it up on ramps but the ghetto version.
I was able to change oil on less than 30 min and that was only the case because I had purchased the wrong size oil filter wrench. I live in a city where they fine you 500 bucks for changing your oil in public or on the street unless it's in your own private driveway. A customer was kind enough to remind me of this and I waved and thanked them but the AZ staff didn't seem to care. I am very pleased with the ease of which I was able to switch oil. I will be running the Rotella for 1500-2000 miles and then I will be swapping it out for Rotella T6. AZ only had it in 5-40w so I opted for the not synthetic version. I will be tackling the diffs, transfer case and transmission fluid soon. Thanks to DiscoMike and this forum for spelling it out so clearly. Big Fan.

 

replaced the busted tail light finally...

 

Problem is getting sears to warranty the battery, had one that was bad 3 months old, tested everything else good they test their battery good, I hydro test the cells batt has 1 bad cell, I show them this and they still refused to swap the battery said their machine says it is good and they do not know what I am showing the as they do not use that tool, though I showed them they sell it, finally got it swapped after arguing with the service manager, this was a high price batt in my sisters grand Cherokee thing big *** battery

This was also after spending several hundred at the dealer to verify it was the batt not a parasitic draw

 

Yes, it is Cha-ching. I'm thankful that you're working with my POS and that I'm inspiration for the quote of the month.. or year. I don't know what I would do without you..probably be trading it in for a Kia Soul...

 

Installed my new slotted radius arm bushings today. Hopefully get the arms on soon. They are stock rover arms cranked and caster corrected by 6 degrees, then plated for added strength. Also have orange poly bushes for the frame end as well.