Project Vehicross Part 8: Pinion Angle 101

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Along with the links themselves, I4X provides brand new zinc-plated Grade 8 hardware to attach the new links. They also provide the Zerk fittings for the rod ends.
 
Removal of the original links (should be) fairly straightforward. Jack up the truck, support it on stands, and remove the wheels. Then, unbolt the e-brake cable.
 
An impact gun makes removing the two bolts holding in the lower links a snap.
 
Unless, that is, someone way over tightened them and no amount of impact guns or breaker bars will budge it. In fact, these bolts (on the chassis side) were so tight, the lower links were actually bound in place! It took my entire body weight hanging off the opposite end of the link to make it move. No wonder the rear of our truck is still so damn stiff! Heat and penetrating oil failed: Time to break out the grinder.
 
Slicing off the nut without damaging the relatively thin mounting bracket was no mean feat. A cutoff wheel sliced through most of the flanged nut, and a flapper wheel ground down the rest. The bolts made a frightening “SPROING” when the nut popped loose. Once the nut was cut off, the old links dropped right out.
 
You can see how much beefier the I4X links are. To get a baseline, we set the new links to the same length as our factory links.
 

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