Did some test cycling tonight with the new upper link and the track bar tacked in. I took the frame side bracket and welded it to a much larger plate that I will be welding to the frame. While the joints see a direct load, the bracket will try and twist and turn and pull. So to help fight cracking and fatigue, i added some extra width to the bracket. 6" wide, instead of just 2".
At 2.5" past full bump I still have just a tiny bit of clearance between panhard and diff. none of the links bind anywhere, I have no ujoint bind at all, and with the side I have frame side mount, it will pull the pinion and shaft away from fuel tank in travel arc instead of toward it. Small movement, but with how tight things are it is a good thing to see.
Up next is mounting the shocks and cycling, then full assembly and burn on the rest of the parts. should work out well and have parts and mounts integrated together to save space and really stiffen up the rear frame. Hoping, possibly, to have it on its own weight this weekend. Maybe.
This is further than full droop will be, still no bind anywhere. Makes me happy with clearances and pinion.
Have to brace that upper pretty well still. Lack of separation will put a lot of stress on it.
This is a few inches past bump. Biggest thing here was looking for clearance with mid cross member. Also checking pinion angle through travel. Look at that booger on the upper link gusset. Yuck. I should be better than that.
Droop again. You can tell the axle had shifted over a bit (single tack didnt hold under the movement axle side.)
Stuff other side. Still clear body mount and hardware. This is where I realized I didnt remove all the leaf spring mount, and it hitting the link it what pulled the axle over and pulled track bar apart. Oops.