[HO455]

I trimmed about half of the steering stop away and all of the bumpstop was removed. Then once the channel was the trimmed to fit I tack welded it on the corners and then completed welding it by an alternating pattern of welds in an effort to keep from warping the arm. Once that was done I made the inside wall pieces and welded them in the same way. Since I no longer would be able to get to the bottom side of the sway bar mount bolts I needed to find a way to bolt the mount down. Taking a piece of 2" flat bar I drilled it for the same pattern as the mounts then installed 3/8" by one inch bolts in the holes. Welding the heads to the plate secured them. I then marked the arm and cut holes for the bolt heads to recess into the arm. In an effort to gain more clearance between the end of the sway bar and the air bags I moved the location of the sway bar end mounts about 3/8" towards the front of the truck. The last pieces to make were end plates for the steering stops. After they were welded out I went over the each arm with a flapper wheel to clean up the spatter and slag. Also I ground off the old spot welds from the bumpstop. Now I have a nice flat surface to work with when I fabricate new bumpstops.
It has been a couple of years since I have done this much stick welding and it shows. (Not the prettiest welds I have ever laid down) I should have of spent a day practicing my skills before hand.
Using the old spring pockets I marked the center of the old springs so I can install the locator rings in the new pockets. Which I will do after the arms are installed so I can adjust the rings location if necessary. I went with 3/4" high rings to locate the bottom of each bag. There seems to be some concern that bolting the bag down on the bottom can cause damage to the bag if the arm travels to far. Which I don't see happening but the rings are as simple to install as drilling the bottom for bolts. I think I have gotten every thing I wanted for the arms but time will tell. One down side of the smooth bottom I see is I no longer have the spring pocket to center a floor jack securely. That may or may not be an issue we will see. One thing is for sure is the arms weigh more than they used to.