So after a frustrating 3 days, the epoxy primer FINALLY cured. I was afraid that I messed up the mixture, but it was just too darn cold. So the last 2 nights I tarped up the truck and stuck a space heater under there and this morning the primer was rock solid. Meanwhile, I got the leafs back from the spring shop with new bushings and hardware, and I split them up, cleaned the heck out of them, painted and reassembled them.
Before:
After:
While everything was apart, I also scraped the 1/4" of grease and crud off the axle housing and wire wheeled the heck out of that too:
And gave it the same treatment with paint (and yes, I cleaned the brake backing plates before I painted them although I hadn't gotten to them in the first pic)
Finally, once everything was reassembled, I applied the black epoxy topcoat.
Just waiting on some shock extenders to bolt on so I can use the stock sized shocks and the suspension should be complete. Still debating on buying a rear swaybar - we'll see how it handles first.