[LordNatedawg]

It has been a while, but I've made a slight bit of progress. Mostly gathering parts. Fairly certain I have everything I need for my crossmember swap and front suspension rebuild. I haven't assembled anything yet; I don't want to assemble my crossmember and end up having my new brake rotors rusting away. I don't have room in my garage to store the crossmember.

Some progress I have made: Got all new Grade 8 hardware for my crossmember. I could've reused my the original hardware. But $30 for all new seemed like a good idea to me. If anyone is curious, here are the bolts I needed. Most were obtained at ACE Hardware, unless otherwise noted. All are Grade 8:
6 1/2"-13 x 1-1/4" bolts
6 1/2"-13 nuts
6 1/2" lock washers and flat washers
8 7/16"-14 x 1-1/2" bolts with flat washers and lock washers (ordered from FMWFasteners)
4 7/16"-14 nuts (4 of the bolts screw into nuts welded into the crossmember and therefore do not need nuts)
4 9/16"-18 nut and lock washers and flat washers (FMWFasteners)
4 9/16" u-bolts for the control arms (mine came with nuts. I believe they are 9/16"-12)

I may have more washers than I need. I figured it was better to have them and not need them. Some areas may not need flat washers. The 1/2" bolts are vertical, bolting the crossmember to the frame. The 7/16" bolts are horizontal, bolting the upper control arm brackets to the frame. The 9/16" nuts will hold the upper control arms on. The varying lengths were just me doing some "testing". I originally had 7/16"x1" but they were too short for my liking. Stepped it up half an inch. They might be longer than needed, but they don't interfere with anything. I think 1-1/4" would probably be sufficient.

My CPP brake booster kit came, I bought some copper-nickel brake line as well as the necessary tools to bend and flare it. I will be running 1/4 inch line to the rear and 3/16 line to the front. That is what my proportioning valve requires. I'll figure out what my rear wheel cylinders require and step it down if needed. Also bought new coil springs and shock absorbers.

I did manage to get a new steering column. Right now it's only in for a test fit. All the bolts line up. I'm going to remove it, prime it, wire it properly, then install it again. Old column is....old. Bearings have worn a groove into the steering shaft, all the bearings have disintegrated, and the horn didn't work for some reason. The new column is an Ididit column. Little bit pricey, but fits well and doesn't hurt the truck aesthetically. I bought the paintable version so I can paint it to match the interior later on.