Installing Early Classic Enterprises trailing arm kit was a breeze; it was removing all the rusty old parts from the Chevy that was a real bear. There's two ways to go about removing the stock trailing arms. If a person doesn't have access to a hoist and has to rely on a floor jack and jack stands the first step is to remove the bed and then raise the rear end of the truck into the air as high as possible to gain access. We chose to raise the Chevy on a hoist, and work from underneath, which is by far the easiest way to do the job. Not having a hoist at home we put in a quick call to Kevin and Steve at KA Custom in Huntington Beach, California, and asked if they wouldn't mind revealing some tricks-of-the-trade we could reveal to our readers who like to do the work themselves.
Our '66 C10 was the truck...
Our '66 C10 was the truck Classic Chevy 5-Speed used to prototype its '60-72 Chevy C10 TKO 5-speed conversion - After 12,000 miles of power-shifting, burnouts, and general abuse the Tremec still looks as good as the day it went in, and better yet, still works.
The emergency brake cables...
The emergency brake cables had to be disconnected from the old trailing arms, and reattached to the new Early Classic trailing arms by first releasing the e-brake cable from the J-hook on the frame to provide slack.
Steve used needle-nose pliers...
Steve used needle-nose pliers to pull this clip in order to remove the e-brake cables from the stock trailing arms. For installation onto the Early Classic trailing arms the process was reversed.
The trailing arms are attached...
The trailing arms are attached with a bolt that passes through a mounting bracket located on the crossmember.
The Early Classic trailing...
The Early Classic trailing arm fell easily into place on the driver side by pushing it forward. This was because there was no damage to the original mounting point.
On the passenger side there...
On the passenger side there was damage existing to the trailing arm mounting bracket, so Steve used a crescent wrench to spread the bracket apart enough to push the Early Classic trailing arm into place.
A come along was used to pull...
A come along was used to pull the rearend forward, and align the mounting holes on the lower shock bracket enough to drop the new U-bolts into place.
Using the new mounting hardware...
Using the new mounting hardware supplied with the Early Classic trailing arms, Steve bolted the stock coil spring onto the new trailing arm (also a pickup point for airbags).
Steve pulled the e-brake cable...
Steve pulled the e-brake cable forward enough to allow the cable to pass through the slot on the Early Classic trailing arm.