Lowering A 1973-1987 Chevrolet Truck - A Drop In The Bucket

The hub is then slid onto the spindle followed by the preload washer, spindle nut, keeper, and cotter pin.

A hub cover protects the bearings from any road grime. Note the ½-inch studs that have been installed in standard Chevy passenger car 5x4¾-inch pattern.

The rack-and-pinion is too narrow for our application so an extension is necessary. The right hand tie-rod end assembly is first removed, followed by the inner joint. The extension then attaches to the rack shaft itself. A bit of Loctite applied to the threads assures the assembly cannot come apart.

The rack is then reassembled and the outer tie-rod ends attached to each spindle.

The rotor and hat are attached together by twelve ¼-inch 12-point fasteners and it’s absolutely essential to safety wire all the fasteners so they cannot come loose. First, the wire is looped through a predrilled hole in the first fastener.

Then the safety wire pliers are used to twist the wire together the distance between the two fasteners.

One strand of the wire is then pulled through the hole in the second fastener in a way that will tighten either fastener, should one start to rotate counterclockwise.

The remaining pigtail is then twisted together effectively “locking” the wire and both fasteners in place.

The pigtail is then trimmed and tucked neatly away.