well, everything is off the trailing arms now. the top moves freely and i can raise and lower it with the adjusting bolt in and without having backed it out at all. however, the lower trailing arms don't budge at all. i have tried jacking them up...it takes the weight of the car without moving. guess that answers for that harsh ride i used to have. they did move several months ago though when i first released the locking nuts. but not back to stock height. i need another 1/2" at least.

any ideas? i am down to the above suggestion of just backing off the adjusting bolt, but it is still under some kind of load. when trying to push it up i can move it about 1/2", but it doesn't move the trailing arms. so i am a little weary of backing it off. what are the internals. how does that adjusting bolt lock into the leaves?

i just noticed that one of the grease fittings is missing on the beam. that probably answers the question of why it is not moving. i've pulled the beam. time for a replacement. just have to figure out what's going to happen when i try to pull the trailing arms off now. the adjuster is still under load. :mad:

I have a beam and a set of front end adjusters. I think I need to clean up the threads on one of the adjusters. :)

thanks brendan. dave has a beam that he was going to use for his son's car. he is going to trade me and work on this one. luckily he has the torsion arms and all so more time can be spent dealing with the load issue. i'm running down to his place tomorrow to trade and then back at it.

packing bearings and assembling the front brakes and spindles tonight. this will be yet another brake conversion option thanks to helgesen. details to come.