1994 Mitsubishi Mighty Max - Weekend Warrior: STK TRUK Edition Part 8: Mitsu Front End (Part 2)

1.Steve took the stock drag link, measured the center and marked our two inches using masking tape.

2.The chop saw was used to cut through the drag link.

3.The drag link was ready to be welded back together. First, it had to be secured in place. Notice that the edges of the cut were ground in an angle, so that there would be a place for the weld to sit

4.Once our measurements were verified, the two halves were welded together, and then the tubing was removed.

5.The shot of measuring the drag link before cutting it is not shown. It measured 23 inches; now with the 2 inches cut out, Steve checked and verified the drag link.

6&7.The welded drag link looks great, you almost can't even tell

8a.Before the drag link can be installed, it must have sleeves welded on it for added support.

9.Since the strut rods were removed and won't be used, Steve made a tool to ensure that our new brackets for our newly constructed A-arms would pivot on the same point. This tool was made out of a piece of 3/4-inch tubing and two nuts welded to the inside. A 1/2-inch nut on one side and the factory nut to hold it on the factory arm side.

10.Steve made templates and cut out our new tabs that will hold our new A-arms. In this picture, you can see how our tool was utilized to ensure that our tabs were positioned correctly. A urethane sleeve was used to space our tabs properly before they were welded on.

11.The tabs were welded into place and then we removed our alignment tool.

12.As in the four-link story from our Aug. '07 issue, Steve made adjusters for our arms. These would be used to adjust the caster.

13.Before he removed the strut rods, Steve measured from the body mount on the frame to the center of the ball joint. He then set the ball joint back to that specific measurement.

14.Next, the adjuster was bolted onto the brackets that were just welded to the frame.

15.Once the measurement was made, our tube was cut, notched, and tacked into place. Note that the tube was welded as far up the bung as possible, this will give us the most turning radius as possible.

16a.With our tube tacked into place, the next step was to cut a cardboard gusset and then cut it out of metal to ensure strength. Once our metal gusset was tacked into place, Steve bolted it in place and cycled it for clearance.

17.Here's the finished product: shiny black, courtesy of some Wal-Mart flat black. The excess metal was cut on the bung to ensure optimum clearance.