To increase the track on each side, the trailing arm brackets needed to be placed 1 1/2 inches closer to the outside of the car body. The original brackets could not be modified to achieve the 1 1/2 inch shift - new brackets had to be created to specifically fit the new position. A new wheel alignment adjustment is designed into the new brackets. The new brackets were cut from 4 inch by 4 inch by 1/4 inch thick box steel to allow the room the room for the new adjustment configuration. A nut/jam-nut arrangement on the inside of the trailing arm bracket will be employed to allow alignment adjustment with a wrench. The basic shims will be used on the outside of the trailing arm end. Photo 1 shows the new basic brackets.

To start the installation, another 1 1/2 inches of the welded body lip - (See photo 2: Before shot) - had to be cut and bent down. Bending it down and hammering it up against the pan would not weaken the welded joint.

The new brackets were bolted into place using flathead machine screws to conserve room for the end of the trailing arms - (See photo 3). The new hole for the 3^rd machine screw was drilled into the body's mounting bracket to make sure that acceleration and braking would not product metal fatigue. The bracket locknuts in the interior side of the mount were tightened to assure against the bracket mounting bolts becoming loose over time. - (See photo 4). Note: Hex nuts were welded to the both sides of each bracket to allow the use of threaded stainless steel rods required for the new wheel alignment scheme.

The trailing arms were secured in place - (See photos 5 and 6 showing the right and left trailing arms in place).

Photo 7 shows the inside wheel alignment adjustment. The two large washers (one on each side of the trailing arm) were machined just for this project. The alignment adjustment is made by adjusting the nut and then shims are used to fill the rest of the space in the bracket thus securely holding trailing arm end in position. The nut and jam-nut are then tightened.