I haven't forgotten this. In fact I've been actively gathering parts. I have 4 bags and 4 top and bottom mounts purchased. Found a deal on Ebay for 4 top and 4 bottom mounts shipped to my door for less than $30. Done! I couldn't buy the steel for that price, locally. These are laser cut and perfect.
Looking back, I could have gotten steel from the scrap yard and cut these out myself. Would have required more effort, purchase of a 5.5" hole saw (I suck at the jigsaw, and don't have enough time on my plasma yet to turn out a good product), and so on, but the point is, it's nothing that can't be built without fancy tools. a 5.5" holesaw to cut toe overall steel disc, 1/2" drills to cut the mount holes, a jigsaw to cut straight between two adjoined 1/2" holes to make slots to allow 2500 and 2600 bags to interchange, and a 1.5" holesaw to cut the clearance port for the fill port. Not rocket science- but again, for less than $4/per, yeah, let the guys with the robot do it, and ship it to me.
It rained here all weekend and most of the week. I've been dodging raindrops to figure out where exactly I am going to put these. I have two options- inboard of the leaf springs, but that requires me to box the frame so I can weld a mount to the inboard side of it. Not a bad thing, really, as I've been meaning to box the frame. Just a LOT more work, as I have to move the brake lines, fuel lines, and breather lines if I'm going that way. Again, not a huge problem and I've been meaning to reroute those from inside the framerail to up high and on the inner boxed section of the frame, as the lines are 30 years old and I'd rather be proactive with any problems. More work, and I'm not going to do it if it's not done right.
OR, I can mount them atop the spring ubolt plate. This will require the bags to be installed squashed from their "atmospheric pressure" (ie: open ports) position. Not convinced that's a bad thing, to be honest. Luckily I have the Ruffstuff 3/8" plate spring plates, as I foresaw the need to build off of them for various reasons (swaybar end links, panhard rod, shock mounts, etc:If I go that way I will fab a bridge plate to go over the top, and weld it to the spring plate, with a 1.5" hole above each nut to enable clearance for a socket. This will leave me with a super strong, flat surface that I can drill and tap to put the bag wherever I want it. I'll also probably design a landing pad in the same plate, hanging forward of the spring bolts, so I can properly bumpstop right next to the bag and avoid a lot of mess.
I'm also going to use the poly buckets at the bottom of the bags, so I don't rip them apart. I've been meaning to limit strap the suspension all around to protect the shocks, so will work that in as well.
I spent the weekend drawing up the parts I will need- the bump plates, etc, the oldschool way. Ironically, since I'm an IT Guy, I have no clue how to use any sort of CAD package. But I did take a mechanical drafting class in high school... the sort with big slanted desks, gum erasers, and Koh-I-Noor mechanical pencils. Yes, I'm an old bastard. So now I need to find a decent price for 1/4" plate without having it shipped. Worse comes to it, I can buy a 12"x12" piece at Lowes.... for $40!
Some of this will involve bending that plate. I don't have a brake, but I will cheat it- cut the opposite side with a zip wheel, cutting a slot through most of it but leaving short tabs to hold things together. Then clamp it down and use two 12" adjustable wrenches to pry it into place. Tack it into the shape I want it, then weld it all up.
So, no pics as of yet, not much to see except a messy kitchen table covered with scraps of posterboard, compass, pen and pencil, and a scruffy old guy who's crosseyed from looking at small shite all day. But, progress is being made. I am awaiting more connectors and air tubing, and the arrival of the first pair of poly bag buckets. Once it stops raining, the first bit of fab will be installing a front sway bar. That's got nothing to do with the air system, but it needs to be in place to address the body roll, and to show me what I have to stay away from up front.