fixing two trucks at once

So the F250 has been sitting idle...

...because i made a tragic error.  The PMF shackle doesnt fit in Sky's shackle hangar!

It might look like its close, but its not.  The upper bushing is too big, and it uses a 3/4" bolt instead of 5/8".  Dont know how i missed that, but i did.  So i ordered the stubby shackles from Sky since i know they will work, as thats how i did it on the 90 bronco.  You can see how much different they are in size in this pic:

Not sure how i goofed on that one, but i did.   Hopefully the shackles get here soon.

In the meantime, ive turned my attention to the green bronco, and its cracked striker bolt:

When i removed the striker, the captured nut & plate fell from behind.  Seems the cracks started at the spot welds 

I ended up cutting a pretty big hole in the sheetmetal to get all of the cracks removed

​New patch panel made, with captured nut plate all cleaned up and ready to be reinstalled.

I dont have a pic of it apparently, but rather than spot weld it to the back of the patch panel in two places like ford did, i fully welded it.
It also seems i was in the zone and didnt snap any pics during the process, so heres the finished product:

For now the tire carrier is off the truck.  I have some other issues i have to deal with.  #1, this shot striker bushing:

...which caused some heavy wear on the latch jaws:

...all of which was probably caused by this pin/bushing being shot:

...so ive got a few more things to deal with.  Parts on order, so we'll come back to this one at a later date.

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