when i fabricated the front suspension on my "eternal project", i knew virtually nothing about independent suspensions, other than correct geometry was needed if it were to work properly.
i then bought many books and studied design and theory to get somewhat of an idea what i was in for. this took approximately three years, until i felt comfortable i could design and fabricate a suspension system that would work.
i then built a full size mock-up on a sheet of 1/4" paneling, just to visualize how my design would work in real life, before any metal was cut.
the mock-up showed less than 1/8" total toe change from full bump to total rebound in approximately 7" of total travel, so i felt comfortable with that.
i used the paneling mock-up to figure out the proper placement of the control arm pivot points, as well as the proper placement of the rack i was going to use.
i fabbed the attachment cross member first, making it a little thicker than it really needed to be, as well as making the lower control arm mounting point[s] way more robust than necessary, because i don't want this thing to break in use.
that added a little unnecessary extra weight, but i think that will prove to be extra durability in use, so i can put up with that.
i wished i had weighed the individual components, but i did not do that. i will weigh them when i get to disassemble everything for paint, and write that info down for future reference.