Well the kits is all in and tacked up. The kits is a very well made kit, but there is a few things I didnt like about it.
First was the ladder bar front eye mounts. Not much adjustablity with two holes.
I dont think it will be a problem though. Just wish it had one or two more holes anyways.
I also didnt like how the the front safety strap was engineered. The last set I had installed had two tabs welded onto the front behind the rod end where you simply used two 5/16 fine thread bolts to bolt and locate the safety strap.
These must be welded or what ever, which will require grinding, and blistering of the nice blue Poweder coat.
I mean how much more trouble would it have been to add some tabs.
The ladder bars were very well made besides these points. All the rod ends are rebuild-able.
This kit was also ordered with the Vari-Shock single adjustable coil overs.
I like these over the Strange units I used last time so far. I like the clicks to positively tell you each shock setting position.
The frame rails were nice as well, and fit the car like a glove. They had some wrinkling but that would be expected near the sharp bends..
Most of this will get welded out today, along with the back brace.
We hope to do some track testing next weekend if all goes well.
We found one axle that had the splines turned some.
He reported they were the same way last time he had it apart. The guy who had the car before had used standard 30 spline count axles which came from Moser. I know he done this to use stock pumpkins and sure grip units.
I gotta rework the rear down tubes, add a X brace that will tie into the new upper shock cross member.
Some pics..

Just curious , Were you able to get the ladderbars level to the ground ? My history with this setup has been that with the front mounting points under the rails on a low slug car its hard to get a level lower bar , normally points downhill 5-10 degrees depending on ride hieght. Also there safety straps suck! once installed you cannot remove the rod ends without bending them, {the straps I mean} IMO the ART kits are much nicer to work with, Bars are assembled when they arrive along with the saftey straps. And have found it much easier to obtain correct geometry of the bars. Also there shock mounts are built into the ladderbar brackets, That are also 1/4 thick. Might be worth looking at next time. Chassis Works kit is not bad , But I think the ART kit is much nicer. Just my opinion.

Your exactly right... Bottom hole the ladder bar lower bar is about 8 deg down. Top hole is under 4 deg...
The more I think about it the more I dislike this kit. The bars them selves are top notch. They really are beefy made.
In more than one way the Jesgster bars are even better.
I mean who wants to weld on brand new ladder bars that come powder coated and suppose to be finished.
Why did the front mount only have two diff CG positions?
I think they will be ok once setup..But These guys are suppose to be the best, and really have great engineering.
Everything worked out. I ended up with a nice ride height, with about 13"-14" for the shock mount eye, to the top shock mount cross member eye.

Also what I thought was strange is when he ordered the kit, the recommended 150 lbs springs for this Duster..
Im having a hard time convenience him that these springs may not work very well..But they guy on the phone at chassis works knows more than me obviously, I would have went with 110 lbs springs my self.

I agree. I run 150lb springs on my 3500lb bracket car. I would think that the duster should come in around 2900lb with basic lightening . My guess would be around 130lb springs or less And you are right the bars are almost bullit proof , giant rod ends , beefy lower bars, just some poor choices in the rest of the design, Their big selling point is that the bars mount under the rails, But that is actually their biggest drawback { design wise}. It's hard to get a fast car to work properly with the bars pointing at the ground! Also I like to have more like 15 to 17.5 inches of room for the shocks,I prefer to run the longer travel shocks if possible. P.S better plan on cutting the housing ends off and reinstalling them after you weld that backbrace on the 8&3/4 housing, It will move around alot with that much heat, even if you weld it slowly moving around as you go. Hope all goes well, and car works good without to much hassel.

Bob,
That set up is more for pro-street than drag race.... Chassisworks has a kit with more holes for the 3x2 rear....it has 5 adjusting holes and the brackets monut to the 3x2 crossmember.
This is what you needed http://www.cachassisworks.com/c-82-ladder-bar-crossmember.aspx

Heres a pic of the one that mounts to the crossmember

On a side note...I NEVER used their "safety" strap...I used aircraft cable through the bar and mounts I made myself...I've hated that design for years...but they wont change it because ladder bars are a VERY narrow segment of their overall sales.
And the 150lb Springs "may" be a little stiff.....do the 1" compressed method I've mentioned on here before....at Chassisworks they have 2 guys who know their stuff....the others are iffy....either talk to Mike Weddle or CRay Jenkins. CRay is 1-800-722-2269 ext 222...tell him Ron Thomas told you to call if you have questions.

Thanks Ron
That explains a few things for sure.
Im sure I read about you 1" method, but could you explain it to me again please. And also what is a good point to setup ride height as far as the shocks and springs are concern. I just shot for the ride height to be right in the middle of shock travel etc...But maybe it should be a hair more on the compressed side?
Also do you see any problems with the shock not perfectly vertical straight? They are tilted back slightly from a vertical axis.

If it were mine I would alter that rail to allow some adjustment holes high enough to get it at least parallel, and if the car is going to be slower than 10.50 one hole beyond that.
A plasma cutter, and some new mounting brackets and side gussets for the rails where you remove the bottom and you are in business.