I installled a JW Rod Garage MII kit in a '51 F1 yesterday for a customer. It is tubular control arms, coil overs. Shock towers and crossmember for this truck. They claimed it would drop the front end 3-4 inches, I didn't measure it before, but without the motor in it it seems like it is down over 6 inches already. I am concerned it is too low and I will run into clearance issues with the ground. I did NOT go with the 2 inch drop spindles, they are the stock units. It looks bad ***, but I am concerned that it is too low and my customer won't like it. Anyone else run into this issue with MII? What do you think? The next issue I have is that the wheel centerline looks too far back. I made 100% sure I marked the old centerline and I am sure I tacked it in correctly. I look at a few other trucks and some look back like this but not as far, some look centered. Should I move it forward an inch or two or should I leave it? Does it look funny to anyone else?
definitly move the wheel forward a bit.... that would be unacceptable if someone were installing that in my truck.
I'd move it forward to center the wheels in the opening. Good move to check it before you welded it up. Are there any boxing plates for the inside of the frame?
I don't see any boxing plates. Is it possible the weight of the truck has tweaked the rails enough to affect the ride height? Are the lower arms horizontal? It does look like the wheels are too far back. Was the spindle centerline marked before disaasembly? Or was the mark made from the axle or spring bolt holes? Call Darrel at JW and ask him what's up?
The front wheel definitely has to move forward. I like the stance.. get the customer in there and see if he likes it!
If that's the stance without the engine, I would put some weight in there to get true height. Looks like it will be very low once the engine is in - maybe a 4- 6inch drop??? from where it is. Definately have the customer look at the height.
You should box the frame in that area, also you should have support for the rear lower A-arm, doesn't look like it. Check out this thread and see if it helps. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115209&highlight=mustang+ii
I was wondering if I should box it or not. I will certainly do that. I have only tacked it in to mock it up. There is a gusset for the rear of the lower control arm. I have not installed that yet as I very lightly installed this rear to double check anything before I final weld. There will be support for the lower control arms for sure. The upper mounts are very heavy I can't see I will have any issues.
I always setup the wheel a inch forward of center. It looks better then center and looks wrong back of center.
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