1956 f100 frame specs

hey their, i guess iv got a new project on my plate, my dad just picked up a 56 f100 that has been in a barn 4 the last 20 years! its a really nice rust free body, sorry no pics yet,ill post as we go. anyways, i sighned on to do a camaro clip on it. i was just wondering about the stock wheelbase of these trucks, and was also wonderring if guys had moved the front or rear axle centerline forward or rearward. the wheelwells will remain stock both front and rear. its kinda a huge compliment 4 me that my dad asked me to do this frame for him so any help will be greatly apreciated!
thanks in advance guys-brian.

 

Have you seen this?
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=451036&highlight=jag+f100

 

I have a better one taped to my tool box, but this might do for now.

 

thanks a million '48 merc'-ok, so the stock wheelbase is 110 inches, thats all i really, need to know to do this frame-does the stock wheelbase put the axle centerlines in the midle of the wheel wells? or should i move anything arround?

 

They look better when the front wheel is crowding the front of the wheel opening. You will need to experiment I am afraid.

 

im just a litle a head of the experiment stage, the truck is already in pieces,and i dont wanna put it back together just to eyeball it, just curious what u have done and how it has worked
thanks-brian

 

Brian I am in the same boat. I just bought a '56 F100 that somebody put a volare clip in. I was ***ured that the clip had been installed forward of the original axle centerline but since the front sheetmetal is off the car I will only know if it looks right by re***embling the truck first. A small price to pay really when compared how the wrong wheel location ruins the looks of these F100s. Good luck with your project! - Mike

 

I fitted my HZ Holden front clip (like a right-steer Camaro clip) on my '55 F100 about one and a quarter inches further forward in relation to the original axle centre-line..made a difference to the appearance.

Any time you lower the front of an effie you also should move the wheel forwards to keep it looking 'right'.

 

Yeah, like he said, check out the link above

A JAG front end goes into an f truck piece-o-cake! Move the centreline of the front axle forward about an inch and a quarter to centre it in the wheel opening tho. If your ch***is is bare you can get the original axle centreline by the locating hole for the front bumpstop which is directly over the axle centreline.

 

Hey man, when you do a clip on a '53 to '56 F100, you want to move the wheel base to 111". The stock 110" was missing being centered in the wheel opening by 1" this allowed the shackels of the leafs to move an such. My '56 F100 has a '76 Camaro Subframe under it too. It was the first one I did years ago. Good luck with your project dude.

 

1" will do but my measurements told me to move it 1 1/4". It definitely needs to move for appearance sake.

 

The VOlare is I think a 1 1/4 recommended.

 

1 1/4" forward to get the front wheel centered in the wheel well..

 

I did just such a swap 20 years ago. I used a firebird sub frame (76) which I believe to be the same as a camaro. Many builders cut the sub frame ***embly at the arch. I did not but used the entire ***embly which made
alighnment much easier. The center to center of the F-100 was the exact as the firebird. The fire bird subframe is 4 inches wide and the f-100 is
2 inches wide. This gives a 1inch area on each side of the f-100 frame section to weld and gusset to. After careful measurments were taken of the stock f-100 wheel base I added 1inch to the measurement to prevent the wheel from appearing to tucked up in the wheel opening and centered
the wheels nicely in the fender. I made a template of the subframe in the area where it begins to rise and made sure it fit very close. Then the template was transfered to the f-100 ch***is. making sure your ch***is is
braced so it will not spring or in any way move, make the cut. After I did this I just tacked some guides onto the subframe and rolled it in place.
Because I wanted to retain the swaybar I had to notch the fire wall
slightly. By reversing the motor mounts the motor (pontiac) would have
moved ahead a few inches and cleared the firewall ok. Then the f-100
frame section that supports the fenders, radiator etc. was grafted on
and it rode and drove well. I am sure I may have forgot some details,
it was quite a while back. The most important thing to me is using the entire sub frame ***embly and not cutting it up which makes for a lot more work. Hope you find some off this information useful. Sorry about
the spelling, my spellcheck is broke and I am no scholar.

 

Your'e entirely correct man. Thats exactly the way I did it too, but with the Nova/Camaro, I had to heat and pull the back subframerails in to make them match up with the F100 frame. Anyway, it worked fine and the alignment worked out great. Its strong as an OX this way and drives great too. I was wrong about it being exactly 1", Mine's actually 1 1/2". My new wheelbase is 111 1/2" now. But you can move the bed and the cab around on the mounts to "fudge" a little if you need to when you get that close. 1/4" aint goin to kill ya, just make SURE its exactly the same on both sides and "X" it out by measuring it diagonally from the lower ball joint grease fitting to a fixed point on the original F100 frame that is the same on each side. But make sure it is straight and correct before you start too.

Doing it this way will lower this thing DOWN!! Mine is Way down, and it aint got air bags. It rides that low. Good luck dude.

 

thanks for all the help and positive input! my plans are to use the rear frame from a 67-72 truck(with camaro diff swaped in) i did this same set up on a 56 chevy truck a couple years ago and it worked great! the stock trailing arm rear suspension is nice and already installed, just add dropped coils and panhard bar and your donr back thier. the frame of the 67-72 chev truck also kicks up behind the cab so u will need to raise the floor in the box, but a c-channel above the rear axle isnt needed unless you go with bags. as far as doing the clip goes i simply did as stated earlier and kept the camaro subframe the full length, notched the truck frame so it would fit so that the bottom of both rails were flush, the inside of the clip and truck frame were also the same width with made lining it up easy. once i was had it tacked in place i remessurred a few times them welded it all up and boxed the inside of the rails back to the crossmember that the rear trailing arms atatch to. it was a great driving truck that sat quite low-i think i used 4 inch dropped coils in the rear-my plan is basically the same for dads f100. thanx for all the helpfull advise guys-Brian

 

I haveh't done the I.F.S. but every article in cl***ic truck mags say to move mustang 2 fwd 2"

 

If I remember my Volare is 1 1/2" forward. Lots of good info at www.ford-trucks.com on the 48-60 forum. If I were doing mine over the move forward would be much more dramatic with the wheels openings in the fenders moved forward also. It would make driving a truck that sets like I like mine much easier for clearance. Rodders Digest magazine [I think] had some coverage on an effie with this mod. Very neat.

 

hi mate, im doing up a 56 f100 as well, i've done the same as you have with the hq-hz ch***is clip, with your truck is there any picks you can email me as im not sure how to go about the steering colum an pedals. i'd like to stick with stock 56 gear, but i'd like to have swingin pedals but diddn't want to put the booster an master cylinder on the fire wall,

 

I would do a search here for Jag rears. It will ride great and look good. Both front and rear.

 

Just did the CV on my 56, I went 1-1/2". I had the sheet metal on it..........here is a ****py pic but all i got..........



Its a little hard to tell because it is at an angle. But it is right on, I fiddle with it for a few hours. Tried it at stock, tried it a 1.25" like everyone reccommends and then settled at 1.5".

 

I am considering shortening the wheel wells some as well to remove even more gap...

 

I have a TCI custom IFS and went 1 3/8 inches forward to centre the wheels in the wheel openings.
That's with new 1/2 ton fenders.