Hey there, So I picked up this F100 a few weeks back and I've had lots of ideas going on in my head but each one has major pros and cons. Any direction or suggestions you want to provide are appreciated. I'd like to get it down a few inches, patch the floor pans and bed (neither are that bad), probably throw some new rings in it since it's burning oil, a roll on bedliner and maybe a paint job...someday. Everything is pretty straightforward except for the suspension...that's where I need some guidance. First and foremost, it's gotta be a truck. I'm not hauling a ton of stuff, but being able to carry 1,000lbs of motorcycles and junk on the weekends shouldn't be out of the question. A lot of guys are doing monoleafs or flipping rear ends, but I think that'll be bottoming out everywhere I go. I'm not afraid to notch my frame, but from what I've read it won't help too much. I don't think air bags are in the budget and I think they'll make my bed useless. If I need to keep it stock height to be able to haul anything, that's fine. Second most important is the budget - it's small. How small? I have no idea, just as small as possible. I can do pretty much everything myself. Third is downtime, I want to minimize it. This is my daily-ish driver. Well, not really. I ride motorcycles every day but this is my only vehicle with 4 wheels so I'd like to not have it apart for more than a weekend at a time. I know the Crown Vic IFS swap is the common route for these trucks, but I'm not sold on it. I haven't seen any that look very well done and I feel like it's got potential to be a major can of worms. What would you suggest? For what it's worth, I don't have power steering or brakes, and wouldn't mind adding them, so if any options include easy add-ons for those I'm all ears. I also don't care about keeping it stock or original and ride quality doesn't matter much to me either. Some pics of the truck (click on them to go to the album and see more):
If the truck runs and drives..... Drive it, enjoy it !!! As far as CV Frint suspension, never heard of the swap till now, whats wrong with the front axle in it? I woud keep it....
Exactly, I'm just driving it now. Letting things break and then fixing them! A long-term shakedown, if you will
Granted, there's some difference, but my 61 has the crown vic front and an 8.8 out of a crown vic in the rear. The rear axle is on top of the springs and a small notch in the frame. I load it up and haul stuff on a semi regular basis and have never bottomed it out. Even had the bike in the back and jumped many times trying, never happened. If you're not familiar with CB's they're heavy as hell. Had the bike, my canopy all my stripe gear and a cooler full of drinks in it this day. Between my front and rear, total there's maybe 1500 in it. that includes the front crossmemeber, rear axle, power steering setup, steering column and other misc parts
dropped axle would be my choice, and rebuild everything with the best components you can find. the cv is too wide, im sure it handles great and is cost effective but your going to be limited on what wheels you can run. need a high offset which will mean more modern looking rims. not a huge deal if you want that style, but if your here im gonna assume you want a traditional looking wheel. mines a twin so it doesnt apply but ive done alot of research on the jag front end (xj6, xjs, xj12) 59.5 (i think) inches wide heavy duty enough for a big block as the weights are similar to the jags. also bolts on fairly simply like the cv and economical as well. probably a little more than the crown vic but cheap nonetheless. only problem i can see is it is a chevy pattern, but small niggle. just my opinion obviously matt
I am doing pretty much the same thing right now with my f100. A Axel flip will give you about six inches of drop. What I did was move the front spring hanger up about three inches on the rear. I also went with a 3 inch dropped Axel in the front. if you still need to go lower you can reverse the eyes of the springs in both the front and the rear or put longer shackles on the rear.
If ride quality doesn't matter go for the 2 or 3 in. dropped axle and a drop kit that will lower the rear a like amount. You can take a few leaves out of the springs to soften ride and it will still haul your load just fine. Add 4 ply rated street tires with lots of sidewall to further soften the ride. I think you have the right idea by sticking close to stock height. Its a truck meant to haul a load. If you're gonna change anything get more engine and tranny. The Y block is kinda weak in the performance dept. I had a 60 SWB with a Mustang 390 and similar suspension set up and it ran just fine. I regret selling it. Come to think of it, I regret selling most of the rods I've owned.
Oh yeah, I've spent plenty of time pushing CBs...that's a nice 550 (right?) you got there. Realistically I'd have double that weight in there about twice a month.
Yup, I hear ya. I'm thinking about heading over to a local spring shop and having them reverse the eyes all around or maybe de-arching the springs or something. I could also just pull a leaf or two out all the way around... Maybe I'll go pick their brain about it. BTW- just moved up here from Santa Cruz...missing that weather!
Close, its a 750. Add in the rest of my gear and im sure im close to your weight load. You could always get your local spring shop to make a leaf or 2, not a lot of arch, but heavy, keep it low and strong.
Dang, I'm slippin'. Cool bike. I'm building this one right now: Not a bad idea with those springs though. I'm curious to see what they have to say.
i dig the bike! If i werent lazy id get a pic of my spring pack.... My secret is I have one leaf that was made by my local spring shop. accidental, but its considerably thicker. kinda works as an overload spring.
another trick on fords is to flip the front spring perch and keep the axel on top of the springs with a small c notch on the frame you will still have about 5 inches of travel andf keep all your leaf springs in place check out this website for more ideas its mostly 67 to 72 body wise but the frames are the same http://fordification.com/
Yeah that's what I originally planned on (with monoleafs for the front) but I keep hearing that I'll be bottoming out too often.
Talk to Sid (55 Mercury), he's doing a set of springs for the front and rear. He also has a simple way to lower the rear by raising the front spring mount and running longer rear shackels and a reversed eye rear spring without flipping the rear axel. And there is no need to C notch the frame or modify your bed floor.
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