DON'T use a Camero clip on AD Trucks

one thing people overlook: when these trucks get clipped and suddenly the owner thinks the clouds have parted but you still have leaf springs on the rear and it still will ride like old truck! clipping one is great update.

 

I personally like the 73 to 78 chevy 1/2 Ton IFS under mine, bolts in with a 1/2 inch spacer each side and done. its much simpler and drives like a newer truck. theres pics of a mock up in my pictures

 

Using the the 78-87 GM mid size car clips in these trucks is nothing new.A freind of mine here local has clipped proly 40 of these trucks in the 15 years i have known him and its all he uses for clips.Regal ,Monte ,Grand prix ,Malibu and Cutless clips are still easy to find and cheap .Perfect width for these trucks IMO .He does use Camaro or TA rear axles in these trucks though ...

 

Dakota truck IFS... ask El Polacko AKA Steve over at Industrial chassis...

that "clip" is the source of all the solutions for guys who want IFS on a custom or full fender'd car/truck. ask steve about it, but be polite. he can get cranky when he grenades a TKO trans

he'll be more than happy to offer a little advice if you ask nicely

 

Ever since Steve (El Polocko)did the Dakota front suspension deal and everyone raved about it I've been trying to get him to sell me a front frame swap crossmember. I've even aquired a Dakota clip that he recommended for a doner. Seems the partner he had left and took the tooling for this swap and he won't duplicate it and sell it out of his shop any longer. His partner is MIA and never did start production for this swap). So.........this leaves all of us who would like to take advantage of this superior suspension out in the cold. I've got a '48 F1 I'd like to do but after all of the praises the magazines did about Steve's suspension swap I'm dead in the water until someone comes up with a crossmember to do this swap. I'm sure it must be nice to have so much business that you can afford to ignore a popular swap that will be in favor for years to come especially since your design is the best one out there.

Frank

 

There may be legal challenges and proprietary information from the old partner. The asking price for the rights to produce it may be way to steep. Who knows....... The internet is a grand tool and for a hundred bucks you can find anyone.......

 

Great words of wisdom! As to the rearend I also used the coils(dbl subframe) and it rides and handles like a car.The last P/U I built I had to shallow up the bed to clear the spring perches. In a burb it raises the rear storage area where a 3rd row seat would go.It's a great thing IF that is what you like
The gentleman talking about a dakota p/u I don't have a clue how to help him.I do remember some guys using a granada but they are probablly all crushed by now. Companys are making decent kits for Mustang II that work well too.

 

I ran a first generation Camaro subframe on the 48 for a number of years and close to 100,000 miles.
If you set it in right the stock core support sets on the crossmember piece out in front of the main crossmember and you only have to drill two holes and use a thin rubber pad between the core support and crossmember.

The two big issues are that the rear steer box doesn't line up with the stock truck steering column placement worth a damn and you really have to do some trimming on the inner fenders for A arm clearance.
The other problem now days is that they are getting hard to find and getting expensive. In 1980 mine came off a stripped Camaro that a guy gave me for dragging off. I converted it to disk brakes using 1972 Monte Carlo/ Chevelle pieces.
I don't plan on stubbing another one but If I did I would probably use the early 80's G body stub to do it.
But I do have to agree that the front steer mid 70's Camaro stubs are too wide to fit right under these trucks along with all the issues of getting core supports and sheet metal aligned right. We went through that phase and now there are better and cleaner ways to build these trucks. A clean weld on or bolt on crossmember that used the G body suspension pieces and didn't break the bank in the process would be ideal If someone would design an make one. The one I have seen is a bit bulky along with being more than a bit expensive.

 

Here is a photo of the mock-up of my core support.

 

Sully,...is that a G-body clip, I assume it is, when I recently mocked up a G-clip for a Chevy, the core sit right on top of the front part of the steering gear and I couldn' get it low enuf. Yours looks like a GMC by the core support. Are you moving the core further ahead? I see you pretty much removed the obtrusive front frame horns.
thanks

 

Yeah this one is a GMC.On the chevy I did I made mounts off the frame sides and cut the bottom of the core support off but the radiator hung down past the steering box.Also I completely bolted the inner fenders,fenders,hood together as a unit then trimmed the core support when the fender bolts lined up at the fire wall.In most cases the radiator sets 3" forward from stock but the core support doesn't.

 

Sully, thanks for that info.

 

that is the G-body clip and the tip off for id is front steer and the 605 steering box but they did come with saginaw box also. sully the pic's of the rear end setup look great and i bet it does ride great very similar to one i assisted on that we basically used 80' malibu chassis but welded in straight side rails. the interior rocks dude! sure made those late model buckets work in the theme because when i see those in early vehicles i want to rip them out ugh! my comment on the "truck ride" stems from my DD 2006 DTS CAD. so ride is important to me.

 

Not a problem.I thought this would be a good topic.Look to aroudn page 7 or 8 on my photo bucket and yuo'll see the rear part.

 

Looking through my old posts (bored as hell at work) and came across this...I posted early on:

I know it has been beatin to death, but for what its worth, I dont have any problems with the width of mine. 15x6 wheels up front with 215/60-15 tires and dont even come close to rubbing. Maybe I would have problems if I wanted it lower, but the small amount of driving I have done so far the truck rides awesome, and I have driven a lot of vehicles...

 

I agree, I had one. It's a shitty setup and a waste of time and money. Even if you do get the tires to not rub, they never sit right in the wheel wells and always look too wide. Thats ok for a street rod, but not traditional style build.

 

You all could do it the traditional way and use a dropped axle and lowered springs.. I have seen some done this way with great success...

 

Oh I get it, if I could do it over I would do the drop springs, but the thread was started by saying it doesnt work, they are too wide, the ride like crap, etc. I was simply pointing out that it worked for me.

 

Looks good SHADAMS.