Hello, New member to the forum, searched for information on how to lower the front of a 1961 ford f100. I have looked over the variety of different brands of Mustang II conversions, but are rather expensive. I need some information on the possibility of using a front end swap. I saw some discussions on using a 2003 Crown Victoria that bolts up to the frame. Can anyone help?
You'll have better luck posting this elsewhere. This is where you introduce yourself and tell us about yourself. PS crown Vic swaps are popular, but you have to run big gay wheels to clear the brakes...
Crown Vic is too wide, unless you want to narrow one! Jaguar is a nice clean upgrade!! Rather inexpensive also!!
Search around on here... I believe it pre 1976. There's a bunch of threads on it. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
jaguar is '72-86 xj6, '7?-8? xj12, '78-94 xjs............ i notched the crossmember 3" into the framerail on my '62 uni and it's about as low as you would want to go without being bagged for a driver. with 205/70/15 the rocker at the front of the door is 5" off the ground. straight to frame without notching will give you about the same drop as a standard mustang ii kit. to get this ride height you would need to mod a standard kit or go with something like the fatman ultralow kit. i first mocked mine up without the notch...... not low enough for me.... then nothced 2" into the frame rail by tacking 3x2x3/16 tubing inside the frame rail. out back i have an explorer 8.8 flipped on top of the leafsprings with 2" blocks. rolled it outside to get a good perspective(thaught it was good in the small 2 car garage) and it became obvious either the rear needed to come up and inch or the front needed to come down another inch. stuck a jack under the rear bumper and jack the rear up and inch to see. not bad but i wasn't happy with it as i'm picky as hell.... sooo.... back in the garage she goes break the tacks on the crossmember and drop it back out. break tacks holding the 3x2 tubing and out it comes. replace that with 2x2x3/16 and cut the notches up to meet the new tubing. welded the tubing in then welded the crossmember in. reasembled and rolled it outside again for perspective....HAPPY.... as said while the crown vic is a great design it is 6" wider than the stock suspension. yeah you can run the stock steelies or mustang wheels which have the offset to make it work but other than those your wheel choices are limited to high offset fwd looking wheels. my buddy has crown vic in his 65. he had to do all the same work to get it the same height as mine. and anyone that says "but it's a bolt in" is only about 50% correct. yes the crossmember bolts in but there is still a good bit of fab work to get it to the "bolt in" phase and it be right. as much or more than just welding the jag crossmember(which in stock form bolts in also and can be done that way to the f100) in. my second choice would be 2nd gen camaro. works well in these trucks. gets low. has a TON of aftermarket support. BUT you cut the entire front portion of your frame off which scares some people... if your pockets are deep which i guess they aren't since you say mii is expensive Porterbuilt is now doing a true bolt in for the 61-64 f100. i think the whole outfit will set you back close to five grand or so.....
Great reply lucky!!! I'm gonna use that on my next slick!! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
first pic is the original garage mock up. the next two are with the 3" notch.... oh and those are 235/75/15 all around in the pics. the rears will probably be close to that as i think they fill the wheelwell nicely. fronts will be closer to 205/70/15 which have a sidewall about an inch lower...
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