Trying to revive this thread because I just got 55' Stude pickup and need to go disks up front and power brakes for safety... Can I put disks on the front Ibeam drop axle I have? Or what year camaro front clip do I need? Or Chevy 1500 front clip? Thanks! Here it is... [/URL][/IMG]
If your Stude has the factory stock front axle, then yes you can swap to discs. Check out Turners for what you need. http://www.turnerbrake.com/truckkits.html
Thanks 46stude! That's exactly what I want to do with the stock front axle! But I also want to lower the front with the stock axle...any good tricks? Maybe section the front and rear spring hangers up into the frame a couple inches? Sounds like alot of work...need a more simpler idea...if there is one.
Reverse the spring eyes and/or remove a few leafs from the spring pack, maybe. Thats what I'd planned on doing with my '46.
Here's a couple tech threads on reversing springs: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=225377&highlight=reversing+springs http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90824&highlight=reversing
had a friend with one of those Studebaker trucks. stock suspension and steering, 283 and 5 speed. drove it from the Bay Area to Texas. guess nobody told him he needed a new frame, glad he made it.
I dropped a 390 in mine in 1968 and it lowered it a lot. It also broke the centers out of the wheels. Back then I just wanted to go fast. I grafted on a '64 galaxy clip which worked better but I didn't know that it had been in a wreck so it didn't handle so well. A better swap was an '80 LTD. This chassis is of the torque box design so it was easy to end up with a clean unit. I cut it open and slid the Studebaker channel inside and welded some fish plates to finish it up. This gave me disc brakes and a power box. It worked pretty well. Got a 4x4 bug and tried a "76 F-150 chassis. Got married, moved,etc. so it didn't get finished. Current plans are for a custom tube ladder space frame connecting a '97 T-bird IRS to a '06 crown vic front. Somebody (wilwood?) probably makes some sort of disc conversion. I once put discs in a '55 F-100 but still had a 50 year old steering box and suspension. Probably the easiest swap would be a '97 up Dakota chassis. Dimensions are real close and it looks like a fairly decent design. It's just those damn 6 bolt wheels. Bear in mind that the Studebaker has a wide track of about 61" I don't know what the Nova-camaro width is, but it's worth noting.
Ok you should have said that in the first place as on this board when you mention frame swap most of automatically believe that you are trying to get the truck as low as possible as inexpensively as possible. On that setup you may not have all the problems making things fit that a guy does when he puts it on a later chassis and wants it real low in the process. A tape measure is still your best friend and you may be looking for Studebaker big truck fenders before it's all said and done.
Studebaker big truck fenders just have larger wheel openings. other dimensions are the same. The distance between the box and fender will take only about an 8" wide rim and a 235 tire. I had 10"ers with 12" wide tires in high school but ran 13" shackles to clear the fenders. You could always tub, but there goes your box.
He also said that he was trying to revive the thread. posting was new as of 9-3-12. Doesn't hurt to ask again.
It won't stop with the stock brakes? They always used to stop with the drums on them. I've driven some with all drums and no power assist.
Depends on what kind of stopping you plan on doing. Dragging a stick on the ground will stop you-eventually. I plan on using the best of the best not only for my own safety, but for those instances when some idiot pulls out in front of you. More so that I don't damage irreplaceable parts than actually hitting the jerk. I reccommend to go with the best you can afford and do it right.
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