what clip fits an f100 well

[brewsir]

I have a 55 f100 panel i want to slam...been tossing around some ideas and thought I would ask..
1. Volare ...I have one in another truck and it is on the top of my list....little bit of a mushy ride,but adjustable height is cool.

2. s-10 frame swap....looks pretty easy the way so what does it...haven't checked any dimensions yet...anybody know?

3. chevy clip...low on my list but easy to bag.

Anybody done something else that worked good?

[Roothawg]

Volare is the easiest. I did one in about 6-10 hours. Paid like 130 bux for it in a salvage yard.

[injectedA]

http://www.bobcoauto.com/camaro_sus_upgrade.html

[ShortBus]

I've heard Dodge Dakota works well. I think it was ElPolacko who likes to use em. The track width is similar to F100 and it's a true half-ton front end.

[himmelberg]

A group of guys on the FTE board put together a pretty comprehensive review of front suspensions for F-100's. You won't find opinions of which is best, but a pretty objective view of what they had experienced first hand.
http://www.ford-truck.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=193210
himmelberg

[Humboldt Cat]

OGNC had this post, recently (if I'm posting the link correctly)...
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=297067&page=8& view=collapsed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1
Don't know if could work for a '55 or not, worth a look.

[fordiac]

mustang2 front ends on f-100's(53-56) need a two inch rack extension. 60's+ need a four inch. so it will work with the right rack extender

[Radshit]

Fordiac is right, plus a lot of other reason's not to use a MII...I have used LTD clip's on several of my trucks...love 'em......

Plus people are almost giving away 70-77 LTD
s anyway.....

My 50 F-1 has one and this truck has one both were easy and way cheap....they were free

[Radshit]

Here is the during shot...they are really easy and the column from the donor car can be used...

[Radshit]

I've never used a Dakota front end...I hope to soon though...hehe

On my 48 Dodge coupe I hope to use one.....but I'm just now finding out how hard Dakotas are to come by....and the junk yards want big money for suspension parts...at least here anyways

[scooter]

While do the research on this same subject for my 55 .I spoke to "fatmans ,builders ,and vendors .Even drove some f-100's w/ volaries ,pacer ,and a M2 rack .Then i got a ride in the Elpolako farm truck hauler .Not only did it flat out haul it handles amazing .He also did another f-100 and i saw and felt that ride aswell .The clicher for me was seeing another vendors product almost fall outta the car in parts and pieces in a real world daily driver .After that , w/ the help of industrial chassis and some local hamb guys the 55 got the dakota front treatment , and i would not change a thing ! Also installed were 2" drop spindles and she sits , drives , handles , and turns GREAT .My u-turns are amazing on the truck now .No bump steer .And after almost a year of real street drive and generally having fun , not one problem .Thanks Again industrial chassis and gang for the help . And if your builing this truck to use , enjoy , and keep ... THIS IS THE ONLY SET-UP I WOULD DO ".Also get his brake kit and your stoppin on a dime , or atleast a quarter .

[Fat Hack]

Voooooolareee...(ppffttht!) VOOOOOlaaarrreee...(ppfftht ppffthtt)!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The Volare/Aspen clip works real well...an old guy I worked with at Ford used one in his F100 and said it fit like a dream and rode perfect...gives you good disc brakes along with a smooth running suspension and 'modern' steering.

Cheap, too!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[av8]

Absolute easiest and best performing by a big margin is a Type 3 Jaguar front subframe. No cutting of the truck frame, just weld on four simple brackets for the Metalastic mounts, make a couple of short upper shock mounts and you have . . .

Strength appropriate to your F-100

Excellent handling and ride comfort

Big disc brakes

Built-in power R&P steering

GM wheel-lug pattern

For the full-boat, great handling and riding F-100, stuff the Type 3 subframe under the back of the truck. The brackets are a bit more elaborate than the fronts but what is needed is obvious when you set the rear subframe in position.

Here, too, you have suspension that will handle the weight of your F-100, plus you have inboard disc brakes and a very strong differential.

Oz rodders have been into to the Jag conversions for a long time while we lagged behind and used hardware with which we were more familiar. It's time to rethink the old ways.

[Rocky]

I used a front steer Camaro under my 53 F-100 and totally loved it. The variable ratio steering box and 1.25" stabilizer bar made the thing handle like a sporty car. I used almost all of the kickup [about 2/3rds of it] so my truck sat pretty low. The sbc was a bolt-in too....loved it!

[lowsquire]

I agree with Av8 on this one... saw one done a few weeks ago..very neat and looks easy to do.
Can i have your old drum brakes and hubs??need em for my Rpu, cant find em anywhere down here!

[HotRodMicky]

I'm with AV8, too.
Did it by myself and would do it again as it's so easy.
A very good IFS.
Michael

[burtrido]

Mikes right! It is probably one of the most common swaps down here, because it works!!!!!

[Mike]

Brewsir, how many times have you heard someone say "Boy, my Volare really handles like a dream"? I'm guessing never. Sure, it's easy to adjust the ride heght on those front ends, but that is the only benifit I see. Volares, Aspens, Pacers, etc. are cheesy disposable mid sized econo-cars that haven't been built new in 20 years. After replacing all of the clapped out bushings, ball joints and such, you'll probably be spending a lot more than you thought.

Listen to scooter, get one of elPolacko's cross members. It's certainly no harder to install than any late model sub-frame, and we all know you have the skills to do the job. You'll end up with a nice handling IFS that was designed to take the weight and load of a truck, it will have the correct track width and you'll have no issues re-fitting your radiator, front sheet metal, etc. If I were of a mind to install IFS on my F1, I'd go with elPolacko's Dakota set up.

Just check out elPolacko's (Industrial Chassis) web site.

[scooter]

Brewsir , This is just what i went through .I asked too and got a bunch of differnt answers.Then came the test drives and in some cases rides .Whatever your choice , take your time .And please don't just weld something on cuz of the cheap or free factor . good luck .

[ELpolacko]

I have been building F100s now on a professional basis since 1986. I have installed at least 50+ Volare/Aspen front ends, done dozens of Camaro clips and such before I discovered the Dakota front.

IF cheap is your only criteria, the Volare wins. If you actually pay for a Volare front end, you paid too much.

Camaros are a close second, finding a straight one that doesn't need a complete rebuild may be difficult these days. But at least you can completely rebuild a Camaro unlike the Volare. There are two bushings that on a Volare that cannot be had for love or money.

These bushings are on the torsion bar and mount it to the crossmember clip. On a Volare the torsion bar serves double duty, it is the spring and the strut rod. When that pivot bushing goes, so does your alignment and driveablility. The only way to get that bushing was to buy a new torsion bar from MOPAR and they stopped making them over 25 years ago! Your only chance for replacement is to find one in a junk yard hopefully in better shape than yours. The other problem to overcome with the Volare is the enormous steering gear. Way over boosted and totaly in the way of your ENGINE! You will need to offset your engine to the passenger side an inch or two and construct a left side engine mount Rube Goldberg would be proud of. But then these are problems to be tackled after cutting away the bottom half of your frame to weld this sucker in. Once your installation is complete you can look forward to one of the numbest rides ever. Now I can hear the jeers already but if your idea of a good ride conjures up images of 1794 Eldorados then your in good company, NUMB! At least a Camaro clip will return decent ride AND handling. But clips are labor intensive to finish. Stubing one one is fairly easy but reataching sheet metal and bumpers can be a pain in the ass.

AV8's suggestion of a Jag front is interesting but Corvette is more plentiful and is cheaper to obtain, at least around here it is. C4-C5 Corvette suspensions are up to the task given you will never use this truck for TRUCK purposes. They are designed to carry about 2100 pounds (front axle) on a vehicle that weighs about 4000 pounds. Your typical F100 (53-56) weighs in at 3800 and carrys about 2100-2300 on the front wheels. The downside on the Corvette is its maximum load capacity set at a very low 400 pounds. Not much margin to play with. But then overloading a front suspenion design never bothered those that put Mustang II suspesions under things like F100s or 62 Biscanes now did it.

My Dodge Dakota based suspensions deliver well easy to install and are very rugged. Not cheap but that was not my intention.

I find it very strange that people will not have a problem dumping thousands of dollars into an engine or paint job but totaly cheap out on making their ride enjoyable to drive. On the MSN Slick 60s F100 site they have a hard on for Ford Aerostar van front ends,, why? Because they are Ford front end and cheap thats why. I have even seen guys promote the AMC Pacer front end, why.. Because its cheap. I almost never hear suggestions based on a front suspsension because it is a good hanlding front end, or the brakes are amazing or the reliability is unmatched or crisp handling.

Nope, cheap

[metalshapes]

Brewsir, If cheap is what you are after, I have a Volare I bought before I knew better ( for too much money ).
If you , or any body else, can get it out of my fucking yard I'll make you a real deal...

[DrJ]

I know of one Volare/Effy that had to have ALL the spring screwed out of it to put it at the "right" stance. Good thing the owner wrote the book on cruising low & slow decades ago...

El Polacko, What years Corvette?

[ELpolacko]

J, late 80s up

[av8]

El Polacko -- Undamaged XJ front and rear subframes are $300-$400 each. Complete XJs with bad mnotors or trans fetch from $500-$1000 and will yield the power-steering pump and brake hydraulic components as well as an interesting telescopic steering column and swing pedals.

And, those rabid All-Forders could rationalize the Jag stuff, now. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The Jag bits are easy to work on and replacement parts are plentiful and comparably priced to other contemporary hardware.

BTW, I thought I was the only one with concerns about hanging front-heavy pickups on econobox Pinto/MII suspension.

[ELpolacko]

That is pretty interesting Mike, around here those Jags get double that or better. The all Jag guy will not let one go for less than a thousand. I bought a 1969 XKE rear about three years ago for $750 and that was only because it has a bad rotor and caliper on the right. Which consiquently trashed the discs inside the diff, posi-trac. Besides Jag stuff is not all that common around here. When one does pop up with a bad engine but is in otherwise good shape someone scoops it up and plops in a small Chevy. Jag to V8 conversions and other interesting stuff (http://www.jagsthatrun.com)

On the flip side I have a customer who just dragged in a complete front and rear from a 1989 Corvette in real nice shape. He paid about $800 for both.

[brewsir]

Thank you all for your opinions and recomendations...I really like my truck and the way it rides on the volare...I have 60K miles on it...but never knew about the unobtanium bushings....hopefully never have to!
Cheap is definately not the leading factor...I want good ride quality (Sometimes I like to road trip a few thousand miles) and stopping good is nice too./ The jag setup is interesting...as is the vette ...I never really thought about "exotic" suspension....well...exotic to me.

[brewsir]

Oh yea...whats a type 3 jag??? Years? I know nada about jags.

[Mojo]

How wide are the Jag front and rear units, from hub to hub? How about the 80's vettes? Just wondered what their track width is compared to everything else...

[av8]

Like so many things, the value of Jag bits depends on the locale. Also, XK suspension is much more expensive than XJ hardware. For a real-world, right-now price on a typical Type 3 XJ6 (a Van den Plas, no less, and a complete running car) Kent Fuller offered his XJ up for five-hundred bucks at Saturday morning breakfast. And, it's not dead. The motor runs great, had a head job a couple thousand miles ago, very nice paint and glass, no body damage or rust, fair interior (could use a major leather re-con and maybe a new hide on the driver's seat). Very presentable car that rides and drives great--except for the tired converter. It's an early '80 model tha Kent has had for almost twenty years, so he figures it doesn't own him anything at this point. This kind of deal is not uncommon in California where many thousands of these cars were sold and driven.

FWIW, most of these cheap California derelict XJs have excellent, rust-free bodys when they go to the crusher, sold for metal salvage weight.

[Michigan Rick]

Thanks for the post guys. I have had a dropped, disc braked, reversed spring front end for 15 years. After checking out the hundreds of F100's over the years and hearing all the guys complain about whatever front end they are using that I'm glad to hear about the Dakota and that is what I bought a year ago. Maybe this summer I'll get it installed! (Actually maybe next winter.To much fun cruising in the summer) I have only seen 2 Dakota front ends but both guys said they really liked them.

Thanks elpolacko and.......... for doing the engineering. Glad someone looked past the norm and hopefully started a new norm.

[m.morse]

i used a volare front clip on a 56 panel f100 with fatman drop spindles and it rides very well once the torsion bars are back up to your ride hight with gas charge shocks

[m.morse]

i used a volare front clip on a 56 panel f100 with fatman drop spindles and it rides very well once the torsion bars are back up to your ride hight with gas charge shocksthere are two types of volares one is small bars and one with larger bars make sure you use the larger bars they came on v8's with a/c i got mine off a ply wagon with a/c,v8 when you install this front end make sure it's up in the frame and center for your wheels you will also need to gusset the upper tower that goes at the top of the frame and to the tower so when the torsion bars are lowered the tower will not flex in some installers do not do this if you need pictures of my truck i will send them to you just leave a address

[av8]

Some thoughts and pics to add to this thread which was started long ago . . .

For a narrowed F-1 frame, the Jag suspension can be installed using the Metalastic mounts which greatly reduce road noise in the truck. The wider F-100 frame makes it much more difficult to retain the Metalastic mounts, although that's not a huge sacrifice.

Here is an installation in the early stages, with some of the elements still just tacked in position. Other than the front shock mounts which were shortened in the final configuration and fitted with shorter shocks, the final package was very close to what you see here.

The Jag spring towers were trimmed at the rear to rear to allow the F-100 frame to slip down between them. The cutaway section of each tower was plated with 1/8-inch CR and then welded directly to the frame.

http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL64/2013751/4260039/136325635.jpg

http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL64/2013751/4260039/136325637.jpg


The motor mounts, shown tacked in position, are 1-1/2-inch square tube struts that were welded to the Jag crossmeber and then gusseted longitudinally and latterally.

http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL64/2013751/4260039/136325628.jpg


Installing the Jag IRS is even simpler. The 1/4-inch L-brackets, shown tacked, are welded to the Jag subframe and bolted to the Ford frame with 7/16-inch Gr 8 bolts. A bolt-in tubular crossmember between the mounts was added in the finished installation. Another crossmember installed just aft of the transmission crossmember provides the forward anchor point for the tubular trailing arms that locate the lower control arms.

http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL64/2013751/4260039/136325631.jpg

[tragic59]

m.morse, I'd like to see as many photos as you can send. Especially of the gussets you're describing.

Thanks.

djsankey@rocketmail.com

[McKee]

Fordiac is right, plus a lot of other reason's not to use a MII...I have used LTD clip's on several of my trucks...love 'em......

Plus people are almost giving away 70-77 LTD
s anyway.....

My 50 F-1 has one and this truck has one both were easy and way cheap....they were free

In an early issue of The Rodders Journal there was a feature on two 56 big windows with Torino clips.... how similar is an LTD to a Torino?

[hemifarris]

I ran a LeBaron / Volarire front end under my '56, shown here in 1980. It's an easy install , has a clean look and has great adjustability...........

[spoons]

[QUOTE=brewsir]I have a 55 f100 panel i want to slam...been tossing around some ideas and thought I would ask..
1. Volare ...I have one in another truck and it is on the top of my list....little bit of a mushy ride,but adjustable height is cool.



Volare... Can't beat the the installation or the ride..

Spoons:D

[m.morse]

tragic59 send me a address i will send the pictures

[m.morse]

coldshotmiguel send a address i will send pictures

[tragic59]

El Polacko,

What year Dakotas do you use for your front end swaps?

And are they (Dakotas) suitable for cars as well, or just trucks?

Thanks.

[mickster]

I guess the thread ended before we found out which dakota trucks fit well.Im wanting to swap out a 68 ford drum twin i beam with a disc rack and pinion. I have a pacer on the shop floor waiting for wheel and tires to arive before any canabalizing of truck. Itlooks like the pacer could be up for grabs if the dodge gives me more bang. would apreciate any help you can lend. mick

[Tacson]

In an early issue of The Rodders Journal there was a feature on two 56 big windows with Torino clips.... how similar is an LTD to a Torino?

The LTD is going to be a little wider than the Torino clip depended upon the year. In 77 Ford went to a LTD II which used the same clip as the Cougar and T-bird. In 79 changed over to a Front steer version that ran until Ford Switched to a Rack and Pinion in 03. This suspension is called the Panther platform. I saw both of those articles you are referring to in rodders journal and I talked to Mike Chrisman the man who installed. Here is my 55 F100 Ford Clipped truck.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/displayalbum.php?userid=94583&albumid=5196

[kool whip]

Can anyone give me some info on an aerostar crossmember swap in an f100? If so I would appreciate it and photos would be great. Thanks

[kool whip]

Can I get pics and more info on your setup? Thanks