well i just bought as 62 f100 unibody and i am on the fence with air bagging it or just lowing springs, i love the look when it sits on the ground but not a fan with the extra problems air bags bring. any suggestions?
sitting on the ground looks Cool but, comes at a price. nothing cheap or easy. look at springs: andyautosport.com & axles: droppedaxles.com
Put bags on my 53 effie when I installed the tbird irs. Had leakage problems just setting so I took em out and have been cutting coils 1/4 coil at a time. Not there yet but bags are not for me. If the coils get too soft I may use some of the Air Lift helper bags.
making a truck like that sit on the ground is an incredible waste of money. build it to drive, not to park.
i have a 66 lincoln that i bagged and the ride on that bad boy is nice. but you are right about the waste of money just for a look
I find most of my cars sitting on the ground, in the weeds and can't wait to get them up outta there. Have bags been deemed traditional? just askin
Sure did. I saw it, and repeated it over a hundred times, teaching several others to do it too. They carry on with it, as do I. That's the definition of tradition. Nobody says you have to like it.
Ala Kart had bags, yes, but they were for color/contrast, they were inside a coil spring and wern't holding up the truck, and they certainly weren't for laying frame. I have a pic saved of an early Ford coupe at a car show, late 50's early 60's with a spider web grille insert, webs must be traditional. Run springs and set up the truck at a nice static ride height and drive the wheels off it.
Build your own truck, the way you want it. If it does not please the stubborn, cranky old men on this board, don't worry about it. They only believe what they alone observed, or what they alone decided is traditional, is traditional. That is not how tradition works. Tradition is ANY custom or practice that is handed down. Airbags were invented in the 1920's, and they looked much like today's bags. They were not just invented. Laying frame has been popular since just after WWII, just using surplus aircraft hydraulics. This is just a combining of existing hardware, in a slightly different arrangement. Oh, wait. That's called hot rodding. What Ryan has decided will fly on this board is another story entirely. It is his house, and there are rules. Unless and until he says no-bags, then we shall have bags.
I just asked a question, not meant to put anyone on to defending their own preferences. If anything that appeared on a show car pre 1964 is considered traditional hot rodding, that probably opens a whole new can of worms. I owned a show T-bucket from 1961 that could barely be driven, kinda outside the scope of the spirit of hot rodding but it sure was purdy.
Rear axle flip is super easy on that effie. I just finished helping a coworker drop one of these static with a flip, notch, and hotrod front end that shall not be named here. You can do a bar axle flip in the front, there's threads here on that, or go to an aftermarket front end. We went ahead and built so he could bag if wanted, but it drives out very nice as is. I doubt he will make the jump to bags. I don't have a pic handy, but it rides about 7" at the rockers and is dead flat. 235/75 wide whites on steel.
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1334011-1961-f100-unibody-project-lowbrow.html here's a cool build on FTE. I have a 63 f100 uni that I plan on using a jag ifs. check out link below http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/social-forums/jaguar-ifs-irs-swap-group.726/ there are several build threads here for these trucks, just do some searching. anyway my truck got put on hold due to dropping another 63 Ford. A B600 school bus.
I have to disagree, "Laying Frame" with Hydraulics did not start just after WWII. It is pretty much documented and accepted that Ron Aguirre was the first to adapt hydraulics for car suspension to his 1956 Corvette Bubble Top, the X-Sonic, in 1959. And it didn't really "Lay Frame" but did sit fairly low. Then the Low Rider crowd jumped on board, Red's was probably the first shop specializing in Hydro's and this was in the early 60's - And these ain't HOT RODS! At least that's the way this cranky old man remembers it
"Laying frame" as its called is not something I consider a worth while undertaking. Air ride is very nice though and can be done in a sensible way. ^^^hows that ? ^^^ Now do what to know how I really feel?
I'd say it depends on how you're going to use it. I had a bagged/bodied truck in my minintruckin youth and it was useless. I not only had bags that leaked I had valves that leaked and you'd walk out of the house and the damn thing was at full hight with 150 lbs in the bags. (Nitrogen). PITA to say the least and haul shit in the bed? HA! But hey it's your truck and if you just plan to cruise it to the shows and lay it out go for it. Not everything has to be traditional.
I plan on driving this beast, just love the low look. i have 49 shoebox Kustom that i plan on taking to shows when i am finished with it. thanks for all the insight guys
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