Yeah dude when I bought this thing I was all about dropped axles and air ride and full interior work etc, etc....but fuck it I have 3 other current projects and it's always like 2-3 years before I can drive anything cause I'm doing it all the big money way. Once I did some research and found out I can get the look I want and drive it with a little extra work and less cash I was all over it. Sure it's gonna ride rough and be a lil rough around the edges but it's still going to look badass and be a blast to drive...
Looking good! Lemme guess, with those explorer wheels you were concerned about rear blowouts causing rollover and wanted to lower the center of gravity Just a friendly jab, it's really coming along nicely which is good since it looks like you're racing the weather too. Good luck with it.
Hey now. I even stopped a guy that lives on my street with an older F-150 on steelies with bald tires a straight up trade just to unload these things and he wouldn't take it. If the garage wasn't full of other projects the weather wouldn't be an issue but it definitely is.
Flip the rear hanger and it will raise the ass end back up about 1.5"-2" making it completely not neccessary to notch the frame.
I wanted to do this to my wifes 1960 F100. My question is I have 2x4 1/4 inch wall rec tubing. It is about as wide as the leaf spring but sits almost two inches above the axle if I were goining to notch out the center and slide it over the axle in between the bolt holes. Would that cause any issues?
Looking good. Yours is coming along a lot faster than my truck. Mine pretty much looks the same as when you came to get the motor. I don't have a lot time to get it back together. Motor looks good, let me know how it goes.
Yeah, it probably wouldn't work. Even with notch I have there isn't TONS of room at almost full compression. At full it does hit but that would be one helluva bump....I would just save the headache and pick up some 2x2 man. Yeah I've been busy! After seeing how low yours sat in the rear I had to get mine flipped. Get that thing done, it's a clean ride.
I just finished getting my front and rear ends lowered. Flipped the rear end and c-notched the frame. As for the front it has a 3" drop axle with 3" lowering mono leaf springs. Replaced the kingpin's and bearing, painted it up and now I move onto putting in a Toyota power steering box...
Nice score. The 57-on series is one of my favourites.. I had a 58.. it ran great with a 292. Re the lowering.. My truck was at one time lowered like yours. The previous owner raised it back up to stock height after driving it and experiencing very bad bump steer. The bump steer was also commented on by someone who drove it before he bought it. I only drove it stock height and it steered beautiful. Jason aka Killer posted pics of a truck he lowered like yours, but he raised the steering box above the frame rail to counter the bump steer problem. You might care to follow this route, as you have the front end all stripped down. If you connect the steering and bounce the front end up and down with no shocks (you have to stand on the frame rails and get a rhythm going..) you will see if either the wheels or the steering wheel is trying to turn. This should give you a forewarning of potential bump steer issues. Anyway, great score for what you paid.
Nice man! The Toyota box is definitely on my to do list also Thanks for the info....I went ahead and shortened up the steering arm so that it sits level. I am going to see what happens like it is. It seems to be a hit or miss thing. Some guys say they've driven them as is for years without an issue and some say they can't even go around the block without hellacious bump steer. Time will tell I suppose.
Got the truck more or less ready to go just before the snow flies and I put her away. The majority of the mechanical work is done. I am just waiting on the driveshaft to get back to me so I can take her for a drive. The drop is complete though. Ended up being a total of roughly 4 1/2 inches up front and 6-7 inches out back all with simple axle flipping and frame notches. I was able to reutilize the stock rear shock mounts simply mounted a little differently and use the shocks the truck had on it. For the front I had to order some Bilsteins that were the appropriate shorter length. The 'lil 272 is buttoned up and ready to run but has some major plans in it for this winter. Going to be getting a Tri Power intake and a pair of small turbo's mounted up 50's style. Going to keep it a simple street cruiser so I will be running low boost and pump gas. I'm not trying to make her faster...just cooler. Anyway here is a pic of the truck sitting on the ground with the sheetmetal all buttoned back up and the the new steelies and rubber. They just simple black the way I bought them but will be getting a color change with the rest of the truck this winter. This is a bad small pic but I will get some good ones up soon. The rear tire is a little photo shopped since I was messing with it trying to get a feel for how a bigger tire would look.
Nice progress on your truck. Good score. 57's are cool, Dean Moon liked them, well, almost. His was a 58-9....
That thing is killer! Those are 235 /75/R15's all around. Probably gonna go to a 205/75/R15 on the front though. I'm thinking that if I crank the wheel and hit a bump at the same time I'm gonna be into the fender.
Those are 235 /75/R15's all around. Probably gonna go to a 205/75/R15 on the front though. I'm thinking that if I crank the wheel and hit a bump at the same time I'm gonna be into the fender.[/QUOTE] I'm running 205 in the front and 235's in the rear. My truck was lowered 4.5" in the front and 6" in the rear. Even though my truck is level it appears to be tail dragging. The pic on my profile is an old photoshop. I would prolly do 215s in the front. Ill get some decent pix of my truck so you can see the difference.
And to think I paid almost that much for my 57 grill. I still need the internal pieces, headlight buckets, etc. to make it work. Great truck. Mine started as a 6 banger also and is still mutating. Anyone have the inner pieces besides the grill for a 57? Larry
Curios, with all these tire sizes being thrown out, is everyone mounting them on the standard 8" rim? or running different width rims? Thanks, Steve in Modesto
Standard size wheel on these trucks was only 5.5" or 6" wide. Some later,much later...4x4`s and Bronco`s came with 8"`s though.
Maybe I was thinking of running 8" rims, and that's where I got the number. However, with the different width tires, you're still running the stock rim width, front and back?
Here is a better pic. Unfortunately my rear air shocks don't wanna hold air. Usually I run them at 80psi which brings the rear up almost 2 inches. I think I'm gonna add a 2" drop axle in the not so distant future