I'm wanting to upgrade my rear suspension to something that'll ride a bit smoother, unlike the stock lumberwagon suspension. Also wanting to lower my rear end a bit so it's level with the front (Which has a mustang front end)

A picture of my truck to kinda get an idea what I'm working with

I'm looking at this kit thinking this would be the way to go, but being as it's parrallel rather then triangulated, I've read that you need a panhard bar. I notice the kit doesn't include one, has anyone done one of these before? Where did you get the panhard bar from? I'm liking this kit more then the TCI kit because of the price, I just want an upgrade, not break the bank.
1948 56 Ford Pickup Truck Parallel 4 Link Four Bar Kit | eBay
Also, what's the kit like to install? I'm not a rookie with fabrication and installing things like this, but by no means a pro.

Thanks for any insight.

 

Well it really depends how much work you want to do and what the goals are for the truck.

If you are just going for ride and stance you can get some Eaton springs to lower it by about 3 inches but you are looking at about 400 plus shipping. You can go fancy with a custom kit or do an IRS swap. The sky is the limit. I have seen plenty of people remove some leafs from the stock spring and put the axle above the spring then clearance the frame. Or just move the rear spring mount so the lower holes in the perch bracket now reside in the older upper holes then make a bracket that sits on the frame and allows the upper perch holes to mount into it. Obviously the last way is the cheapest way and people are getting plenty of drop without the headache of fabbing up a custom kit.

 

Remove some leaves than adjust the shackles
to what ever ride height ya want. Cheap and
easy with little or no exspence. It's a truck. It
will never be a car or ride like one.

 

I don't want to sound cocky or rude, but uhhh yeah It will ride like a car If I do suspension changes. My front end is already running a cars suspension, and it is a massive difference. I have removed 2 leafs and it didn't make much of a difference... Should I remove more?

If I move my shackles up, won't I be interfering with the box and need to start cutting away at it?

 

Just the other day a Guy on here did this and trimmed
the top off the shackles. Not so sure this is the way to go
either. Are there not spring places that will sell a one leaf
easy ride spring to replace the hard ride pack?

 

My truck is currently at a welding shop getting a tranny cover made, so I can't go look at my shackles, but that's definately a possibility. If I can get somewhat of a smoother ride out of my springs then I'm all for keeping them.

Thanks for the insight.

 

A four-link parallel bar system is great for going in a straight line, Only. A triangulated 4-bar is the ticket for the street. Many examples on FTE'ers trucks, browse around.

Eaton doesn't recommend mono-leaf suspensions, even tho they make them for some applications: Mono-Leaf Springs - EATON Detroit Spring

Your axle tubes will likely hit the frame about the same time as the pumpkin hits the bed. Flipping the axle to the top-side of the springs is the quickest, cheapest way to drop the rear, in combination with revised springs.

 

This is a friendly place so take my comments as friendly advice: No, your truck will never ride like a car unless you are comparing it to a 50's car. Too top heavy with high center of gravity and high roll center, Driver (and passenger's) butt to high above roll center. poor F-R weight distribution (it's an unloaded very nose heavy pickup truck!). you'll likely put the wrong (cheap) shocks on it. Sway bars not the right size/mismatched.
I don't understand that kit, how can you bolt on a 4 link and prevent axle rotation??? What is the rest of the suspension, not the stock leaf springs I hope (which would make it some strange 4 traction bar setup with tremendous bind, not 4 link)? Parallel 4 link needs a panhard bar to control side to side axle movement. No instructions???? NO THANKS!!!
IMHO (being considered somewhat a suspension guy) parallel 4 links are a drag racing suspension with significant compromises/deficits when (miss)used for the street.

 

Thanks Ax. You said what I was trying to say so much better.

It's an old truck and will always be an old truck. And yes several
thousand dollars plus a multitude of man hours will give you an
operational four wheel independent suspension. And it will ride
way better. But it is still an old truck that is comfortable to about
100 MPH on the interstate or Autobahn. And like Ax said, do you have
the know how to dial this system in? Myself I would need a class or
literally go to a suspension school to put an IFS/IRS into an old Ford
truck properly.

I just can't see the expense of the full independent install for
what will be gained that could be done so much cheaper with
what we call standard upgrades to the other wise stock suspension.
Duel res/disk brakes, lowering and softer ride. I also think it will
come to the more stock and original these trucks are the better
they will sell. I would buy an F1 with a 300 I6/C6 before I would buy
one with a 350/350. Just saying Bud. It's your build to do how ever ya
want. And we are all here to help with whatever you do.
If ya got the funds to burn than do the suspension as You want.
But Please do not put a GM engine in it. But even if ya do we can and
will help ya find the best engine mounts for it. It's just who we are.

 

Anyone got a link to the thread where the guy
was going to move his shackles higher on the frame
than trim the top so it cleared the bed? Search is a
foreign language to me. It was just a few days ago.

 

Use advanced search function, it is your powerful friend!
1. Go to top of any page, click search in the center of thin blue band below the 3 color FTE logo. (I really do wish they'd change that to look like the tabs they are).
2. Click advanced search at the bottom of the drop down menu that will appear.
3. A large dialog box will appear where you can put in key search terms, select a date range to search, put in a user name if you want to find posts to a topic by a favorite member (Like AXracer ), finally highlite the forum you want to search.
4. Click search now at the bottom of the window.

HINT: general search terms (i.e. "frame swap", or "mustang IFS") may return hundreds to thousands of hits, Great if you want weeks of reading material. Too specific a search (i.e. "swapping a 1925 Hupmobile frame and mustang IFS under a 48 F6 tow truck", "posted in the last week", by "AXracer" in the "body and paint forum") may not get any hits at all!

 

I'm not expecting it to ride like a brand new car, just a bit better then the stock 51 Mercury

I'm really starting to lean towards your guys advice with staying away from 4 link, and keeping my leaf springs. I'm going to search around the forum and try and find some other people that have done it.

I'm not trying to start any fights here btw, just was putting in my piece. Sorry If I came about a bit cocky, we're all here for the same thing!

As for keeping it as close to original as possible, my truck is far passed that. I bought it with the mustang front end and 351 EFI in it. It also has a different rear diff (Not sure what it's out of??). I'm really starting to kick myself for doing that, wishing I would of bought an original with the stock engine. Next time I guess.

 

All is OK!
Do you have a Classic Haulers www.classichauler.com and a Mid Fifty Home - Mid Fifty F-100 Parts print catalog? Both are free and well worth having, there is a lot more information than just parts listings in both. They are sister companies (each company is owned by one of two sisters). Altho Mid Fifty specializes in 53-56 parts (CH specializes in 48-52 parts) a lot of the information and some of the parts are applicable to the 48-52 as well. There is a chart on pg 142 of the MF catalog that explains all the lowering scenarios using leaf springs, that are mostly applicable to the F1. On pg 145 is an explanation of which leafs to remove to soften the ride and lower the truck.
In this post I explain how to disassemble the springs safely: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...acement-2.html

 

Does anyone know of a thread with someone that's done this? I searched a ton of things but couldn't find what I was looking for.


Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

Which version? this is so commonly done it's almost not mentioned any more.