HI guys im new hear and glad to have found you all. I ve just bought bought the truck ive wanted scince I fell in love with fords. about 16 years ago. its a 1955 F 100 its not perfect but soon it will be hopfuley with some of your help. It needs some suspension and break work id like to up grade the breaks to disk break and up grade the suspension. I am not opposed to indpendendent front end but all i keep finding is these kits with chevy parts rotors and calipers. I WANT TO KEEP IT ALL FORD PARTS. so with that being said I am not opposed to keping the solid axle eather but really like the idea of the adjustable ride hight of air bags. can that be done with the stock leaf springs? does any body know of what ford parts I can use to up grade to disk breaks and stay all ford motor co?
You could look into the CPP disk brake kit. Here's a link: part number 4856DBK5.5 IIRC, there's a how-to section about this swap. But the page may have been "upgraded" since then. It uses '73-'96 F150 front disc brake rotors.
finding Ford calipers that work for this could be tough.
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"We are holding our own."--Ernest McSorley
The Good1948 F1: Flattie on the stand
The Bad1987 TC: Test fitting drivetrain
And the Ugly1962 Fairlane: Out in the cold
Keeping it all Ford is about next to impossible as ford does not make a user friendly caliper. A new caliper may be adaped but why reinvent the wheel. You cannot beat the dual pin slider of a GM unit. Most kits today are a hodge podge of mixed parts. A caliper does not care what it is on and if you dont want a chevy logo on in grind it off.
For your axle look up Steve or Adam at ICMenu they were just profiled in Rod & Custom for dropping axles. Steve hangs out in the 61 to 66 forum (elpolacko)
Air bags and leafs dont work together for dropping as leafs are mounted at two ends with an elipse between.. Bags need to work off a pivot and act as the fulcrum to drop.
Garbz
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64 F100 "Christine" 472 EFI C6 and mean
63 F100 Uni Custom under construction 4" off the pavement and built to drive DOHC, EOD.
69 F250 Crew Hiboy 360 435. Driver.
05 Escape XLT
IFS and air bags?? What happened to keeping the very smooth ride of an original suspension? With a drop axle, lower shackles. fliped hangers and removing some leaf springs you still can have a nice low stance and that original smooth ride. I see it as having your cake and eating it to. Hate to go but its off to the chiropractor to get some work done.
Do a search on this forum for front clip conversions. There is a lot of info pros and con for something like an LTD or Mustang II front suspension. That gives you power steering, disc brakes with coils in front, etc.
The only way that I could see keeping it all Ford would be to clip the frame using a later model car IFS. I even kept my 53 suspension all Ford by using rear leaf springs from a 88 Ranger.
IM withya on that one bud if I wanted a chevy Id owen one it is plane and simple. thanks for the help guys I might rob that town car or a f 150 for the front end.
IM withya on that one bud if I wanted a chevy Id owen one it is plane and simple. thanks for the help guys I might rob that town car or a f 150 for the front end.
Who said anything about Chevy? Non-Ford does not equate to Chevy...the point being that in today's market manufacturers are fabricating almost everything to match or replace the OEM parts. Heidt's, TCI, Fatman's, etc all build Mustang II IFS to the original Ford geometry. Strange, Currie, et al also build 9 inch "Ford" rearends. Dart, Edelbrock, Holley, etc all build engines and components that mirror the Ford OEM components yet improve on the design/performance. Steel and fiberglass body components are provided by various vendors, none of which are associated with another automobile company. I don't think that anyone is so naive as to believe that every component in a Ford vehicle was manufactured by Ford themselves. I can understand why a person would want to "restore" a vehicle to the exact configuration it had when it left the factory...if that's not the goal then where is the line drawn? Do the axle bearings have to be lubricated with grease from a can with FOMOCO on the label? What makes a stamped steel production a-arm from a mass-produced Ford vehicle better than a TIG-welded stainless steel assembly that was fabricated specifically for the target vehicle? How many of us are driving around in trucks that have Brembo, Cardone, NAPA, or any other mix of aftermarket components?
As Fomoko 1 said about not wanting to go there...I don't advocate building a complete F100 from aftermarket parts as this individual did; but by the same token I don't see the rationale in NOT using them at all in an effort to repair or improve the performance of your Ford truck.
In short, anything less of a full restoration, you'll end up needing something off-brand eventually. Believe me, I've tried. However, that said....As long as I still have a Ford engine, trans, rear-end, frame, and body, all is good. I don't think anyone is gonna crawl underneath and say, " HA, you have Chev calipers on a Ford truck! What were you thinking!?" Well, I was thinking safety....for myself as well as others on the same road.
EDIT: by saying "Believe me, I've tried" means I used to think keeping it all Ford was the only way to go, but I have been enlightened to think otherwise.
__________________
"We are holding our own."--Ernest McSorley
The Good1948 F1: Flattie on the stand
The Bad1987 TC: Test fitting drivetrain
And the Ugly1962 Fairlane: Out in the cold
I am taking the grandpa's hammer approach to this refurb of my truck. You know the guy who talks about how he inherited his grandpa's hammer and how good his grandpa's hammer is.
"Why", he says, "It's such a good hammer, I have replaced the handle 3 times and the head twice."
Aftermarket MII for the front is close enought to keeping it Ford for me. The rear is totally custom.
Keeping Ford under the hood is the big thing for me here.
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Where's the cookies??
BACA, Central Oklahoma Chapter
No Child Deserves to Live in Fear.
1956 F-100 289 w/ 460 warming in the wings.
1999 ML-430 The only one that's bone stock.
1987 FXSTC 88 inch - too many mods to list.
2006 FLHXI - 95 inch Stage II
With a drop axle, lower shackles. fliped hangers and removing some leaf springs you still can have a nice low stance and that original smooth ride. I see it as having your cake and eating it to. Hate to go but its off to the chiropractor to get some work done.
