Sure have, thats a good point, but will also be decided by what rearend they run. this is with a 96 cv rear.

 

Better pic there. Now everyone can get a better idea of what the swap looks like overall. As mentioned in the other threads linked, nobody has really came forward with a finished example yet.

(I edited my previous post)

 

Fat Fendered ,
Get ready for a ton of questions from everyone. Thanks for posting this info, hopefully one of the moderators will add this to the IFS Alternatives. Check out the pics on his profile. Seems to be one of the easier options out there except for the somewhat limited wheel options and dropping the of the front.

 

looks awesome Fat fendered, welcome to the ``Victoria secret club!!!`` whats under your cab! came up with that slogan a few weeks ago!

 

I would not give up entirely on classic looking rims either. I picked up a pair of 15x7 inch Smoothies last fall at a swap meet that had five inches of backspace. Something like that might fit the CV after all...

 

In reading about this swap, I read about swapping out to "modular" spindles, which drops 1-1/2" off each side. I do not know what these spindles are, does anybody else? I could not find anything on a search. 3" narrower track width makes this a lot nicer.

I have been considering this swap, or the Wide Track kit from No Limit Engineering for my '55.

 

Havi (or anyone wanting to chime in) - I'm not a scientist or engineer by any stretch of the imagination, so Im trying to learn whatever I can about this illness called "Classic Ford Trucks." I have a question about front/rear tracking. I did sort of ask this in another thread but only got one "not positive" answer. Maybe I should start a separate thread?

What issues are there if the rear track is wider then the front? And how much wider causes an issue if there is one?

 

My f1 shop manual shows 58.08" for the front, and 60.00" for the rear. So the rear is already wider than the front. They share the same wheels front and rear. The CV front is wider: about 63.4" trackwidth with its stock wheels (heavy offset) and 68" with no wheel offset. That's almost 10" wider in the front than a stock F1. So if I held a tape measure to the front tire at the top, outward, and checked it at 5", do I hit the fender? If it does, then I would say the CV suspension is too wide for stock F1 wheels. Take those wheels off, and put CV wheels on (obviously you can't because the lug pattern won't let ya) and remeasure. If the CV wheels have that much offset, they'll sit inside the fenderwell quite a bit (they'd probably rub the draglink, too). The narrower front track then has extra weight over the outside of the wheel, so that as you go driving into a corner at speed, you'll feel the truck want to lean to the outside, feeling like it still wants to go straight, and into the wall, or whatever remains outside of the corner. So back to the original wheels of the F1: the cornering will be more stable as the wheel would sit further outward, as Ford designed it. Too far outward, then you put added stress on the wheel bearings. Now with the CV suspension up front, everything sits wider, and in theory, should be more stable. However, you get into tires rubbing the inside of the fender due to the natural lowering the suspension adds when mounted to the F1 frame. It may not even allow you to turn the wheel lock to lock. You could put steering stops on the arms, but your turning radius might not be very good. I haven't even added in the camber, toe, caster, ackerman, scrub radius, bumpsteer, or any other of those engineering terms, lol.

Now for the rear: The rear axle at 60" with original wheels fit inside the fenderwell pretty evenly. That's with zero offset. Now without doing anything to the stock axle, I put the same wheels from the front of the CV on (again can't due to lug pattern) they would sit further inboard than stock will they rub the bedsides? I don't know that, but if the near 10" of total offset is put on a stock axle, it's like narrowing the rear 5" a side, which is narrower than a '66 Bronco, which I know rubs with stock wheels. So to compensate for the offset, a wider axle would need to be put in the back. That is what that picture by 'fat fendered' shows. And is why I asked of he did anything to the rear. He did, and if he was to put a stock zero offset wheel on that CV rear axle, it would either hit the fender lip, or stick out below it. He has compensated (did the measurements and math) for everything, but in doing so, he needs the offset wheels, and what styles are available with that offset is relatively limited. Before he explained he used a CV rear, I expected a stock rear width axle to be there, and with the offset wheels, they would sit too far inboard. If this was the case, as the pickup goes into a corner, again the weight being more outward, would cause the pickup to feel like the back end wants to kick out after rounding into the corner. Again, not a good feeling. If you ride in a railroad truck with the wheels inboard to ride on a railroad track, take it for a spin, and see how fast you want to go riding through turns. I don't recommend doing that. The other alternative to the rear, is to run wider wheels, much wider, as most hotrodders like to do, but the wheel center is balanced in the middle with little or no offset (carry two spares? ). Great for straight lines, not so much for rain, snow, ice, and twisty roads. The end result here, is that you must plan the build to consider the front and rear tracking to be within an inch or two of each other. 4x4's and FWD's are another whole ball of wax, too. Now I'm confused, lol. Axracer can probably explain it better, though.

 

I loved the thought of this swap when i first saw it from the 70's forum....Frame rails on my 55f100 are 34 inchs this is perfect...so what if i have to run modern wheels. Yeah you can work around the wideness with offset tires. Then, as Havi is talking about, you start having to worry about the rear end. What once was to good to be true...seems a lot less shiny. Seems like an awful amount of work to try and fit something in that doesn't really want to be there. There are other IFS systems that one can get that isn't a hassle every time you turn around. I admit, its a sexy looking install. I would love to see this done on my 55. But until someone comes up with some better work around's my Cordoba IFS will stay where it is.

 

I like it...So where are the models to go with the trucks ? I can't find them on search...

 

JRMack

So what's stopping people from taking the rear diff from the CV? Mostly everyone upgrades to 8.8 or 9'' anyway. Most rear fenders are rusted and plenty of companies provide wider fenders. Just my 2 cents.

 

OK, I think I have this. PLEASE correct me if I’m wrong!

Having the front/rear tracks different, by too large an amount, is not a good thing. In a corner the truck will want to go straight if the front is wider, turn too quick if the rear is wider.

My hope was to run the wheel/tire combo I took off my ’65 F100 a couple years ago when it bit the dust since they were new. They have a 4 ½” backspace (offset) and I know for a fact the wheels will rub the bed with a stock width rear end. (I know because they rubbed the ’65 if I loaded it.) I could put a wider rear to solve this problem but then the front, which I’m keeping mostly stock, would be too narrow.

So basically I need to find an Explorer rear to put under the back and then when I upgrade the front to disc brakes, get the correct bolt pattern. Then new wheel/tires.

 

Maybe this will explain a little bit: https://www.rsracing.com/tech-wheel.html#backspace


So if you have a 4.5" backspace, my guess would be it is an 8" wide wheel.... which means zero offset. But via the link, and you measure the wheel width, the table will tell you how much offset you likely have. The CV wheels have a lot of positive offset built in.

 

Thanks for the link. It will give me something to read tomorrow since I won't be going anywhere in this snow.

Pretty sure the rims are 7" but not positive so I will do some measuring. Also tomorrow.

 

Just looked on crownvic.net and the 2003+ wheels are 50 or 54mm positive offset. Base those numbers on the link I posted, and you'll see a 7" wide wheel would have 6" of backspace. Holy off kilter, batman!