Welcome to FTE! You have many options and choices to to choose from. There are some things to think about and stuff we need to know, before we can give you our opinion.

1. Who's going to do the work?
2. Do you have experience in Design, Fabrication, Machine, & Mechanical?
3. What experience do you have?
4. Is this your only vehicle?
5. How much time do you have to have the truck down?
6. Do you have someplace to work on it?
7. What kind of tools do you have?
8. Do you have the means to pay for it?

Options you have to think about;

1. Rebuild Orig strait axle
2. Drop strait axle
3. Aftermarket IFS
4. Graft IFS (Jag, Dodge Dakota, Camaro)
5. Body swap (S, ford ranger or manufactured frame for f1)

Other thinks to think about;

1. Steering column
2. Steering box or rack
3. Brakes (Drum or Disk)
4. If IFS on stock frame then boxing the frame

 

If you can, Google Welder Joes. They're up in Wash. , He's got a lot of stuff for our trucks. Tom

 

Could you explain a little more, using toyota parts interests me.

Pictures are in

 

The $1385 price tag seems reasonable until you add in the $200 in shipping plus the cost of the coilovers which are not included. That puts the price back to about 2 grand.

It is a nice kit though and one I would consider if I went the MII route...

 

Hey Sam,
A lot of guys use Toyota power steering kits in place of the stock steering
because it's an easy modification & the unit is just about the same size as
the stock one - it fits. Here is a thread with a lot of the info on the Toyota Steering option.

Ben in Austin

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/3...sion-kits.html

 

These questions are what you need to answer. If you have the skills and time, swappping to an IFS is going to give you the biggest improvement. Assuming you do not want to restore. IFS is pretty much irreversible so you need to decide if that is what you want. IFS can be many options as listed above, I personally kike the Jag route. IFS has a lot of associated changes required such as steering column and potential oil pan clearance.

If you just want a nice driver that sits close to stock height or few inches lower, go the dropped axle and rebuild route. If you want to be much lower and more car like ride, go IFS. IFS will be more time and expense.

 

The honest truth: The OEM axle, either stock or dropped, with rebuilt kingpins, a new set of softer lowering springs with new bushings, proper shocks, and Toyota PS conversion rides and handles 90% as well as any IFS.
One major trap many first timers fall into is deciding to make major changes because it's what was done to trucks in the magazines, on the internet, or recommended by well meaning but without any real world experienced friends. IFS, 4link RS, frame swaps, air bags, big block engines, chopped tops, tilt front ends, are all fine modifications if done for the right reasons by capable people, but so many times the owner has only a because "it's the cool thing to do" reason without a real understanding of the resulting affect on the truck's enjoyment potential, costs, and/or time and work involved. They and/or their SO then tire of the pile of parts taking up all their garage space for years, the continual drain on their bank account, the slavish time devoted and dump the incomplete project for pennies on the dollar.
I suggest doing a needs and wants list, problem you are trying to improve or eliminate for each, and the benefits and deficits of each. Add the costs of each, including any outside labor or additional equipment purchases and how long each modification will take. (truth again: in the real world, modifications cost at least twice what you might estimate and take 3 times as long as you might think)

 

This is by far one of the most insightful posts I have seen in a while. I can vouch for how much motivation it takes to push through such major modifications. I've seen many people get through most of a build only to give up.

In the end though I love the build almost as much as finally driving it. I personally would go for a full replacement suspension out of something else, you may even want to consider going with a full size Chevy front clip. Replacement parts are readily available and cheap. This might not be as big of a concern though depending on how low you plan to go.

 

That $1,600 price tag I gave included $200 shipping and the coilovers.

 

After going back and looking at Welder Joes current ad I see he does NOT include the coilovers at this time and so I apologize to you, Vern, and anyone else I may have misled. I guess I lucked out buying this kit several months ago as adjustable coilovers will probably add at least $500 to the cost. Tom

 

so i have been poking around the forums and have found lots of ideas for the rear end but to alot of options for the front. At the moment i have a 85 3.8l v6 for power.

I'm looking to keep my 8 lugs so the bolt on front disc kit is not looking good at the moment, can only find 5 lug. i can do an explorer or 70's F250 rear axle to get disc on the back. Is there a hub swap or something i can do ?

 

I'm in the middle of installing a Heidt's Mustang II kit and if I would have thought this through a little longer, I probably would have just swapped the steering box with the toyota power steering box because the lack of power steering was my main concern. I know this kit is actually better because of the upgraded suspension but I didn't think the suspension was that big of an issue and the previous owner had already converted the drums to disc on the front of the truck.
Here is a great pictorial gallery of "how to" make the toyota power steering conversion posted by Ernie LeDuc... love it!

Good luck,

Wally

1951 F1 - "Lucille"

 

Hey Wally,
I did the same thing - put in a new Mustang II front end. It's a lot more work than you would think - you have to touch so many systems - steering, brakes, pulling the engine/trans, pulling the wiring, etc.
It's very time consuming. Love your truck.

Ben in Austin

 

Thanks Ben, I love your truck too, especially the blue paint, really stunning color. Since I have the front end apart I've also been "tidying up" the engine compartment. The truck has a late '70's Chevrolet 307 in it but I've been dressing her up like an old 283 (early '60's). We just painted the air cleaner and the valve covers at work (see pics) and they look great. We sandblasted the valve covers, then sanded them, then our painter used a spray applied mask (gripmask) on the raised Chevrolet lettering and sprayed them orange. Once they dried, he cleaned off the masking and clear coated them.
I'm hoping to have everything wrapped up within the next two weeks.

Wally

1951 F1 - "Lucille"

 

here's a more in depth article:
Toyota Steering Box Swap For 1948-1960 Trucks .: Articles