Hi guys I have a 71 that had the flex o matic shackle when I bought it, I first used the DJM rear shackle and front hangers, I did install a 4 degree shim to compensate for the pinion angle. Then decided I should have went lower I used a flip kit with a bolt in C-notch.

 

The vacant house has been rented so my obligations are satisfied for the time being. It took three weeks to find a set of tenants with the right qualifications and the young couple and their two daughters moved in yesterday.

As you may know, I picked up a 2WD 71 F250 AKA "Big Red Dick" back in May. I've been dabbling with it occasionally. Nothing heavy...... https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...n-71-f250.html

I'm back to serious work on the LBB.... the Fatman Fab axle flip and the MTS gas tank are first on the list. Here we go.....

 

about time i was beginning to worry about you and LBB

 

'Got the notches installed on both sides. I'm not totally enamored with the accuracy of the C-notches. The instructions and provided template say to use an existing hole for alignment but the bumpstop hole will be 1/4-inch forward of the axle centerline. The fit is okay but not great.

It's supposed to be a bolt-on kit but I welded them in ... plug-welded the mounting holes and then 90° on side and bottom seams. If it were to be bolted on, then the left side was waaay too loose and the right side too tight. They would have never bolted on tight. A BFH plus a Miller 211 took care of that.

We'll see how the rest of the kit installs.... stay tuned.

 

Refinished the leaf springs and hardware.
Applied POR-15 to the frame sections between the leaf spring hangers and both wheel tubs.

Also pulled out the rear axle for wire-wheeling because having a rusty rear end is like... dirty underwear!

'need to pick up some hardware to remount the spring hangers (some nuts and washers walked away!) and conversion coating and red primer for the rear axle. The axle tag is bubbling away in the electrolysis vat.

The paint code stripes are for detail and mean nothing other than the one with the red stripe is for "R" or right side.

 

Where does one get new rear leaf springs? I've only found them on LMC for the rear and they're spendy (of course). Those leafs are looking great! Glad to hear you plan on touching up the rear end, I'm excited to see it!

 

New springs are available from Eaton Detroit Springs: 1967 - 1972 Ford F100 1/2 Ton 2WD Truck Springs - Eaton Detroit Spring

They're spendy too but they are available already with a lower ride height. If the price is scary look at it this way.... fabbing some C-notches is really low buck so put the money towards the springs and go budget with the fabrication part. i wanted to test this kit to satisfy my curiousity about Fatman Fab's technical quality (and provide info for my fellow FTE'ers). What got my interested in this kit was the shock adapters which maintains the suspension travel.

I shot the leafs with Rustoleum Rust Conversion paint after spending some 'quality time' with various wire wheels...... we'll see how it holds up.

 

I haven't taken a tape measure to it but I wonder if flipping the upper shock mount on the frame, like co425 did on his truck, would allow us 2wd guys to run the stock length shocks on lowered trucks?

Good to see you back at this one.

 

Thanks... it's good to get back into the hobby.

No joy with flipping the shock mount.. it's already positioned high up on the frame. Flipping it would shorten the travel.

 

C-notches look great! Good to know you are cleaning up your rear end.
Be careful with that Rust Reformer, it's known to cause cancer in the state of California.

 

Thank you for the link! I see the list is labeled for F100's, are the heavy duty springs good for F250's as well? I tried going to the homepage to see if there was an F250 list but the website wont load for me

 

Here are my shop copy drawings for the leaf spring saddles and the shock adapter brackets. Fab your own C-notches using 4-inch DOM tubing and 3/16ths plate steel to box your frame....

65-69 Ford 100s use Monroe #34817 shocks (loop mounts on both ends). They are OEM spec'ed as front shocks for 63-87 Chevy PUs.

70-79 F100s use Monroe #34899 shock (stud top mount & loop at the bottom). They are OEM front shocks for 75-91 E100 Econolines).

Saddles... The taller saddle (4-inch side) is installed to the rear:



Shock adapters... note that the mount is tapered. I believe it can be simply built square and the shock shimmed with washers on the insides to make up the gap.

 

iIf you make 'em square, make 'em strong. I don't claim to be the engineer type. I claim CougarJohn to be. But IMHO they are made tapered to resist the the sides of the bracket and shock from swaying left/right. If made square with the same guage steel I think the sides of the bracket would fatigue and break. But I'll go with whatever John says.

 

Refinished the rear axle. It's not entirely restoration "correct" but it's close enough. The tag got cleaned up and shot with engine enamel silver. Its 3.50 gears with a 0.68 fifth gear will get me 2000 RPM at 70 MPH....



Ran into an issue after dropping it to the ground. I was wondering why it was at near-stock height and eventually discovered the leafs under the main leafs got wedged under the FOM brackets because the upper swing shackle didn't rotate for the leaf eyes to be directly over the mount. The solution was to clamp the FOM brackets to the leaf springs to make them rotate as the suspension took the load of the truck.

The axle flip netted 5.25 inches of drop and sits level. The nose should come down with dual batteries, full fluids, fenders, and the staggered tire sizes. It's still wearing the PO's 30x9.5x15s...



As of now I'm rather beat so tomorrow I'll hook up the brake line, parking brake cables, shock brackets, and shocks.

 

Nice work HIO