I want about a 5/6 drop on my shortbed 78'. I know the DJM beams offer a 3/4 drop, I could get the rest out by cutting the coils. My question is...

With some of the alignment issues I have read about with the DJM dream beams, are they still the best option for a lowered stance?

 

What is your skill level? Are you able to weld? If so, then a Crown Vic IFS subframe retrofit and an MN-12 IRS would achieve the 5/6 drop.

A more involved way is a Mustang II-style (Heidt's, Fatman Fan, No Limit Engineering, Paul Horton Welder Series) and for the rear a triangulated 4-link, truck arms and panhard bar, or a 3-link with a panhard bar.

 

I am not a welder, but I do have a stick welder available to me and several friends that can do he work. This is going to be more of a budget build, so I would rather use an out the box lowering kit, even if it isn't quite as low as a 5/6.

 

I bought a set of DJM beams and was planning to put them on, then changed my mind and went with a crown vic set up. If you're looking to purchase a set of the DJM beams I have mine I want to part with for a lower price than DJM. I never mounted them to the truck. PM me if you'd like.

 

Ewww. Stick welders are good for farm equipment, rough fabrication , and repairs to get rigs off the trail and back to civilization (IMO). They don't make the neatest welds, especially for a road-going vehicle where neatness and workmanship counts. If I were looking at a rig with spatter and boogers I'd be leery of what else was done without the right equipment.

I'd say keep it simple and stick with lowering beams.

 

hio I hate to stir the pot but a stick weld is stronger than mig weld. and a lot of the time it gets a bad rep. rod selection plays a good part of how the weld looks when done. most of the time when we stick weld its with whatever rod we have laying around(im guilty of this).I am decent with a welder but my oldest brother is the teacher at the local votech school in welding and his stick welds look better than most mig weld even mine and I am pretty respectable.


as far as everything else I agree beams easier vic better in the end. that being said i am currently on djm beams but seriously considering the switch.

but at the end of the day its still a truck and part of me wants it to handle and be like a truck. im 50 50 on the whole deal vic vs beams

 

also for the extremely frugal build. you could redrill the mounting points of the beams and massage the cross member then cut some coils out. there was a droppedf100 on here that did that with bags and factory beams iirc. may look into that if wanting to be cheap.

also look into how the late 80 early 90s rangers are lowering and apply the same tech to the bigger,older truck.

 

No problem... there are always exceptions. However, we would probably concur that 95 percent out there using a stick welder create a sloppy mess. Strength is slightly separate issue. Kudos to your brother for being a pro at being good at both.

 

I hate to see anyone mislead on welding.

Stick welding is best suited for deep penetration welds on thick material, for multiple pass groove welds.

All the factory Ford stick welded joints I have seen look like crap. Sure they are solid, but they look like a monkey did the work.

If you are an excellent stick welder, go ahead and make great welds, then scrape off the slag, and hope the greater heat did not cause excessive shrinkage and warp everything all to hell.

Mig is ideal unless you want to spend hours tig welding on your frame. (nothing wrong with that).

As long as you get full penetration through your material, a mig weld is just as strong as a stick weld.

Don't take my word for anything about welding. Go find welding tips and tricks dot com guy and take some mig, tig and stick classes at a community college. Forget the private technical "school" places that take you for a ride.

An F100 frame is not all that thick, anyone with some experience should be able to lay a nice full pen weld on that frame, and not hurt anything.