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No pics, but I saw a 56 on a complete all-wheel-drive Explorer chassis and running gear yesterday. The truck and owner reside in Ohio. It looked very interesting. I might consider an Explorer rear-wheel-drive swap. Anybody else done it? Anybody know the truck I'm talking about? It has a F250 but the builder shortened the bed to standard F100 length.
We have done the explorer 2wd rear-axle swap over this winter, from a '93. Lots of things to consider such as spring perches, narrower axle than the original, wheel swap, and other things I have forgotten. But the chance to get better gearing and a new set of brake components hopefully will make it worth it. We should know in the next few weeks.
There was a guy on here a couple years ago that did that exact swap. I wonder if it was actually that guy that you saw? Can't remember where he was or what his screen name was.
Hopefully it looks better than this one on a Explorer chassis!
Recently I saw a picture of an Explorer with F100 sheet metal (poorly) grafted on the front. I don't recall where I saw it - it may have been on this forum somewhere.
I have a 1954 F100 on a 1994 Ranger chassis. The builder did a pretty nice job with the fabrication. I've been trying to finish it up and straighten out some issues.
With all the aftermarket kits available for everything from IFS suspension, brakes, engine and trans adapters, complete wiring, steering column, etc. I'm not sure what you gain. With the frame swap in the end you have a classic truck on an old Explorer chassis. With aftermarket parts installed on your '56 you can do what you want but everything is new. Swapping the chassis seems like a lot of work for a negative gain.
As for the AWD there is more to making a good AWD vehicle than just a powered front axle and mediocre t-case. I'll leave it at that.
Are there better parts, sure. But one of the major overlooked factors is cost.
You could purchase an entire running explorer for the cost of some of these IFS kits. All depends on your goal and budget. I would rather have a Ford lightning swap, but that's not in the budget right now!
