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Hi There,
Can anyone please advise the best way to lower a completely stock 56 F100 272ci Y Block without cutting frame and to get the lowest stance without compromising suspension and safety. My truck is a classic "Barn Find" and has a double leaf spring rear suspension which I have never seen before (see photos)
I have looked at the leaf spring kits at Mid Fifty's F100 but don't know if these will get me as much as 5" lower without cutting/weldng the frame.
I would appreciate any good quality advice.
The Double leafs on the rear are overload springs they only engage when there is a load on the truck. If you are not going to use it for a work truck remove the upper ones. I have heard that you can remove every other leaf on the spring pack and it will drop it some but load hauling will be reduced. I have an extra set I am going to do that to for the fronts. but you only have a couple of inches up there till you are on the bump stops. If you want it lower then other means are needed IE drop axle and tie-rods or different springs in front all together. Some go to the mono leaf set up but I worry about that. I had a 55 that had a broken spring in the spring
pack and if mono leaf the nothing is there to support you.
You mention cutting/welding the frame...the first thing to remember is that the limiting factor in how low you can go with these rear suspensions is where the top of the differential comes in contact with the bed floor. You can remove leafs, flip shackles, and do other things to lower the back of the truck but if the rearend hits the floor you will not be happy. Take some measurements of the distance from the rearend to the lower side of the floor as the truck sits now and you will know how low you can go without further mods to the frame and bed floor. Here is a pic of my 56...I used the frame notch kit to get the drop I wanted but I had to raise the bed floor 2 inches to get the clearance.
Hi Kurt,
thanks for the reply, I won't be hauling anything with it so will just become a cruiser. I would still be interested in seeing if the kits from MId Fifty's
Straight out of the Barn!!
Thanks Charlie,
good info, looks like you are doing a nice job on your truck. I just bought my truck in Alabama and I am working on shipping it back to. Melbourne Australia, want to load up with some parts before it ship it here.
There have a lot of 56 F100s sent to OZ from SoCal alone. I had a guy from down under out here last year looking at my 56 BBW F100. Looks like you already have a nice stance on your truck...just keep the tire pressure set at that level.
Yes it sits nice on 4 flat tires, just not so good driving and steering!
It is the best looking barn find, one owner truck I have seen in 4yrs of looking so can't wait to get it back home to Oz!
Who do you guys recommend for the best quality repro parts?
I have been looking at Carpenters, Mid Fifty's, Sacramento Vintage Ford and LMC Truck but hard to get all I need in one place Mid Fiftys seem to have it all.
I want to order and ship with the truck.
Hi Guys,
I have had my truck in Australia since late January this year and starting work on it.
I have decided to go with axle flip kit from Mid Fifty's for the rear which should give me 4" drop without notching the frame, with the front, I will go with the down and forward mono reverse eye leaf springs which they state will give me a 5" drop in front. I will be adding new shocks to suit the lowered front & rear and the front end will have all tie rod ends, king pins and bushings replaced.
From what I can see from my research, there shouldn't be any other surprises that I will encounter, but if anyone can see any problems with what I plan to do, please let me know.
I am in the process of ordering my second shipment of parts from the US and want to make sure I have my bases covered.
10-08-2017, 12:32 AM
