Suspension upgrades?
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Freshman User
Joined: Apr 2015
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Suspension upgrades?
Hey yall i got me a dumb idea after my friend took me out in his shoe box mazda miata on an auto cross track and it got me thinking how hard is it to work up the suspension in theses old trucks? I got s 73 f250 ive had since i was 16. I just droped in a built 390 thats maried to a 3 speed top loader with a dana 60 rear end. I got leaf springs in the back and coiled springs in the front. Ive done some googling and digging on these forums but never haf much luck. And ideas yall got to get me going down the right path are greatly appriciated. I know the old girl will never handle like a track car but id like to see if i can get it to keep up with some of the new stuff they got out these days. Thanks in advance yall
Fleet Owner
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 20,678
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From: NorCal
- Make it a shortbed and lighten it as much as possible.. within reason.
- Ditch the leaf springs and go with truck arms.. boxed and welded
- For the front some sort of IFS with rack N pinion steering.
- Massive front and rear sway bars.
- Adjustable ride height and tuneable shocks.. KONI, QA1, Bilstein
- Low profile and sticky tires .. Bridgestone Direzza or Yokohama rubber
- Aluminum wheels
- TKO five speed with road race gearing
- The biggest Wilwood, Brembo, or Baer brakes that you can afford
- EFI, headers, and cam for low-end torque.
Postmaster
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,553
Likes: 10
HIO has a very full and complete list.
If you want go in stages, front springs (stiffer), front sway bar (biggest you can find & fit), decent disc brakes up front and really good shocks all around. Also the lower profile wheels & tires. Probably 18".
Rear leafs can work surprisingly well and rear drums will hang in pretty well until you start making repeated stops from triple digits.
If you want go in stages, front springs (stiffer), front sway bar (biggest you can find & fit), decent disc brakes up front and really good shocks all around. Also the lower profile wheels & tires. Probably 18".
Rear leafs can work surprisingly well and rear drums will hang in pretty well until you start making repeated stops from triple digits.
Elder User
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 854
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I was stationed in Japan about 15 years ago, and there was a Japanese guy with a 67-68 chevy truck drift racing up the mountains of yamaguchi prefecture nearly every weekend. He had a basically stock frame and suspension, albeit lowered, wide tires with a lot of camber up front, with a lot of add-ons like sway bars and adjustable side links and stuff. And a turbo LS motor set waaaay back in the frame to take advantage of COG. He was pretty competitive against silvias, skylines supras and other rear wheel drive import garbage.............but I think personally he had way too much time and effort into trying to turn a truck into a race car. It can be done with great success, how much do you want to spend, and are you willing to sacrifice its truck worthiness?.................You can score a cheap fox body mustang or mid to late 70s/80s Camaro/firebird and make it handle like a Ferrari much more cheaply and efficiently and crush the import guys. Better, you can score a late 70s to mid 90's vette already complete with wide tires, independent wishbone suspension, huge swaybars, and a good COG any day of the week for far less than the cost of a suspension upgrade on your truck, and still be hurting Hondas, mashing mazdas and smashing subies for ultra cheap.
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Joined: Apr 2015
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Thanks everyone for the great responses. Yall really took that and ran with it. Im not sure if ill go quite as far to sacrifice the utility of the truck but you guys have really given me some stuff to think about.
Thread Starter
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Freshman User
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
Thanks everyone for the great responses. Yall really took that and ran with it. Im not sure if ill go quite as far to sacrifice the utility of the truck but you guys have really given me some stuff to think about.
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