Anyone installed this in a 56? Would you recomend a source and was it a bolt on app. or does it require welding. What kind of ride did it produce? Thanks

 

You're not going to find a bolt in 4 link for anything. At a minimum you have to weld the link brackets onto your axle housing. Unless you are trying to stop axle wrap, there's not much of a reason to run a linked rear suspension on a truck.

Chuck P
www.oldjeep.com

 

I have thought about installing a 4-link and done some research for my own 56. I've talked to many Effie owners who run one and all of them like it a lot.
A 4-link rear holds pinion angle steady thoughout the suspension movement and centers the rear end positively. It is, therefore a good choice for racing performance (launches) and can be "tuned" to do anything the use of your truck demands. It is a very flexible setup. This seems to be the preferred setup for air ride suspension.
The ride quality depends almost entirely on the spring/shock combo (coil-overs, bags, etc).
There are bolt-on 4-link applications made specifically for later model Ford trucks that MAY go on a 56, especially if you have a later model 8" or 9" housing. I've seen them advertised in magazines. Most of the applications use welded connections of the rear 4-link brackets to the axle housing. This style is typical for the people I have talked to.
What rear end are you running? Why are you considering a 4-link?

 

A 4 link only centers the rear end if it is a triangulated 4 link. Most of the kits sold for cars and little trucks are parrallel 4 links and use a 5th link (panhard) to keep the axle somewhat centered.

If the main concern is pinion angle, a single ladder bar on the passenger side is the easiest solution.

Chuck P

 

Thanks guys, maybe I had better rethink this one if it is not going to be a significant improvement in ride and handling, not concerned about traction per se, just a good ride

 

I installed a 4 link on my 55. Pretty easy to do except the Welding to the Axle. Had a Hot Rod shop do that for me. Didnt feel like trusting my life with my welding capabilites. I could try to email you the directions to mine. I think mine is a CPP. Couldnt tell you about the ride. Havent got it on the road yet still building.

 

I am in the process of working on a 4 link for my 60 F100. I plan to use the triangulated 4 link as it its less side to side movement of the axle, but more work to install, where as the parallel 4 link is easier to install but you have to install the panhard bar.
http://www.airride.com/productinfo/air4link.asp Triangulated setup
http://www.airride.com/productinfo/a...k_parallel.asp parallel setup


Here is a link to some info on 4 link setups

http://www.airride.com/techarticles/...nktechinfo.asp

both are good setups and have pro's and con's on them...just personal preference

Glack

 

I have a 2000 Silverado with airbags. Since I had to get rid of the rear leaf springs I put a 4 link with a pan-hard bar. I got everything from Air Ride Technologies http://www.ridetech.com because they had a bolt in kit for the Silverado. Air Ride Technologies is the best in the air ride business in my opinion.

Anyway your ride with be different but I don't know if I would say better. It definately eliminates axle wrap and wheel hop caused by it. It smoothed out or eliminated wheel hop on washboard roads (believe it or not some parts of the freeways around here are not very smooth). I think these are all positive effects.

The only negative thing I can think of is it is softer (floaty) than the springs but this is a side effect of the kind of air bags and shocks. The rear of a truck is very light so Air Ride Technologies seems to prefer to use the small taperd Firestone bags. If you use the big convoluted bags they won't compress and the ride will be very stiff.

One nice thing is that because the panhard prevents the axle from moving side ways, except for the tiny amount caused by the change in angle of the panhard as the axle moves up and down, I was able to get a very tight fit between my tires and the fenders. I could never have done this with leaf springs only. I can take a corner at any speed and the wheels do not budge. But I guess that you could add a panhard bar to an axle with leaf springs if you wanted to eliminate sideways movement.