ok so its been another month and i have had way to much stuff going on at the house for me to go and work on the truck like i wanted to. But i did get up to austin and worked on it some. i have pulled the np435 and 205 apart and got a nasty little surprise. The PO had some how sheared off all but three of the bolts holding the tailshaft adapter onto the np205. So it all about killed my entire day drilling, tapping, reverse drilling, and just about every other trick that me and my dad knew of to get the broken bolts out of the t-case.

I also picked up a tranny adapter for the c6. I got it from a guy in the local yard who when i called said he pulled it off of a c6/205 combo that was in one of his 78 f-250's. I then proceded to ask how many of these trucks he had and he said oh....bout a dozen. So i then very hapily decided that a field trip was in order to check out just exactly what this fine gentlemen had in stock. When i get there i went around back and he had already pulled a gator up and threw me the keys and said to have fun and to just let him know if i need the forklift or torch. He then pointed me toward the back of his lot and away i went. I got over the hill and saw the most amazing site i have ever seen. It was a gold mine of f-150's, f-250's and two f-350's. All of which were no later then 79. My first mission was obviously to scout out the 350's for the holy grail, which knowing my luck were already stripped out of the trucks. So i went about my business and started to look at the trans/t-case combos. i found 4 trucks with the c6/205 combo, but all of which had the short 5.75 adapter on them. So i left and called it a day, telling the owner i would be back next saturday bright and early. I get there that following saturday and start my searching again. I didnt find anything that was pertinant to my build, but as i was b/s'ing with the owner his delivery truck pulls up and I just randomly glance over the trucks on the rig, and much to my amazment i was standing there staring face to face with a 79 f-350 4x4 xlt. The owner saw my glazed over face and asked what i was staring at. I then told him that it was exactly what i was looking for. He looked at the truck and then turned to me and said something that made me feel like a damn school kid agian. "500 bucks". I very calmly pulled out my wallet and set down 5 crisp new 100 dollar bills, (which i brought cause i knew that i wasnt going to go home empty handed this time, but never in my wildest dreams would i come across the holy grail of all trucks.) Keep in mind all of this was before the truck was even inventoried so he goes through the paper work while im looking over my new single cab beauty, and he comes back and says well i've got some good news and some bad news. I asked what the bad news was first and he said that he wouldnt have the title to the truck for a few days.......he then said that I should go help the driver unload the truck to find out the good news. I walked outside and my truck is next to be unloaded, i waited for the driver to pull the forklift back up, but instead he gets out of the lift and walks up the trailer, gets into the truck, fires it up and backs it off of the trailer. i was just standing there . So long story short i now have a 79 f-350, 79 f-250 and a 78 f150. I dont know what was better, the fact that i just scored a running, driving f-350 or the look on my wifes face as i pulled into the driveway in a new truck. Man was she pissed....until i told her how much i paid for it. Then she just looked at me and (this is the god's truth) "honey....take me for a spin"

After talking with my dad, we decided to keep up with the build of the 250 as planed and then turn our attention to the 350 after were done.

So after all that im back were i started with a couple of questions.
1st....The only adapter i could find was the short tailshaft adapter for the c6. Is this going to cause problems for me?
2nd.... I have been a member of the fullsizebronco forum for many years and came across a vendor selling a shackle flip kit that caught my attention and wanted to get some opinions on wether it was worth it.

Here is the post.....

Nothing on a truck, I would have made these a few years ago if I had a FSB.....They were sent out to be tested this afternoon but these are pretty close to what we will be offerring if there are no problems and I don't forsee any at this point. They were very easy to make but take about 20-30 minutes to weld, less if we are making 50 pair.......They are welded on both sides all the way around, about 50" of weld each and we use a 350 amp machine to assure serious penetration.





As you can see we have done away with the "female style" shackle receiver end and went with a much stronger design. This design allows the use of a non Ford specific loose shackle that is 2" wide and 3/8" thick. The Brackets have 2 mounting positions rather than the 3 I had planned, making 3 left too little room for the hanger itself in the position I wanted it.

The position is angled forward to accept the force from the direction it originates. The 2 position mounting options are the stock position and 1 1/2" in front of it to allow for a reasonable shackle angle when using lift springs. The entire bracket is made of 3/8" material, the bushing sleeve is 2" x .25 wall DOM and encased within the 3/8" plate by a rim all the way around so it can't rip out and is always perfectly in line with the rest. The Bushings themselves are 1 1/2" in the minor diameter so you can flex them hard without tearing up the bushings and the bushing shoulder is 1/4" thick for the same reason. Due to the crossmember location we needed to make the frame internal strengtheners seperate and they are round to distribute the load most evenly, they are essentially a 2" diameter washer but we make them 3/16" thick to better match the material thickness they are protecting.

We would recommend removing the gas tank to install them and weld the internal strengtheners on for absolute strength. If you want to make it easy weld the nut on at that time also and use a lock washer on the outside. They mount through the stock rivet holes and after removing the gastank should take no more than 15 minutes to install.

Everything in the picture will be included including the shackles, on the shackles we will offer either a 4" or 5" option. The Brackets are 4 1/2" over stock and we will offer a 6 1/2" option if anyone wants it.

These are big but they are not huge and clunky like the rest I have seen and they will have our lifetime unlimited wharantee too! I originally said we should be able to make them for $160-165 a pair and with the recent increases in steel costs I am going to have to be on the high end of that estimate at $165 a pair but that will include the shackles so that saves you anywhere from $50-100 depending on the shackles you would have bought from another company! These are made to the standard Ford spring width but we can make them to match any spring width you want, just give us a little notice.....


Sorry for the lengthy post, but that how my last 30 days have gone. I'll post back up on monday with progress shots.

 

Whoa! Nice find rocessk8r2! So you bought an XLT F350 4x4 with title, running for $500??
Damn, may we all find deals like that!
Interesting thread. I have a question; what is the min. height needed for a cross over steering w. D60 leaf?
And, is the crossover with heim joints street legal? (guessing it depends on local authorities)

 

Hey Rocessk8r2, awesome find dude! You didn't by chance see if he did have any holy grails sitting out there under any of the other trucks did you? JUst curious, if he does, depending on what part of TX you're in, maybe we can work something out. Just a thought. Thanks!

 

I've personally never heard of heim joints being street legal or illegal for that mater. But thats here in Texas. As for the min ammount of height for cross over I would have to guesstimate after looking and searching through all the posts i could find, would be around 4 in min. I cant remember off the top of my head but it has to do with the tie rod making contact with either the frame or the leaf spring itself if you dont lift it high enough.

On the 250 i just installed the milled, drilled, and tapped passenger knuckle with a steering arm, but i'm also using 6.5" lift leafs for a 99-04 superduty. So i cant really speak with extreme precision, but from what i read alot of people stated that 4" was the min, if i remember correctly. Maybe 75F350 will post up with the correct info. He has been my mentor through this whole process.

As for the find i guess i was just in the right place at the right time. I didnt think that the truck was running or had a title, hell i didnt care. I just knew that i wanted that truck and was going to offer him well over $500 bucks for it. The engine is shot and the tranny doesnt like to go into 1st or 3rd so it was intersting driving the ol' girl home, but for the price and for the condition the engine was in she rode like a dream.

 

tatonka04 yeah i crawled under every truck out there that he had and they were only HD44 left under the old trucks. Only one had the 8 lug outers left and none had shafts left. At the end of the first day i talked with the owner and he said that at one time he had a guy coming out just to pull the axles and axle shafts out of everything he had and that the f350 was the first 70's model truck he had recieved in a long time. The guy was awsome, he told me that he would start looking for them at the auctions and let me know if he came accross another f350 or a snowfighter f250. He himself drove a 73 f100 that he bought brand new in 73. We spent alot of time talking the first night about his truck and the project that me and my dad are working on.

 

Cool. I had to ask, you just never know. Good luck on the project. Me personally, I'm trying to put together a 78 F150 and a 75 F250 at the same time. It's fun, but it takes a while and alot of funds and just looking and waiting for the right parts. Appreciate gettin back. Speakin of, I've gotta get back to work. Talk to yall later, thanks again.

 

EXcellemt find man. I was excited for you when I read your post was alive again, and even more excited as I read futher. Real happy for you. I offered 3000 bucks cash for a running registered california truck here a few weeks ago, and no luck. Guy needs bucks, but must not need then that bad. Oh well I can hope to get half as lucky as you.

You had a question about the short adapter, and any problems related to them, and Yes, there are some issues when using the short adapter. If you use an auto trans, anything , larger than a 1350 (and even the 1350) joint will hit the trans pan. This is a real bummer, and you are better off running a long shaft to help minimize this problem, and get a slightly better d-shaft angle.
This is a small thing, but can become a big problem on the trail, when a small joint fails, and you no longer have the option to run a larger one. If your are in the build stage, you are better off finding the long adapter, and having the option.

Next, the shackles. This look real nice, and somebody has spent quite a bit of fab time. Again they look good, but I have to think twice about the length of the shackle, and the spring choice for the rear. Many springs can extend and may cause that shackle to flip over center and get stuck.(Ask me how I know, lol) MAny aftermarket manufacturers have a stop built in.
I also think a longer shackle would permit more compression, and extension depending on the angle yo start with. At least there are a couple sets of holes that will allow the hanger to be placed in different spots for optimum shackle angle.
Again a nice design, but I also see it is a limited to a narrow spring, so these may not work with a different width spring.
Just an observation. Nothing against the builder of the hanger, Just think it may have some things that still need to be worked out.

Now crossover on a stock truck, well there is two thing to consider. A stock 73 to 77 truck will accept a x-over conversion in stock form, and a 77.5 to 79 truck requires a little bit of lift.
The lower the lift numbers the more work that has to be done. This should use a reasonably flat arm, and spherical rod ends are suggested, simply because they take up far less space than a TRE like the 2026, and 2027.
4 inches starts to free up space, and will allow the use of the large Chebby TRE's.
Over 6 inches, we can start using drop pitman arms, but careful consideration must be taken depending on the spring used, because the spring can compress and hit the pitman arm. Big drop pitman arms are not a great idea here.
8 inches and up start requireing drops on the pitman, and around 10 to 12 inches will need a combo of drop pitman, and a raised steering arm.
Anything over that,,,,,,,, maybe need to get head examined, lol.
Again great find man, now its time to get building, and time to get some pics up. Cant wait to see what you have there.

 

Yeah im just going to have to shell out for the springs in the back and go from there. I should be able to get pics up by monday, seein as how were going out there tomorrow to pull the engine and tranny out of the two wheel drive.
On the spring width the builder says that he can make them for any width spring he just needs advance notice. but i do see what your saying about the shackle fliping over center. Oh well just got to get out there and hash it out. Thanks guys. Post back up on monday with progress. Damn starting to think i should just go ahead and start a build thread.

 

You know, as long as you are installing a shackle flip out back, you will have to remove one set of hangers anyway, why not install some chebby 64 inch springs, and simply change both hangers.
You will be able to run the axle where you want it, and you can get any shackle angle you want, and you can get a fair amount of lift from stock springs.
I have been running 2wd silverado springs out back for a while. Since I installed the winch out back, these have become a little on the light side, and need a little help. Fortunately a friend and fellow member gave me a set from a 2500 (thanks again Chase Truck 754), and this should fix my added weight problem.
You cant beat the super long spring. They ride and flex so well, and for the price (usually close to free) a reasonable alternative to running anything else.
Short springs are just outdated, and do not offer too many benifits.
Just a though before you run out and spend big bucks on replacement springs for the rear.
Spring hangers are cheap (even new from the dealership) consider a chebby hanger up front (rear spring) or even a 97 up F150 hanger. These offer a bunch of lift, and you can eliminate the block and gain a bunch of lift with an almost flat spring. Add some reasonable shackles, or even go back to a long shackle with a tension design and get some mad suspension extension.
Just a little more food for thought.