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I am building my 63 F100 Uni to do just that, But it has a specific custom performance built front and rear suspension to accomplish it.

I am using a Dakota cross member from Industrial Chassis (just happened to work there) with an additional 2 inches of frame Z and 2" drop spindles and custom A arms bilstien shocks and custom sway bar. The rear is a custom 24" side link, 65 inch center link to the 9" with bilstien coil overs on the outside of the frame. The owner of IC regularly spanks the unsuspecting on the road with a similar front setup in his 63 Uni, but 1/2" lower...He uses a vette fiberglass single transverse leaf and bilstiens in the back.

And it was not cheap.......I will have about 5K in the frame and suspension when done.

Garbz

 

I'll put my 66 F100 with dropped I-beams against anyone at Infineon Raceway (30 min from my house). Call it yesteryears Craftsman Truck.

 

i dont think that running a mustang II front end would be that much better on the handleing... have you ever seen a pinto or mustang on a street track??? or a race track that has corners like on the street??? you dont usually see them... they are more or less quater mile cars. and as far as i know... mustang2 front suspension, may give you better handleing... but not by much... i agree with david on the first page of this "I'm puzzled as to why so many people buy a truck and then want it to be a car" but this is just my oppinion... as i have never drove a mustang, or camaro or any other old shool muscle cars...

 

I know there are a lot of street rodder types who want more car-like handling. Though turning a truck into a car is not for me, I won't tell these people they are wrong.
The M II suspension was a cheap, easy solution for hot rodders back in the day. The aftermarket really took off and now makes completely new setups based on the M II. These are fine for hot rods, which are generally not very heavy, and mostly just drive on the road or occasionally the dragstrip. However, if you're trying to build a corner-carving sports car, the M II suspension is outdated and actually not very good.
Pintos and M II's handled well, compared to most cars in the 1970s.
By today's standards, they drive pretty much like our old trucks!
The suspension geometry of the M II setup is simply not designed for optimum handling. I road race/autocross a BMW, have studied the M II design as I once considered trying to build a car based on a M II and found that it has it's fair share of design issues.

 

all you would have to do is the same as me, change the engine/tranny/front and rear suspension, and add a hitch,,,,, but you must be naive to think my 43 yo 4,600 (MY a$$) would tow a 10,000lb trailer faster than 45mhp,,,,,,,,,

its called a HOTROD,,,,,,, and as i stated before,, iv already have a 10,000lb trailer hauler, and its got a 7.3 in it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

i think i want to put a 347 in it,,,,,,,,,,,, found a full dressed one for a little over 4,996.98,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Pace Performance Online Virtual Catalog: SuperPage 36
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There are a couple of fiberglass flip fronts for the 61-66 F100 that would take a couple hundred pounds off the front end also. 4,996.98 - Sounds like you're willing to throw some money at this project!

 

I'll just drive mine along at the casual speed posted on the sign and enjoy life.. Thanks just the same

 

Im going to put the 2005 CV front end under my 65 but i dont ever expect it to out handle the cars the town clowns are drivin i just want to lower my truck and get the power steering and disk breaks this seemd to be the easyest and most cost effectiv way to get that. If its a sport truck you are after then i guess the dodge SRT10 is for you.

 

How about taking the cab and bed, and finding a complete car frame to place it on? Anyone done that one? Might as well do it all, and it would be a better base for a sports car than a 60's F100 frame. I still say as much fiberglass as possible - it would help with your center of gravity.

 

My question is this- Where are you wanting to do this kind of driving at? My 65 stock suspension F 100 has a mildly built 352 that I drive daily 30 miles each day to work. I DAILY have at least one ***** that severely underestimates the power of an old FE. Traffic around the greater Kansas City area I'm sure is not the worst in the country, but it does get hairy at times. Bud I can dance in and out of traffic at an average of 75 mph all day long in that truck with 1/2 a pedal left, like it wants more. 100 mph is something my truck might see twice a year, depending how bad Joe a-hole pisses me off in traffic, but I do know it'll do it easily. Is this truck only gonna see some kinda track all the time?

Secondly, 5k for what I assume is a modified 302? If small block is what you want, I am gettting ready to purchase a 408 short block minus crank with a 1 year warranty for $2400 to my door. Add MY heads, MY cam, MY intake and carb setup. (In other words, my choice of build). I have already purchased these items and still are nowhere near that much money.

Closed minded- yep that's me. I'm all for the dropped beams, fiberglass clip, blah, blah. But upon reading the original post- and this is only my opinion- he doesn't deserve the truck if he is just going to cut it up.


Oh wait- nobody panic! That motor is NOT for my 65.

 

Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 5


"why are you all so stuck on the twin I beams,,,,,,,, if the truck weighed as much as a modern truck,,, or i was stupid enough to try to hall any thing of real weight with it,,, its 43 years old people,,,,, i want it to perform better,, a lot better,,, like a sports car,,,, haven't seen many I beams on them,,
mustangs nope
camaros nope
vipers nope
350z nope
evo8 nope
WRX nope

what has I beams,,, my 7,000 pound superduty,,, not very sporty,, not at all,,,,,,,,

im pretty sure having upper and lower control arms are the way to go,,,
im pretty sure rack&pinon steering will be better than a steering box,,,,
and the reason i used the mustang II frontend was i have found sites with full kits for it,,,,,

but thanks for all the help, and closed mindedness,,,,, "


WOW,Nothing like starting off on the wrong foot, with a loud mouth,,,,,,

"why are you all so stuck on the twin I beams,,,,,,,, if the truck weighed as much as a modern truck,,, or i was stupid enough to try to hall any thing of real weight with it,,, its 43 years old people,,,"

Well I for one am stuck on them because they work, plain and simple, it is a TRUCK, and yes apparently I am "stupid enough to try to haul (not hall) anything of real weight with it" because I just took a 4000# van on a 1800# trailer with 1000#s of copper in the bed and weighed in at just shy of 11,000#'s,,,,, call me stupid I guess, guess these 43 yr old POS just aren't made for that,,, hmm

You jump on asking for help/opinions and then attack what is given,,,, good way NOT to get help in the future. Your truck, your money, do what you please with it.

 

funny,,, i started out with no bad words,no mean comments,,,, just hope and happyness,,,, asking for ideas on front end cons, named one, and one of the first answers back was mean,and no help,, i never said i wanted it to out perform a sports car,,, way to miss read,,,, i said perform better,,,,,, but its cool,,, i dont come on here to bash,,,,,, just answer guys that do,,,, so bash away,,,, and keep starting ****,,, and Semper Fi,,,,,,

 

um if you read the first post youll see i have a F100,,,, not a 150,250,,,,,like your sig says,,,you should have used that 99 F250 to pull that load, but a f100 is pretty much a late 90s ford ranger,,,,, pull a 10,000 trailer,,,,,, and like i said i own a 2000 F250, dont need a wantobe hauler,, just a gear banger, SIR

 

I didn't see anything mean until you called us close minded. That was strike one. You asked for opinions/advice, and that is what you got. Then, intentionally or not, you started coming across as a smart-@$$. That is why everyone started getting pissy.

If money isn't an option, keep the beams, put a set of 2" dream beams on it. Drop the rear to match. Disc and power brakes all the way around, & power steering. If you are so concerned with weight as to put in a small block that does not belong, why not keep what motor that truck was desinged for and pick up a fiberglass front clip to shed the pounds that way, as opposed to compromising cubes with the motor. That clip can be purchased for around $1200.

Use kits that were designed for the truck to get your handling. The truck will never handle like any of the cars you mentioned. Your comparing apples to oranges there, but I would think that in using parts designed specifically for your slick, that you would be able to get the best possible handling that anyone would ever get for the truck.

Did you even look into any of the options any of these guys gave you or inquire further about them? We don't know your expertise as far as fabbing stuff in, but I'm sure none of us want to see a slick that someone hacked up and then couldn't fab back up- only to be sold as a basket case. We love our trucks because of the kinda pure simplicity they represent, that's why everything went wrong with your close minded comment.