im so happy,,,,,,,,,,,,, i just got a 65 f100 costom cab for $300 bucks,,,,,,,, its got an ok amount of rust under the cab, but thats ok,,,,,, i got it cheap,,, the guy was moving and the brakes were out, so he didnt feel like moving it,,,,,,,, its sat for four years,,were going to pull the bed tomorrow and start working on getting the cab off,,,,,,,, should be down to the frame by this weekend,


any advice would be very helpfull,,,,, iv already done this to a 67 cj5,, and that went well,,, but i dont know that much about this year,,, and all the mods i can do,,,

ill tell you what iv found out so far and then please help point me in the right direction,,, and thanks in advance

get the spindels of of a 73-79 f100 to make her have disks,(keep my king pins)
iv got the NPD catalog downlodded on my computer,

thats about it,,, iv done some looking on here about swaping out the driveline with a fox body one,,,,,

how do you put up pics on here,,,, do i have to pay the site to have that on my ACC,,,,,,,

is there any ways to swap a mustang II front end into the truck,,,,,,,

 

Welcome and congrats on your "grab". I would recommend that you read the tech articles on this site and spend some time reading through the forums. Most of the question you have have (or will have) already been answered and while members are more than willing to help out, it will give you a greater appreciation of your truck if you do the basic research and then fine tune what you've learned with specific questions. While the search function on this as well as most sites leave a lot to be desired, it's a good place to start your search. Good luck.

 

I see no reason to ditch the bolt in front end w/ discs. over any other option, it works great, consider power booster and steering and you'r done. I paid $200 for my completely rust free truck in '97. Good luck w/ yours!

 

Unless you plan on lowering the front end (and I never understood why you'd want a lowered truck, but maybe it's just me) keep the Twin I setup. A Mustang II setup is not really strong enough for this application, and honestly it's kind of old-tech these days anyway.

I've not bought from NPD. I prefer to buy from vendors who really know our trucks vs the generic suppliers that do everything. Carolina Classics and Flashback F100s are my personal favorites, and carry the same quality stuff Dennis Carpenter makes as well as some other exclusive items.

Research driveline swaps first too. My opinion is that trucks need more torquey engines than 302s. If you're going to do it, do it the best way. Even the 300 six is an impressive bit of kit for truck use.

 

If my memory serves me..isnt a Mustang II nearly a dead nuts twin to the Pinto upfront as far as the unibody and steering/suspension ???

I would keep the I Beams myself.

Welcome to FTE !!


- cs65

 

If you want to lower your truck jump into the bumpside bord and read about the crown vic set up im getting ready to start my swap soon

 

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,,,,,

 

CS65

Yes the MII is a pinto is a bobcat....ect....However most manufacturers of kits do some magic with the width of the a arms and mounting to accommodate the narrow 56 inch track width to a 53 to 79 ford 60 inch track. You still have the inherent issue of bump steer and higher roll center. To call a MII a sports car suspension is a crock... It is what it is, a light weight design for a compact car. And they never handled well in any of fords products or they would not have switched to the fox platform.


Blacksmokin

As for the Aluminum Crown Vic Swap, easy but not yet proven in the real world (please have any one post with more than a thousand miles on one?). And the track is HUGE.....Requires a limited selection of deep offset wheels never designed to be used in a truck application RE Heavy axle weight. And has zero after market support for springs calipers or spindles. A CV is about a 50/50 split on weight ratio front to rear ( the reason they make great cop cars and taxis) a truck is 70/30, most of the weight being on the front axle. Ford put 3M and higher rated front axles in for a reason.

Once you go this way either you like the height or forget it, as there is no adjustments other than adding bags. And there are no bag kits out there...

If you did notice the truck does have i beams, Fords compromise for ride and load capability, its not a camaro and out weighs one substantially. It is not a sports car but did you consider the first generation lightnings? Those will spank the unwary and do it with I Beams.....

Garbz

 

MY evo doesn't have I beams?

 

You're comparing Evos and WRXs to a Ford pickup from the 1960s?

While it does have limitations, there is nothing inherently WRONG with the I-Beam suspension. It's a truck, and it was designed for a truck. It was good enough for Ford to use basically unchanged for over 20 years in various applications.

Yes, a R&P and conventional suspension will give you more car-like handling and offer more customization. But the M II suspension is NOT the answer. As Garbz and I stated, it is a lightweight design for a light car. It is unsuitable for a truck.

The Aerostar front assembly is a more common swap for the trucks. Should have most of what you are looking for in a heavier duty package.

If you're going to accuse me and others of being close-minded and post arrogant replies, you're not going to get much help from anyone. The only point I was trying to make was that there is nothing wrong with the stock suspension, and if you're not trying to lower the truck, the work to change it out may not be worth the effort. I'm puzzled as to why so many people buy a truck and then want it to be a car, but it's yours to do with as you see fit.

 

I know I am going to hear a bunch of flak for this one but here goes anyways...

Why not graft your truck body to your Evo and let us know how it performs on a road coarse?

Once your done doing that, look into some of the past posts concerning drops and handling issues. You'll actually see that there are some mods that are worth it. I know there is a IFS compare article written to show the pro's and con's of the different options available in the Tech/Article area.

 

Sounds like the purfect plan, ..........

Garbz...LOL

 

Closeminded? WTF? In your OP you never mentioned you wanted to turn a 43 YO 4,600lb brick into something that would compete with Vipers and the like.
Your a little naive to think that will ever happen. However you do have me thinking...I need to go turn my Fox bodied 'stang into a 10,000lb trailer hauler....

 

Well the only way to honestly make a truck handle like a car is to do a lot, and I mean a lot, of cutting and re-engineering to the suspension, frame, and body. I've seen these trucks with camaro, areostar, lincoln continental, volar, dakota, and Crown Vic front ends grafted, bolted, and beaten onto the front frame rails. Then comes welding the bed to the cab like a unibody to help stiffen it further. I've seen tubular gussets added the entire length of the frame to cut down on frame flex. Pulling all the leaf and coil springs to be replaced with airbags, ladder bars, 4 links, watson links, trianglated 4 links, solid bushings, and axles welded to frames through various sites over the year thanks to google. Not all of them work in every situation for the perfect ride or handling. You'll have to sacrifice something to gain else where. More times then not though there hasn't been a truck heavily modified to stand long term abuse as Garbz, ddavid, and Camperspecial65pointed out in earlier posts.

There are options to lower the front end with dream beams and add a set of caltracs to the rear axle with front and rear sway bars to reduce body roll in corners while still maintaining driveability. However, it will never handle like a car engineered to handle later G's while accelerating. Think of this thing as the truck you will be able to tow a broken car that rolled/flipped through a corner rather then taking it while maintaining your cool factor afterwards.

Prostock you reminded me of the camaro bodies swapped to blazer frames with 12 inch lifts. Now that was funny.

 

I say if you're looking to make a truck go FAST you're better off to do it in a straight line. Trying to get the 60's model Fords to stick to asphault as if they are on tracks is senseless. It's a truck. Chances are yours came stock with a three speed manual on the column. That would be the FIRST clue that you didn't purchase yesteryear's high performance vehicle. No, I don't mind seeing them lowered (sorry, ddavidv, no disrespect meant) and I don't mind seeing them restomoded but do what you want to with the truck and I'll take you in my girlfriend's stock convertible GT. Not that her car is a lemon but your truck isn't built to do the same things. Sounds like you are going for a look, right? All anyone is advising you is that you can achieve that look while using the stock suspension and you won't be sacrificing the integrity of your Ford engineered geometry. Get it? I've recieved the benefit of advice from many of our members. They aren't close minded. If you already have your answer then don't ask the question. Superglue the Mustang II suspension in and WEAR A HELMET.