I am to understand that the aerostar front end is cast alumnum and that the frame flex would be the problem with the installation (assuming I got the location right).
66rex

P.S. you guys are a wealth of information and I'm glad I found this site

 

Dang Garbz...
You definitely know your stuff.

 

The Aerostar suspension is removable stamped steel suspension. Ugly looking a all get out but will get the job done. Early aerostars with the boxy look will have it. The 2003 and up CV has a cast aluminum cross member to provide mount pints for the front suspension. It is removable as an assembly.

Garbz

 

I was lucky enough to work professionally in a custom suspension shop ,and learn from the best suspension guru.

Garbz

 

Thanks for all of everyones help in making up my mind. I'm going to stick with the twin I beam suspension and rebuild it.

66rex

Sometime downd the road I will want to swap out the 240 / 6 - 3speed for a 302 v8 automatic and I will definately by looking for direction.

 

That little 240 can be made to preform as well as the 302 and can be upgraded to 300 cubic inches with 300 internals as they are the same block. They also share the same bell so a C4 can be bolted right up. Don't run with the herd, keep the six as it much cooler engine.

Garbz

 

"unitbody design" Is this a typo for Unibody? If so you are mistaken on the construction of the '03-'07 CV. My '05 unit came out of a framed vehicle. On the subject of flex. A SWB truck frame like what we are working with has roughly 2 1/2" flex overall in stock form. Boxing with no crossmember work gets it down to 3/8" overall. That is cross corner.

You are correct for the most part on aligning and bolting in place. Rear control arm mounts are usually allowed to rest naturally and the mount is fabbed from there. Seems the natural resting point would mean minimal stress on mounting points of the lower control arm. As far as the angle of the install. If bolted straight to the bottom of the frame (assuming this location is flat and parallel to the deck with the frame level) I do not see how angle would matter. No different than putting air shocks on the back of a CV and jacking it up. Since it is all mounted to the crossmember geometry should remain the same as when in the CV.

CV's are heavy cars comparable to light trucks. My unit came out of a Police Interceptor so I would assume it strong enough for my usage. General rule of thumb is the lower control arm parallel to the deck with full vehicle weight on the suspension. This sets the angle of the ball joints to 0 which is where someone wants them set to.

There is one guy who is an engineer that layed out (not extremely detailed) drawings as to settings for some of the dimensions and angles you speak of. When I spoke to Dave at truckirs.com he said he was working on mounts (lower control arm) for the CV install. He may have done exactly what you speak of as far as laying it all out. After all he does build IRS units of multiple designs.

I have seen some very scary installs as well. I also am not a fan of the MII kits but that is where I thought I was ending up. Don't remember the company, out in CA that took the initial design and built from it a kit built for trucks. Stronger control arms, crossmember, etc. I don't like the wheel limitations with the CV either and am still thinking about a way around that so I can have the wheels I want. One thing I can say positive about the wider hub to hub is body roll or should I say the lack there of.