Julie, while you are back there you might want to remove the spacer on your bump stop. It looks like you have only about an inch of suspension travel now that you removed the spacer on the leaf springs.

 

Your right! Thanks!

 

Julie, I Corumba or in english WTF, your one lucky gal.

 

Julie, lucky find.. !


Seriously you should upgrade to at least a dual master. I think I have around $130 total in mine. That was for the master, 2 residual valves, 3 bolts, pressure switch, 2 tee's , 4 brake lines, master cylinder adapter and some line adapters. The hardest part was figuring out the step/down lines from the master to brake lines. I did have to add 1/2"+ to the end of my pushrod. I just cut off the end of my new rod and added to the old(they even sell a spacer in some kits).. The local NAPA was a great source of parts. It could have been cheaper and easier if I flared my own lines...I can still fill my master from the hole in the hole using a funnel and just tilting it a bit.

I just don't trust single pot masters. my last vehicle was a single that was not easy to convert so I used it as is. But any vehicle I had that I was able to upgrade I did. I had 2 vehicles loose brakes on me. One was a dual master setup and it worked not great but I didn;t die, the other was in my driveway I was plowing and lost a brake cylinder, good thing I had the low on the front. Otherwise I'd be in some seroius hurt...


bob

 

I hope that upper spring plate is temporary?? Flat steel has no strength. The plate needs to be much thicker, preferably have some "edges" to stiffen it, and should have radiused ends so the spring won't get cut when flexing against it.

 

Thanks to all of you for that great thread on Julie's front end work...I'm the proud owner (as of last night!), of a nice stocker 55 F250 flatbed...a total rebuild of the front end is right around the corner and because I never was one of those auto shop guys in high school, this thread and the help of a mechanic in my warehouse complex, should get me through!!...thanks, and I'll be posting more often at FTE...this is a great community!...Terry

 

It sure is Ross. But the spring shop guys put that in and said it would be good enough until I brought the thing back in for the perminent rear respring and shock mount manufacture. I've got no shocks on the back and it's a little "frisky" back there. Since the mount on the other side actually broke (the picture I posted was of the one still together) I had to have them do somethng to get me driving again. And they said as long as Im not carrying loads of driving like the village idiot they said it would be absolutely safe until January when we do the full-on repair. I guess I know where the Christmas Bonus is going this year....Humph - My truck has definately been "Bonus Built" these past couple of years!

One of the reasons I started this was to use as a reference for folks in the future. Another reason was I put this off for about 4 years because I was intimidated to do it my self. When I found out how easy it really was, I felt kind of silly and wanted to show folks how easy it was so they don't put it off as well


This site is probably one of the most complete sources of information on the restoration and modification of these thrucks - if not in the documented threads, then by the collective knowledge and experience of the members. Asking questions, reading answers, and learning by all concerned while doing it is the order of the day.

I hope to see more of you on the boards Terry! Welcome. Why not start a new thread of your own and introduce yourself to everyone - post some pics of your truck

 

Here's the final update on the 51 F1 Suspension Upgrade.

I got home to day to find my truck in the garage all done from the spring shop - and it wasn't what I expected to say the least.

The rear springs were replaced about a month ago and I was riding on them with no shock absorbers to break them in. Boing Boing Boing!

Most important though was that the new back springs that were made for the truck had a back reverse eye that corrected a 15 degree error in the pinion angle. The heavy shudder I used to have at 25-35 mph disappeared and a subtle vibration (that I guess I hadn't noticed or maybe expected to be there) also was gone - a VERY marked improvement in the ride.

The new spring leaves were each heavier, and instead of the 10 leaf configuration these are 6 leaf like the F-100s. The truck sits level now (there were four broken leaves on the pasenger side).

I guess it was quite a job to get them apart and the bracket rivets had to be cut off, and brackets removed to replace the pins.

Here's a picture of the new rear springs:







What suprised me was the positioning of the shocks. They had mentioned that the way they were originally installed was useless. I assumed the new plan was they were going to mount them to the rear axel and cant them in toward the center of the truck on a brace welded in over the axel.

But instead what they did was place the brace about 10 inches aft of the axel, and point the shocks back.

Curious, I called them and the explanation was fairly simple: When driving and hitting bumps, the axel does not travel straight up on the springs (as it does if you are jacking up the truck) but rather the force is both up and back in an arcing type of movement. The shock absorbers were installed this way to absorb that movement in two dimensions (up/down & back/forward). So, it seemed to make sense when I thought about it.

So all the stock suspendion and steering work is done. With kingpins, tie rod ends, drag link rebuild, dressing the pitman arm ball, and spindle ball, new reverse eye front springs, shackles, bolts, pins, bushings, new custom made rear springs with one reverse eye, reset the pinion angle, new pins and bushings aft, new shock absorbers and mounting brackets and the trailer hitch, all ironed out to $1900.

I can not describe the difference in ride and driveability. Originally, I was afraid to drive over 45 due to wander, now I can drive 75 and let go of the steering wheel and it tracks perfectly. The ride is vastly improved and all drive train vibration is GONE! Incredible!

Here's some pictures of the new shocks and mount set up:







I guess it's time to paint the interior now, all the mechanical work on the truck is done!

 

Julie...who are you using down in San Diego??...I have Family Classic Cars do my work, in San Juan Capistrano, but I know I'd never get that much work done for that kind of money...nice work!!

 

Julie,
Cool Beans! Sounds like they did a great job! It's amazing how well these trucks ride and drive with such a basic suspension design when everything is in good shape.
I'm curious as to what that cylinder with the hose attached, mounted vertically to the bottom of the frame on the driver's side, seen in the second last picture is ?
Now with everything fresh and easy to take apart, It might be time to drop the rear axle back out, trim off the unneeded bracketry with your fire axe and give it a coat of paint... Want her to look her best when they look at her rear end!

 

It almost looks like a 50 caliber shell casing. I wouldn't have even noticed it until you mentioned it Chuck, it almost looks as though it's attached to the vent from the diff. Maybe Julie's packs a gun,lol

 

Well Julie you got a lot of work done and didn't break the bank. I with Axracer, time to drop the diff and clean off the buggers and make it shine. That's an interesting breather, I'd clean that up too, you should chrome plate it. Other wise everything is looking good.

 

It would just be a stones throw for you up in SJC maybe a 30 minute drive. I used:

North County Spring
446 Enterprise St.
Escondido, Ca. 92028

If you are familiar with C&G Ford Parts in Escondido - on Commercial, North County Spring is located directly at the opening end of Commercial at Enterprise - one block from C&G. Talk to Tony.

Yep someday I may cut all that armor plate off the rear end, but for now, it's not hurting anything. Paint maybe, but Chrome Marty? Did I win the LOTTO? LOL!

It's odd you should mention the tube on the frame (or even pick that out of all that junk up there). That is an oil baffle for the differential breather.

That stupid 9 3/8 rear used to spit oil out of the breather It would aero up onto my tailgate and bumper, and drip on the garage floor.

That is a poly tube with a single coil in it, that goes up to a "muffler" of sorts. The frame mounted piece is a piece of 3/4 inch copper pipe about 5 inches long that the poly tube attaches to on the bottom. It operates much the same as a radiator recovery tank - but for the SAE90. It allows for the heat expansion and breathing, but catches any oil blowby.

 

For you San Diego types - HDS is a good outfit and there are not a lotta places doing that work nowadays.......

 

What does HDS stand for??...would we find it listed just like that??