Alright guys, some of you know what I'm doing with my 79 dentside and some don't. For those that don't- 79 F150,dana 60 front, custom radius arms with coil front suspension, 6" lift and 42" TSL's. The front setup has been figured out and unless I run into big problems it will stay. Now the rear is where I need to start planning. I was going to get a 10.25 from the junk yard cuz they have tons of them. Will that axle be good or should I be looking into a bigger one. I had originally planned on a triangulated 4-link for the rear but now have been thinking more towards leafs. Maybe a shackle flip then whatever lift springs needed to give the truck a slight rake. No blocks and build some form of anti-wrap. I need a setup that performs well and can handle some abuse. I tend to be real hard on my trucks. The other thing is the bed. It is a short bed truck. I like my truck to look as good as they perform. Been thinking that 42's and short bed would not look right. I was thinking of extending the wheel base to fit a long bed then bobbing the bed. But it just occured to me that it will basically be a short box again. So, it appears that I will have a short box in some form or fashion. Which way will perform better? Standard short bed with the wheel base the same. Or bobbed long bed with wheel base extended. Will there be less traction with the wheelbase extended and less weight over the tires? I'm thinking there will, but how much I'm uncertain since the same amount of weight will be back there. Open to all suggestions, comments, opinions and constructive criticism. Thanks

 

I think you'll do fine with 42's and the D60/Sterling 10.25, I really don't think you'll have any problems.

Myself, I prefer a longer wheel base.. but I think its kind of a matter of opinion and what wheelin' you will be doing. What is your current wheel base?

I am looking forward to seeing the build.

 

Factory wheelbase is 117" My front has been pushed 2" Should be 119" I can't get an accurate measurment right now. Rear is just hanging right now.

 

Just went down an measured. The rear end can be pushed back +/- 6" depending on what hanger I used. That would put the wheelbase to 125". I think long beds are 133" so I would be between the two. Don't want to scab onto the frame for anything structural, so thats about all I could get with leafs.

 

If you go with a 4 link/coilover setup, you can push the wheelbase back near the end of the frame. Just make sure you box the rear of the frame up to give it some strength. I like the look of the short stepbeds, so if it were me, I'd leave the wheelbase where it was.

If you go with a leaf setup, look into the sky shackle flip setup and then get a 4" add-a-leaf setup (it's actually 2 long leaves you put into your pack) and a short 1" add-a-leaf. It makes for a stiff rear suspension, but will give you the 6" you need to even the front and you will not need a block at all. This is the same setup I run on my 95 F-150 and I can fit 39's no problem. The 79 wheel openings are larger and you should fit your 42's fine, or with a minor amount of fender trimming.

For the traction aid, look into the Fabritech Stage II bars as they are bushed on each end and mount between the leaf spring and axle pad. They allow for suspension travel, but keep the rear from wrapping up under load. Here's a link to them on JBG's site. If you search around some, you will find that the company is located in Culpepper, VA and will sell directly to you. The link:

Fabritech Stage II Traction Bars 1976-79 F150,Bronco

And mounted on my dirty truck:

 

Was originally planning on the tri-4 link. 2 bars parallel and 2 triangulated. Heck that suspension setup was to have air bags. I have a 97 ranger that has air susp. and I know very well how good it can perform. 4 large bags for a soft susp. and 10 valves. 2 per bag would have allowed me to have total independant wheel control and the other 2 valves would allow me to link the bags from side to side. Opening those would allow air to move from bag to bag giving great articulation. Have you seen The Legend. Same truck basically but completely different link setup. However ran into some problems. Couldn't find a good bag with the proper weight ratings that would fit the front. Cost was steadly rising. And the simple fact that less bag pressure lowers the truck and more psi would lift it. Making it real difficult to have the right spring pressure at the height I wanted. At $200 a bag it would get real costly swapping them out to dail everything in. Heck for less than the price of one bag I got new springs and all my mounting hardware.

 

I followed the link. And studied you picture. Is there some provision on those bars like a shackle. On compression the rear will want to got rearward. Seems like it would want to bind up. Am I missing something here? Will post a picture if, I can find it, of what I was thinking

 

 

There is no shackle like that. It is a solid bracket in the front with a bushing and a solid mount on the plate for the rear with a bushing. You have to remember that when the spring droops it arcs forward and when it compresses it arcs rearward. The solid/bushed mounts will do the same thing. As the suspension droops, the natural arc of the solid front will bring the eyelet forward. As the suspension compresses, the natural arc is to move the eyelet move rearward.

 

Move the axle around, dont be afraid to do that. There are many benefits to this. How extreme you get is up to you.I enjoy nice looking fenders and complete bed sides. Unfortunately, it is difficult to keep straight sheetmetal while maintaining good articulation.
I have wrinkled fenders on most of my rides. Some are cut,,,,and cut quite a bit. I have seen several fenders cut using the same radius and flare as stock. They look nice.

39.5's on a longbed and 44's on a shortbed.




Then you can get real creative with the wheelbase:

 

I'm all for the idea of moving the axle.

So when will you start a build thread? Its not like you have to complete it soon, just nice to see how progress goes.

Hell, look at that SAS thread. That one guy took six months to do it. Lol. Oh and Cheeto has had his build thread for ages aswell. It doesn't hurt. And it gives me a nice place to create spam.

 

75F350- your trucks are bad a**. I think that I will be moving the axle back. In the middle of rearranging/cleaning my garage. As soon as I finish I will roll up a tire and see how things happen. Might be moving the front forward some more to. Will see when I get the taper for the balljoints and install the steering.

Prozon-No build thread just yet. I have a few things that I want to work out first. Like the rear suspension setup. Im also waiting on parts from ballistic to build a trac bar. Somehow forgot to order them last time. And I want to figure exactly how much I can still move the front. After that, the build will begin and the rest will just fall into place.

 

What do you all think about fully boxed frames. Mine is boxed from engine crossmember-start of bed. Is there a need to go all the way back with leafs.

 

I box the center sections, and I have a particular method of boxing. I noticed that many box, or place the support right on the edge of the frame, and I have to say that I am not under the impression that this is the most stratigical place to weld. Different welding techniques can offer different results, but one thing is the same. Welding to the edge creates more edges, and more edges can and will result in a crack and or will alow the frame to twist far more than a plate that is recessed into the frame slightly.
In other words I place the plate inside of the frame about an onch or an inch and a half from the edge. Insetting the plate provides a more rigid structure and does a far better job at the task required.

I always fully box the frame, and I do this because the frame will not have the support where the frame is not boxed. IN some cases a frae cracked or broke in an area that was not boxed. Somehow the the open frames can flex and return undamaged. AFter some mods the frames that are now limited on flex and re-designed to be more rigid can place more emphasis on flex in areas that have not been boxed and in these cases a crack in the frame has occured.
I have no engineering explaination, only practical experience.

 

75F350- Well I did the center section a little different. The top of my box plate is flush with the frame, only about 3/16 lower than the top allowing me to get a good weld there. The bottom is recessed some. Stock frame was wider on the bottom than top. I wish I had asked before I built that plate because I had pondered recessing it so my fuel lines would be protected some. Just thought it would be stronger the way I did it. Since my front crossmember and a few other things are already cut for that style, I will leave some like that. However, after that crossmember I will bend the plate inside the frame and run it that way all the way back. Learn some thing new everyday!

What welding technique do you use when boxing. I was thinking stitch would be appropriate.