Good Morning fellow Ford enthusiasts. I thought y'all might be interested in following along with my project. I am combining my late fathers 1973 F-100 Ranger XLT with my moms old 2010 P71. This seems to be a tried and true combination lately, definitely not an original recipe. My intention for this build is a quiet, reliable daily driver with hopefully less than terrible fuel mileage. I plan on using the front suspension, engine, trans, harness, PCM, exhaust and ABS system from the vic. Rear suspension is a custom 4-link with air ride. I have made some progress, but so much more to do. Truck is currently stripped to the frame and the rear suspension is about half done. I hope to continue updating this thread with photos of progress. Looking forward to your comments and questions.

Demo day



4-Link progress so far

 

Looking good

 

Looks like a great start and plan. Keep the pics coming.

 

Got the watts link bars and tabs welded up today. Took so many measurements and angle checks, but I'm pretty sure it's right. My main concern with this is the lifespan of the heim joints. The centers are nylon lined and the outers are a rubber bushing joint to dampen vibration. Hope they both can stand up to daily driving abuse.

 

I just read through your 77 build. Amazing truck. Well done sir. How do you like the 4 link? I am hoping for something that rides nice and handles well when its all said and done.

 

The Watts linkage is supposed to be better than a Panhard bar no matter how long that Panhard bar is or at whatever angle it is mounted. Your concerns about longevity of the softer materials used is something to think about for the long run.

What specs did you use in determining the location of the frame mounts for the Watts links? These specs might be useful to others contemplating the use of that rear axle. Any thoughts on narrowing that axle in the future or is the stock width close enough to the original axle?

Very cool that you are making such extensive use of the more modern donor vehicle. Will be following with keen interest.

 

I don't know much about how long they last, but they are noisy AF. your set up looks great, but if it bother you, maybe consider Johnny joints? my extremely limited experiance with heims lead me to believe they belong on race cars and not on other vehicles.

 

Flowney, the axle i used is from a 2002 town car because it is about 65" wide. Same width as the crown victoria front suspension and i think narrow enough to look ok. For some reason the 2010 rear axle is like 69" wide. All of the pickup points on the axle are stock with the exception of removing the spring perches. My watts link bars are about 18" long, but that would vary depending on where you mount the frame tabs. The most important thing is that both sides are the same length and the same angle. That's tricky to measure with the center link on the axle being laid back. Measuring forward from the crossmember in front of the fuel tank, my passenger watts link bar mount is 12" to center, and the driver side is 17" to center. Once again, that might vary depending on what joints and spacers you use to attach to the center link. In a nutshell, the bars should be the same length, same angle each side, parallel with the axle tubes when looking down from a birds eye view. My bars ended up being on an 8 degree slope down at estimated ride height.
And you're right, I'm trying to use as much as I can from the P71, primarily for budget reasons. With the exception of the 4-link, nearly every other part of this build will be using stock ford parts.

I hope the elastomer ends i used on the outer ends of the rods will kill some of the noise and vibration. Honestly though, they look weak AF. Part number SF88R. Betting on replacing soon. Probably johnny joints in the future, or stock vic watts link arms.

 

Good info. Thanks.

 

I managed to get the rear shocks mounted and started getting the airbag brackets roughed in yesterday. The upper shock brackets are the stock ones, just relocated to the rear in order to get the shocks as close to vertical as possible. Lower mounts are from an 89 mustang. Just drilled a hole in the side of the lincoln mounts that were on the axle and bolted them on. Ford threw me a curve ball on that one. For some reason, the shock mounts on the 02 town car axle housing are not the same length or angle from one side to the other. One is 6", the other 7." The shocks that i used are stock length for the front on an econoline for 75-91. KYB part number 344069. Length is 14.69, with a 5.5" stroke. They are mounted at just enough angle to allow 6" of total suspension travel. This weekend's plan is to finish airbag brackets, and get some paint on all this mess, then i'll be moving on to the front end.

The lower airbag bracket is a universal "behind the axle" airbag mount that i have modified to fit two small firestone sleeve bags. My original plan was to use the rear bags from the 02 town car, but when they are inflated, they're huge. About 8" in diameter. I couldn't find a way to make them fit without other significant compromises. I found these small ones from firestone that are meant for semi cabs. Each is rated for 800lbs @ 100 PSI. One per side would support the weight of the truck, but not much cargo, so i added a second on each side. They are part number W02-358-7080. Inflated, they are about 4.5" in diameter. Upper mounts are an 11"x5" steel plate that i will add a couple gussets too, and call it good.

 

You said you're just going for a daily driver, but if you're driving hard, ARP makes a hardened stud for the Watt's Link. The Town Cars and Crown Vics had flimsy trailing arms which could flex. When upgraded to beefier arms like yours, the stud has occasionally been known to break.

Another option could be the Watt's Link mounted to the diff cover like on the mustangs.

https://adtr.net/product/mercury-mar...tts-link-stud/

 

You make a good point, but ARP thinks the world of that stud. I think it's $145 ish. I'll take my chances for now. Definitely something to keep an eye on though, because I do plan to autocross the truck once or twice. Hope to have her going by NMRA winternationals in bowling Green this year.

 

Made some good progress yesterday. Pulled the donor Crown Victoria up for disassembly. The donor is my mom's old daily driver. It's a 2010 police intercepter with 120k miles. Perfectly fine running car. Honestly a shame to tear it apart. Funny story, I got this car because my mom always hated it. My dad bought it for her because it was simple and reliable and the closest he could get to a marauder. But mom always complained, so now she's in an Altima of all things.

WIth the help of a great buddy, we got the drivetrain pulled, and the front suspension. This car fought the whole way. Every bolt was a challenge.

Got the suspension under the f100 frame and the boxes welded in. Still need to do the lower control arm rear bushing mounts. The bracket kit I bought actually came from Amazon for around $60 I believe. It worked pretty well. Used the dimensions from the Ford body builders manual from another post on this forum. Gotta clean everything and run a few more beads and we'll be ready for the engine.

 

Now it's time for the fun part. This is every piece of wiring from the 2010 p71. Fortunately I don't need very much of it. Next, I will be pulling the harness from the truck and grafting them together. ​​​​​​ I will also add some spare conductors to critical points just in case I need to add something later.

 

She's officially a roller again. Fully rebuilt the rear end with the 3.27 gears and limited slip. All new bearings, seals and clutches. Polished up the stock aluminum diff cover. Crown Vic exhaust will need several adjustments to work. Not sure if it will be worth it yet. Need to finish the front lower control arm mounts, then the engine goes in.