Need to know if I got two lowering hanger and shackle kits for a 1965 F100 if I could use them all the way around on my 63. My way of thinking is that the back leafs are setup and mounted like the front .Correct? If not how do all of you drop these awesome truck? Any help on where I can get the parts.

 

Wow - nothing like the rear. Crawl under & have a look. The rear springs are mounted to the outside of the frame rails - the fronts are under the frame. I'm doing my '63 now. What I found looking at my options (help me out, guys if I miss anything): Dropped springs - either reversed eye or monoleafs Dopped axle - they heat & bend the axle to raise the kingpin bosses which lowers the truck For me, when I added the cost of doing all of this, along with rebuilding the front end (kpins, tie rods, steering box) it all added up to over $2k. Yuck. That was about the same price as the complete front end from Fatman. I'd been leaning that route for years, since the mag's all cover Fatman-equipped cars. But then the more I read the less I liked the Fatman, because the $2k got you a system that still needed $upgrades$ to get you to decent brakes. Did some more reading & found Flat Out Engineering's Corvette setups & was looking at them after I got a bum response from the guys at Fatman... Again, neat setup, great brakes, but still Pricey - in the $2k range if you can buy the parts right. So I found this site (and the *other* one LOL) and read & learned a whole lot. And I stumbled into some stories about the CV swap & the Industrial Chassis setup. Now the IC setup I discounted because (1) I've had nothing but trouble from any Dodge/Chrysler I've ever known & I just wasn't willing to deal with demons in my ride. I'm crazy, I know, and (2) the CV front end was so much more appealing to me. Low cost, great brakes, cool modern wheels. Love it. I snagged a complete running 2004 Police Crown Vic for the same $2k I was going to pay for a "kit" suspension. I plan to harvest the front suspension, rear end (I know it's too wide but since I've got a rusty flare side, I figure I can easily widen it!), radiator, most of the AC, engine, trans, driveshaft, ecu/harness, booster & master cylinder, and even the anti-lock brakes. I hope to part out the carcass - front clip, doors, possibly the interior - to help offset my expenses & then scrap the hulk at the end. Now I'm sure I missed something, but that's all from me for now. Use the advanced search feature - if you search the 61-66 Forum, search for "suspension", "Crown Vic", "dropped axles" or whatever other keywords you like. If you search the suspension forum, just look for 61-64 threads, since they'll deal with our straight axle trucks. Good luck!