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I am at the point where I need to decide on what front end should go on my truck . It a 1956 , I have a Lincoln 460 with a C 4 trany sitting on the garage floor with very low miles. Would a Dodge Diplomat 1983 front suspension handle the weight of the 460 or should I be looking for a new motor or another type of front end. . The truck had a chevy 350 in it with the stock suspension and power steering.
Whats wrong with the stock suspension? I'm running a 500 Caddy in my 49 with a stock suspension. I had the springs rebuilt but then ended up removing a few leafs to drop it a bit. I did upgrade to power disc brakes because as I've gotten older I realized that stopping is a good thing
I am running a 460/C6 in my 56 BW with the stock suspension...I guess I am not as old as bobby though, mine still has the drum brakes... :~)
Ouch! (just kidding)
As a teen I had a 66 Plymouth Satellite with a built 383, 4spd Man the thing would really run. It was fast. Slowing the beast down was a thrill ride of its own. LOL, I had 4 out or round drums and just the one single fruit jar resevoir master cylinder. You had to get both feet on the brake pedal and pull against the steering wheel to stop the thing.
Nothing wrong with drum brakes. It would have cost me about as much to rebuild the ones on my truck as it did to go with discs. I did make one concession when I did my brakes, I added a line-lock solenoid. Sure makes for some really neat smokey burnouts!
I'm with you on the brakes...just waiting on the right time to take the truck down to install them. My truck came to me with a Ch**y rearend in it (mid-50's vintage), I have a 9 inch with Ford Performance complete disc brake kit ready to install along with the triangulated 4-link suspension. Will also be replacing the front suspension with an IFS with power R&P, the only way to go especially when driving the freeways here in So Cal!
I think you might be better off with a Mustang II or maybe even the Jag IFS instead of the Chrysler due to clearance issues with the pan and headers. I may be wrong be as I recall JNiolon changed from the Chrysler to a Mustang II for that reason. However, in his case he just might have wanted the challenge. Something to check out though.
There's a place called Industrial Chassis Inc that is doing Dodge Dakota IFS kits for F100s... http://www.industrialchassisinc.com/
Seems like there was someone on the board who just bought a nice effie with a Dakota IFS, maybe these are gaining popularity. All I remember is the problems that Chrysler had with the ball joints failing on the Dakotas...I assume that this shortcoming has been corrected.
I once bought a 94 Dodge Dakota because it was too good a deal to pass up. The suspension was fine but the brakes (in good condition,) were really weak. Sold it pretty quickly. Maybe they have upgraded the brakes on later models.
The Jag IFS will have no trouble with the weight of the BB or stopping. There are others on the forum knowlegeable on the oil pan problems on the BB Ford with almost any crossmember. The Jag crossmember does really well with the sbc and with the 351C (look at scrape's gallery). One member of the forum did a Jag/390 performing magor oil pan surgery. One of the advantages of the original beam axle is that the distance from the bottom of the frame rails to the top of the beam is significant helping the stock suspension with almost any engine. One way out is to mount the BB forward and high. Both however are detrimental to handling. There is no free lunch!
I have a pretty nice 460 sitting around, and cant help thinking about dropping it into the panel. I do intend to stick with the stock suspension, power discs. What Im curious about is the tranny to crossmember issues with a C6 (I could go for a C4 Ive heard mentioned elsewhere.
Any comments? Thanks!
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