an alternative way to do IRS with Ford rear
 

http://team321.com/truckirs/truckirs.html Seems like a lo cost way to put a Ford IRS in your ford. A buddy of mine is studying the kit and is looking for the Lincoln with bags from a lo miles car. His frame is bare and ready so it may get done soon. J

I was looking into this swap for my 54 but as the part prices an car prices are CRAZY in Norway i`m going for the JAG one and getting the parts from UK.
Got a price on a Lincon rear at a salvage yard they wanted 1600 usd.... And 4800 usd for Corvette IFS/IRS.... I told them i did not want the whole car :-D

Interesting potential. Good news is that the factory crossmember/cage is a little better looking than a Jag cage and easier to mount. I do not understand how changing the bearings changes the hub spacing for wheels i.e. getting away from the 4.25" bc. I did not see a discussion of ride height. The pix of the mounted suspension on the lift looks like the truck rear would be preety high unless you go the airbag route. Not all of us are airbag fans. My other question is track width or hub to hub width for our trucks. Certainly a potential way to go. Some pix of trucks/truck stance would help.

I'll try to clarify the wheel bearing / hub spacing issue...

The T bird / Lincoln bolt pattern is 5 on 4.25"
This is not as popular of a pattern as 5 on 4.5"

For those that want to choose from the wide variety of wheels available in the 4.5" bolt pattern - you can purchase adapters that go from 4.25 to 4.5

OR

You can purchase new bearings that fit the 4.5" bolt pattern...

The first option ( adapters ) spaces the wheels out at least 1.25" per side due to the thickness of the adapters... The second option ( new wheel bearings ) is a direct replacement and therefore does not increase the track width.

Outside / Outside tire measurement is about 66 1/2" ( using the factory T bird wheels / tires ).

The hub / hub measurement is about 60 1/4"

I'd be happy to answer any other questions.
dave
truckIRS.com

I am looking for info as well as providing it...

RIDE HEIGHT

What is the "normal" ride height of the truck's rear frame as measured approximately 11 inches behind the rear axle centerline... bottom of the frame relative to ground.

This part of the truck frame is relatively level and should be easy to measure. I'm looking for as many measurements as you folks can provide... also include the size tire you are using - like 215 70 15 so I can determine the tire's diameter.

With my IRS setup, the rear part of the frame ( as measured 11" behind the rear axle centerline ) relative to ground is 16 1/2" with a 215 70 15 tire - which has a diameter of 26.85"

email me directly or post here... and I'll collect all the info.
thanks
dave
truckIRS.com
Cocoa Beach FL

Us Factory Five cobra guys have been using this suspension for a while. We don't use the cage but a lot of the components. The new unit bearings he is refering to is the cobra mustang bearings. They are unit bearings so the studs, mounting flange and bearings are packaged together in a unit. The other option is to redrill the 5 on 4.5 pattern and put in new studs. There are a few guys that do this I think the cost is pretty reasonable around $100.

The best donor car to use is a thunderbird supercoupe. It has the bigger axles, discs, 3.27 gears and a LSD.

Factory five also sells diffrent arms and axles shafts to narrow the rearend to use pindrive wheels. This is a great IRS setup that is much superior to the jag setup. Some of the cobra mustang guys have had some issues with axle strength and I beleive 31 spline shafts are available. These issues were only with very high power and slicks, from my understanding. Several of the cobra guys put down 500 hp and sticky tires without issues of course the car only weighs 2300 lbs.

Dave, mine measures 15- 1/8" at that point. w 225/70R15 , but my front end is real low, so it could come up once it get aligned at final visit to FE shop.

Dave
Here are some dimensions for the 48 - 52 Ford F-1 see if the are of some help to you.
http://www.fordbarn.com/earlyv8/foru...F-1%20Info.pdf
I posted these on the Ford Barn.

If this can be done with the Rear susp. Could you also do this with the front as well ?
Has anyone ever done or tried this?

This topic seems to have fallen off. I received quite a few inquiries and will be displaying these products at the SuperNats.

dave
http://www.truckIRS.com

Here is how I've been doing mine. I need to add pics to Gallery. Still some work to do. I can get measurements later.

Just to add some...I think the Cougar IRS is the same as the T-Bird...I have an IRS from a '93 Cougar in front of my shop, if anyone want to see what they look like out in the "open"...I could snap a pic for some one to post up.

Also, I might add I pulled the front suspension out as well...don't neglect to do this...I almost sent it off to the crap pile, but then noticed it's not a normal/mcPhearson Strut style front end, but actually has upper control arms.

What I think is good about this IFS is (and I have to measure the F1 frame I have out back) is it can be bolted in under frame rails, as it came out of the Cougar, ofcourse the frame would need to be boxed, and possibly some material added to correct the width if it off.

Also, you would have to fab coil towers with shock mounts, as well as the upper control arm mount...since both are incorporated into the cars upper/inner fenderwell area...I cut those out and saved them too, just to have them for a reference of how high ff the frame they should be as well as being able to keep the Cougars anti-dive on the upper control arm in the proper plane with the frame.

Pretty sure though, once set in, it'd all be tucked in an fit outside the fenders, with some of massaging the inner fender panels.

I was going to put both under my '36, but the WMS to WMS is just a bit wider than I waned, I think it was about 62 inches for both front and rear...more suited to the later model trucks.

Okay...more IFS info...

Went and measured the F1 frame I have, looks like 34 inches wide

The Cougar IFS I have looks like 34 3/4 inches wide, I'm sure it'd be an easy fit.

One thing I can't find though, is the measurements I took before yanking the engine (5.0/AOD) out of the Cougar for the ride heigth of the spindle centerline to the frame rails....so I'm not sure of drop (or lack of) that would occur.

great info Mike... I would like to see the photos of the IFS from the Cougar...
Maybe I'll make a truckIFS.com product line!

dave
http://www.truckIRS.com