1961 f100 unibody

[sofa king]

I am just going to lower the truck & chop the top. Pretty lame by RRR. standards. This is what I want it to look like.

 

[brchopper]

what technique do you plan to use to lower the front end that far?

 

[Sam_Fear]

To get that front that far down you'll need to clip the front. The straight axle will hit the motor. You'd have to Z it anyway, you can't channel that cab over the frame with a chop and still fit inside.

Mustang II front ends are the standard front swap for those, but I've heard the Dakota works well.

 

[sofa king]

what technique do you plan to use to lower the front end that far?

That is the hellifiknow technique. I don't know if I will get it that low. But that is the look I want.

 

[Snake Farm]

...ya might talk to this guy

Not sure what he did but I bet it would put your unibody on the ground too!

 

[Sam_Fear]

I think a Camaro clip works too. A 3" drop I beam is about the most you can go that way.

Apparently they will fit fairly well on a mid 70's Ranchero frame?

 

[Torch]

I think If you try to get to the creek to do some fishing, you'll be doing some plowing.

I'd suggest taking a ride in one first. I have found that most things in life never feel how they look.
I put a 2" lower hotchkiss kit on my firebird and kinda wish I had just resprung it stock. it made no improvement to function it just looks good.
I did new stock springs before so I have both experiences to compare.
Been doing alot of scraping.
I weigh 280# that might have a little to do with it
But if you do it consider these pointers to make it a success
the suspension travels a certain amount
If you lower you have to increase the spring rate to keep the vehicles motion within the mechanical range of the suspension parts or you'll be hitting the ground or travel limiters. problem with my firebird is the hotchkiss springs are just not firm enough They are lb/inch sorta halfway between stock and circletrack springs. while the stock springs were softer the increased travel alowed more time to slow down and absorb each bump.

airbags if you use them work like this. as steel compresses it's spring rate increses more linear than air. Air increases its pressure by the exponent of the increase in pressure or the decrease in volume.
In other words
For every inch you compress a steel spring the pressure increases by the same amount. a 350lb/inch steel spring adds 350# pressure for every inch you compress it.
compress that 350#/inch spring 5" and it will hold 1750# nominal
leaf(deflection) or torsion bar( torsion) and coil it does not matter.
A coil spring is actually both a torsion spring and a deflection spring

Now take a compressed gas
The rate of an airbag changes as the volume of the bag changes
and the rate of the airbag also changes as the initial pressure in the bag changes.
Take an airbag with 20psi of air in it and compress it 5" and it will not hold up as much as if it were filled with 100psi and compressed 5"

With the steel spring the pressure it holds increases by taking 350# per inch and multiplying it by the number of inches to get the total pressure (350x5inches)

With the air spring you take the 20 pounds per inch of air you put in it times the square inches of what the air is pushing against.
To use an engine as an example consider a piston.
A round 4" diameter piston has 12.5668 square inches
{area = pi(3.1417)xRadiusxRadius}
20 psi on a 4" round piston makes 251 linear # of force against anything the piston is bolted to
compress it 1" and the pressure goes up 2lb
compress it another 1" and the pressure goes up 4lb
compress it another 1" and the pressure goes up 16lb
compress it another 1" and the pressure goes up 256lb
compress it another 1" and the pressure goes up 14336lb

Now i'm not being mathematically accurate so don't shoot me I'm just painting a picture of how an air spring can start out softer but get stiffer in a real short distance than a steel spring can

to put it an easier way if you can't do the math like I can't do the math lol...
The way steel springs smash down, the rate doesn't increase just the pressure
The way an air spring smashes down, the pressure AND the rate increases

This is why air springs give a smoother ride and hold heavier loads.
If your airbag is too small it will ride hard and blow the bag out sooner
If the bag is too large you'll have a sloppy ride.
the design of the airbag makes a difference too some telescope and others are like pancakes or donuts. the telescoping ones have more travel and a softer ride.


A young man wrote in (to HotRod?) about his first car... a ford fairmont.
He laid out what he had to work with, which wasn't very much and asked the editor where should he spend his money on paint chrome and looking good or engine parts gears and going fast.
The Editor's reply was "Go fast Billy because going fast IS looking good!"

 

[Torch]

another idea

Hey sofa king?
I forgot
a local guy here put a full size dodge front suspension in like from a mirada or fury.
it's the same deal as the aspen front suspension job but fits a truck better it's pretty much just notch the frame set it on the k member and weld it in.
he didn't have to actually chop his frame in half

 

[hotrod preacher]

if the photshop is the truck you're actually starting with, you might enjoy looking at this one, it apparently has had a front clip/M2 (lug pattern gives it away) and looks really tuff-w/o a chop top

 

[sofa king]

I switched the axles from under to over the springs. This may be as low as I go for now. I will still need to notch the frame.

 

[Charley Davidson]

Got a before picture?

Looks nice, I would like to see the actual difference as I have a Dodge D100 I want to lower the easiest and inexpensive way that still looks pretty low.

 

[Snake Farm]

I switched the axles from under to over the springs. This may be as low as I go for now. I will still need to notch the frame.

That thing's looking pretty good like that......an excellent start I'd say[cl That's a good looking patina you've got going for you too[dr Good luck with it and keep us updated on your progress.

 

[Sam_Fear]

I don't see a motor. With a motor, your front axle is probably just about going to be on the frame or the pan with those worn out springs. Even with new springs. These trucks lean hard in the front in a fast corner.

Old aerostar front clips are supposed to fit well also.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Is this what yer after?

 

[Torch]

this one is near Omaha right now for $900 wish I had the money

http://lincoln.craigslist.org/cto/2097886549.html

 

[darkk]

Low is nice, but it does have its pitfalls. My daily driver was way low last year. RR Tracks cost me almost $3000 to replace just the body kit parts it ate. The labor and repaint was additional. So be careful what you wish for...

 

[Gregster]

Give it a good shake down run and let us know how it does .

 

[sofa king]

I don't see a motor. With a motor, your front axle is probably just about going to be on the frame or the pan with those worn out springs. Even with new springs. These trucks lean hard in the front in a fast corner.

It still has the 292 in it and I have 2" between axle & frame. After I notch the frame I will have 5". The oil pan is the problem right now. But the SB. 350 has the sump in the back so I believe it will be OK. I will find out when I get the eng. & trans. in.

 

[sofa king]

Got a before picture?

Looks nice, I would like to see the actual difference as I have a Dodge D100 I want to lower the easiest and inexpensive way that still looks pretty low.

I posted a pic of the truck before I lowered it In my intro. But I will post a pic of it hear when I get off work.

 

[sofa king]

before pics.