cbcs2508 Posted January 18, 2011 Report Posted January 18, 2011 Im trying to decide what front and rear suspension i should use to replace oem on my 49. Ive got a 455 with 400turbo tranny to put in. I was wondering what people may have used in the past for front and rear suspension updates. Quote
PatS.... Posted January 18, 2011 Report Posted January 18, 2011 (edited) Take a very close look at the stock suspension on these cars. Now take a close look at the "upgraded" suspensions. The frame is as sturdy as they come as are the A arms etc. All the parts needed to rebuild to new specs are easily available. I'm not sure the "upgrade" is worth the result. There are some very good brake updates, the springs from a hemi car will hold the 455 easily. My apologies...I usually just press the "New Posts" button to check the forum. I didn't check which side I was on. Sorry. Edited January 19, 2011 by PatS.... Quote
cbcs2508 Posted January 19, 2011 Author Report Posted January 19, 2011 Do you know of manufacturers for brakes, etc. Ive tried wilwood and mbm but none make conversion kits for brakes. Also, who has the leaves, and such to put back to stock? Quote
Young Ed Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Take a very close look at the stock suspension on these cars. Now take a close look at the "upgraded" suspensions. The frame is as sturdy as they come as are the A arms etc. All the parts needed to rebuild to new specs are easily available. I'm not sure the "upgrade" is worth the result.There are some very good brake updates, the springs from a hemi car will hold the 455 easily. Pat he's on the truck side. A 49 pickup has a straight axle and handles nothing like IFS. Quote
Dan Babb Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 You can get a disc brake conversion kit from Rustyhope.com He's a member on here. Sells a package that comes with adapters and some hardware and a parts list for some GM rotors and calipers that you can mount to the adapters. I'll be doing that with my truck. I'm going to be putting in a new frame mounted pedal kit with a booster too. Not sure about new springs though. Maybe your current springs just need to be pulled off and reconditioned a bit. I'll be doing that with my truck as part of my engine swap currently underway. Quote
buds truck Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 i just upgraded the whole kit and kaboodle.... I stuck a dakota frame under mine. Quote
greg g Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Might be too wide, but I have seen the whole kit and caboodle from a Crown Vic/ Merc G Marquis. they are a cast aluminum assembly that basically carries everything as is held on by 6 or 8 bolts. There is a how to on one of the ford truck forums. http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/716058-buildup-06-crown-vic-front-suspension-into-67-f100.html And ford 9 inc rears are strong enough for just about anything. but so are MOPAR rear out of B body cars, and or early dakotas. Quote
cbcs2508 Posted January 20, 2011 Author Report Posted January 20, 2011 Thanks for all the info i really appreciate it Quote
Dave72dt Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 I've got a "Welder Series" M II in the front of mine and wil be using their triangulted 4 link in the rear mounted to a Mercury Monarch 8" rear. Quote
sniggle_t Posted January 21, 2011 Report Posted January 21, 2011 (edited) Might be too wide, but I have seen the whole kit and caboodle from a Crown Vic/ Merc G Marquis. they are a cast aluminum assembly that basically carries everything as is held on by 6 or 8 bolts. There is a how to on one of the ford truck forums. http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/716058-buildup-06-crown-vic-front-suspension-into-67-f100.html That's awesome but I don't think it would work as easily in our trucks. The ford frame is 32" side to side and a quick measurement of my 51 frame is a little less that 31". The Crown Vic cradle mounting holes are 31.5" center to center. Edited January 21, 2011 by sniggle_t Quote
greg g Posted January 21, 2011 Report Posted January 21, 2011 Seems fabricating some mounting adapters shouldn't be to difficult. Even welding/bolting on some C channel. to the outside of the frame. But it still may be too wide in the track area. the other thing is It seems to significantly lower the vehicle. Quote
Dave72dt Posted January 21, 2011 Report Posted January 21, 2011 The geometry of the Crown Vic is for a specific vehicle front and rear ride height and just bolting it in level as it is in the CV won't be correct in the truck.That drop in front end height will alter the geometry and make an ill -handling vehicle. Front and rear of the truck need to be set at ride height, level side to side to correctly install any type of suspension change. Quote
moparmonkey Posted January 21, 2011 Report Posted January 21, 2011 (edited) Track width on the Crown Vics is 62.8, the Pilothouse is 58.625. So, its a little wider, but not too bad. Actually, the rear track on the pilothouses is 61.25. You could address it with a little backspacing on the rim, you're talking about just over 2" per side. Most modern rims have more backspace than the stock rims anyway. As far as the suspension drop, I don't think it would be as extreme on our trucks as it was on the Ford from the article. You can see on the Ford that the frame rail arches up a bit to where the Crown Vic crossmember is mounted, so that's additional drop. Our straight frame rails wouldn't do this, so you might be able to get away with it. It would definitely lower the truck, but you could lower the rear a little to keep the geometry decent. As far as the width, it wouldn't be hard to add some additional width to the frame in that area. It wouldn't be a bolt up operation by any means, but it would definitely be a swap to consider, especially given how common the Crown Vics are. You'd still have to box the front section of the frame rails at least, but compared to a full frame swap, or clipping the front end, or even doing the Volare swap, I think this set up would be easier. As far as handling, I think even with some additional rake it would be an improvement over stock. After all, people have been bolting up mustang 2 front ends on hot rods for years. Definitely worth considering. A quick look on the PickNPull website shows several possible donors at yards local to me. Here's a video of a set up on a '53 F100, a lot closer to our trucks than the '67-'72 F100's... ! Edited January 21, 2011 by moparmonkey Quote
greg g Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 (edited) Plus I believe police persuit units have higher rate springs, bigger brakes, and quicker steering?? Think of howmany police GV's are out there. In one of the videos shown listed with the one posted, shows another installation with some 3 inch square under the frame to lift it up a bit. Edited January 22, 2011 by greg g Quote
PatS.... Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 CV front suspension into a Fargo: http://www.vintagerods.ca/showthread.php?819-Some-pics-of-the-fargo-progess...&highlight=fargo Just this one page and no finished product but does show some for those interested. Quote
moparmonkey Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 CV front suspension into a Fargo:http://www.vintagerods.ca/showthread.php?819-Some-pics-of-the-fargo-progess...&highlight=fargo Just this one page and no finished product but does show some for those interested. Interesting. I don't see any reason why he had to move the wheels 5" forward though. You don't need to mount the engine to the cross member, and it comes with its own steering rack. I don't think that's going to work out very well set up like that. Quote
greg g Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 It looks like there are casting for motor mounts ar the top of the casting. Quote
Dave72dt Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 Looks like he can now use the mount pedestals on the CV for mounts on the 40o.. Maybe he planned it that way or maybe he wanted that forward axle look. Maybe a pseudo gasser look? Has plenty of room for fenderwell headers anyway. Those tires will look really wrong with those big fenders and not being centered. Maybe he'll fill the fenderwells in some. Be nice to have some updated pictures. Quote
smallblockjunkie Posted January 23, 2011 Report Posted January 23, 2011 I put the susp. from a 86 c4 corvette under mine. the front is a weld in deal not much to it but the rear is a little more involved. had to be narrower and new half shafts made. Quote
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