Do i really need IFS

[dsraven]

if you decide to go with an IFS front end but are mechanically unsure of how to assemble all the parts you are best to opt for a weld in/bolt in complete crossmember. I say this because you can do a lot of it yourself to keep the costs affordable. dissassemble, clean/prep the frame, assemble the crossmember/front end parts and have a welder come for the finish or, with a bolt in, finish it yourself. there is no guess work, or at least less guess work, to figure out where the upper control arm pivots are supposed to go and no second guessing yourself if everything is where it should be. the whole front end is assembled as a unit and then bolted/welded in place. you have to get the rake angle and the frame level side to side etc, so there is prep work for sure, but as far as the front end assembly it is all one unit that suspension parts bolt to. check out the scott's hotrod page for a pic of what I mean. notice that the system is a 1 piece part that is installed as opposed to other mustangII units that need to have the upper control arm pivot locations welded on to the frame seperately from the crossmember. there is way more chance of getting something wrong, geometry wise, with that kind of set up. that second style is the style I bought, unknowing of the options or possible issues, and found out the hard way what is involved. yes, some guys have installed them with a bubble level and had them work. I am just saying that, as a first timer and with a lower skill level, a one piece style is harder to mess up if something is not exactly right on the money, fit wise. they may be more money initially but you spend less overall because you can do most of it yourself. then you will need to deal with the steering column, brake master cylinder swap and brake bias issue. possibly swap out the rear, at the same time, to something like an 8.8" ford unit from a mustang (diff pumpkin is centred side to side) or an explorer (pumpkin is offset side to side). they are cheap at the wrecker and come with big axles, posi and a decent gear ratio for highway.that will get you a decent gear ratio at the same time as rear disc brakes and a decent park brake. it will, however, need some work to fit and will also need the axles and discs drilled for your wheel bolt pattern.
if you want to swap in an LS engine and O/D trans now would be the time. you can pick up an insurance write off (usually a truck) pretty cheap usually and it will come with everything you need. you will need to swap out the oil pan, oil pick up tube, oil pan baffle and dipstick to something from a camaro. you will need to fab up some mounts for the engine, swap out the truck exh manifolds for camaro (to fit between the frame rails), do the wiring for it to run, possibly an ecm mod to get rid of unwanted accy etc. you will also need a fuel injection fuel tank, pump, filter etc and run new fuel lines. you may need an electric cooling fan as well. in the end you get a good running engine that is trouble free, usually, and will run nicely anywhere plus get decent mileage. bonus is no distributor, no carb issues etc. and you need to rebuild the existing engine anyway, right? if you want to stay with the small block profile for ease of fitment, then a fuel injected crate motor is a possibility as well, or a later model injected camaro or corvette engine. there is also the cheaper throttle body engines from cars/trucks. same mounts, exhaust manifolds etc but will require fuel tanks and lines etc. if you decide to just rebuild the old engine then go through everything before you commit because some stuff like carb throttle shafts and distributor shaft bushings etc can be worn out and cause the rebuild price to climb after you have already spent cash. get a complete check over and estimate on everything from battery to hoses to water pump to engine mounts.
just throwing that out there for ideas. just saying to do a work up of the things you will want to change, then do some pricing of different options and find out what leads to what, once you start down the road. once you decide post up your thoughts and you will probably get a flood of things you will need to do or add to the list of things to do for a quality do-over of the old truck.

[Russell Ashley]

I was in the same situation that you are in about three years ago. I made the wrong decision and it cost me almost $1K. After rebuilding my straight axle front end with king pins, spring bushings, shackles, shocks, disk brakes, and power steering I realized that I wasn't satisfied with it. Then I bought what I really wanted all along, a new bolt-in setup from Scotts and sold the axle and other stuff for about $1k less than I paid. So, my advice is don't spend money on the straight axle front end.

[dsraven]

IF, you decide to upgrade to IFS, attached is what scott's hotrods n custom's look like.

IF an LS engine is on the wish list, look at pirate 4x4 website, they have a good write up on the engine series and what changes were made over the years. LS1tech is another good site for info. www.pirate4x4.com/forum ls1tech.com

IF you decide to swap over to an o/d trans there is a write up on it by project1970 from 12-16-2002, 06:14 PM http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/f...splay.php?f=92 entitled 700R4 Conversion FAQ
it is pretty straightforward if you decide to use the existing small block style engine. the write up has more links from the guys regarding other websites with info and part numbers for items you may need.

IF you decide to swap the chassis you will need to do some homework. attached is a diagram for the 59 frame, which is a little longer out front than the 55-57 models. the rest is the same i think. try to get a frame pic like this from the donor truck so you can do some figuring on how tall the body will be off the frame, where the mounts will be etc. body height is usually due to the rear frame kick up on newer trucks.you will end up with a shallow box depth. you will need to fab brackets to install the body. fab up steering column connections, throttle linkages, brake pedal system and linkage along with somewhere to mount the master cylinder, fuel tank location if taking out of the cab, wiring, etc etc. this is not for the faint of heart. not trying to discourage but is not a small thing to figure out. gmupfitters site may have some info if you go with something that show up on the pages there. lingenfelter did one on an envoy/trailblazer frame but be aware that the track width is a little off. possibly the reason for the camber in the front wheels? just me looking the wrong way on that? http://www.thelingenfeltercollection...-e-rod-pickup/ with that said, I am in the process of doing that to a 57 that I have but it is a one off so it will be different anyway. the envoy/trailblazer wheels will have to be the right offset so deep dish (not pizza) is out of the question here, for front anyway. rears could be accomplished with a narrowed axle. some guys will say an s10 is the way to go but do the figuring on track width etc first. if required, wheel spacers will change the steering geometry.

welders series, in ontario Canada, has a good selection of stuff like brackets and 4 link kits, but you have to fab the stuff up. the guys that sell MII kits will probably have rear 4 link kits etc if you wanna go that way. the leaf spring system works too.

in the end, the frame you have fits the body really well. use it if possible. upgrade the rest. probably easier.
good luck,keep us posted.

[roger55]

I wrestled with this decision myself with my wife's '57 Chevy truck and decided to keep the solid front axle. I am very happy I did. The truck rides way better than I thought it would. It is a little hard when there's no load but I've got the cab very tight and with no rattles so it seems just fine. Carrying a load softens it out a bunch.
In fact, I just took this truck for it's first trip last week. A short trip to Austin to pick up a washing machine and a bunch of other stuff my son couldn't keep because he's moving from Austin to Colorado.

I was pleasantly surprised how it handled on the highway. I kind of figured that I would keep it at 65 mph but it goes so straight and feels so good that I went 70 to 75 the whole way. It even crept up to 80 a couple of times but I brought it back down to 75 because that's what the speed limit was. (I didn't put a cruise control on it but may at some point.)
The stock suspension was very impressive over the bumps with the load. The roads around Austin are kind of rough with dips and so forth and my Brother who was with me was very impressed with the way the truck rode with that load in the back.

On the front of my truck, I went with new stock replacement springs, an upgraded CPP tie rod, new king pins, shackles and pins. I also used the CPP 400 power steering box that mounts in the stock location. I used the 6-lug CPP disk brake kit as well. I just used new stock replacement shocks and they seem fine. I did find a great place to get the front aligned and the guy knew these old trucks well. He took the time to put the correct shims under the leaf spring pads to get the caster where he wanted it.

It is a truck after all and I wanted to keep it all truck instead of putting a car suspension on it. I also wanted to keep it stock height. It's just part of the nostalgia for me. Of course I did this truck for my wife but she wanted a truck too.

I'm not trying to sway you. Not at all. There are good reasons for upgrading these trucks to the other options mentioned here because it all depends on what YOU want. I just wanted to point out that keeping the straight axle can be a great option. Sure fit what my wife and I wanted just fine.

The drive train is a 305 TPI and 700R4 out of a '91 Z28 Camaro. The rear axle is a Dana 44 out of a '65 GMC pickup. It has 3.54 gears and a Trac Loc (posi). Wheels are 6-hole 16"X7" Wheel Vintiques Smoothies.

[dsraven]

thats a nice looking truck there roger. somebody spent some time getting those gaps to look good.very clean under hood too. nice work. looks like it was supposed to have that TPI in there.

[yossarian19]

I'm only on my first cup of coffee so forgive me if this rambles on a bit but hey, advise is usually worth what you pay for it anyhow.

Solid axles can work pretty darned well if you take the time & make the needed changes. The suspension was designed for bias ply tires, manual steering & a top speed of around 55 mph. If you don't put some thought and energy into it, that is all the front end will ever be suited for. Also keep in mind that you are starting off with old, probably abused parts - so you can't take anything for granted under there.

I've got probably $1,000 (I really dont' want to count it out) into an I-beam front end, and a fair amount of work. Spring bushings, shackles, king pins, power steering, tapered bearings, disc brakes, steering stabilizer, tie rod conversion, just off the top of my head. I'm not done. I need to rebuild the front spring packs (add leaves, I mean. The bushings are done) and add caster to make it track straight at highway speed.

I built mine in a wicked rush, which I would never recommend, and before the Dakota IFS kits were available. If I were ever to be able to build this truck a second time, I'd probably buy an Industrial Chassis Dakota cross member & go from there. It uses a Dodge Dakota front end, with ball joints & wheel bearings stolen from full-ton truck stuff. Rack & pinion steering, too. You have to dig around to find the options but you can run 5x4 1/2, 6x4 1/2, 8 on 6 1/2 or, if you re-drill, a range of other patterns. Viper brakes are doable. If you go IFS, that looks like the kit to use (coming from a guy who hauls with his truck, anyway)

[Guyz55]

OK ...so ALL the information I have received regarding this thread has been great !!!! I feel I should add a bit about where I live , I live on an island in Massachusetts and my truck "might" never see a highway . But you never know..I am still going to put a high performance motor back into the truck

So ......I am still considering IFS .....however with the type driving im going to be doing I am still grappling with the idea of IFS ...that being the cost . I want my truck to look and be a " 50's hot rod " and I would like to get it back onto the road by june or july of this year .....

I would like to speak to roger 55 about his truck ......roger my email address is guycamm@hotmail.com ...please send me an email so we can talk

Thanx EVERYONE !!!!!

[58CameoAZ]

Cool good luck with your truck, Roger is a great wealth of information and trust his judgment, he will definitely steer you in the right direction what ever way you go! Again good luck and keep us posted
Allen

[Guyz55]

if anyone knows how to contact roger 55 I would appreciate it if you let him know I would like to speak to him about my project

thank you

[Handfull 54]

Here is what I did with my 54 pickup. I bought s Fatman crossmember and had a competent shop weld it in for me. I went to a junkyard and got all the parts off a Mustang II front end. I had the upper and lower arms rebuilt. Traded in the rack and pinion for a rebuilt one. I purchased a kit to bolt on disk brakes to the Mustang spindles. I used brake rotors and pads from a mid seventies Chevelle. Later I got a rebuilt rack from a 88 thunderbird and installed it. The ratio was slower than the Mustang. Before it steered like a go cart. Now it drives great. The most cost was the welding and the crossmember. I used a stock Chevy PS pump and had a shop reduce the pump pressure. Don't cut your frame up. You will box the frame. The plates come with the crossmember. The advantage of using the stock frame is that everything bolts back on. Fenders radiator sheet metal etc. I have a 502 BBC and a four link rear. It is a pro street set up but you can put whatever tires you want out back. There are a lot of talented people here that will help you. I know they answered a lot of questions for me. All the best to you with your truck. Take your time and it will be the truck you want. Do not cut corners or you will be sorry later.

[mongocanfly]

Guyzz...just send roger55 a pm..just click on his name and it will bring up a menu..