Slick 60's

64 F100 292/AT short flareside

I would like to drop the front 2-3 in and level the rear.

Im pretty sure it has the original springs.

Fender to ground on the front is 31 in, the rear is 34.5 in.

Tires are L78-15, 28.3 in tall.

On the front, from the top of the spring pack to the bump stop is 2.25 in. There is very little arch to the springs.

The only way I see to lower the front and have a safe driver is to use a dropped axle.

On the rear I could flip the hanger or reverse the eye and use a longer shackle.

Any other ideas? I don't want to cut the frame.

These will do what you want

https://www.performanceonline.com/1948- ... -and-REAR/


or if you want mono's and go lower .

https://www.performanceonline.com/1957- ... pring-Set/

https://www.performanceonline.com/1961- ... pring-Set/

Danny

I would do a 3" dropped axle in front and remove every other spring in the pack in the rear. That will get you exactly where you want to be. WAY less than $1000! It will cost you $300 to swap out yours for the dropped one plus another $60 for the rod drops.

http://droppedaxle.com/FORD_AXLES.html#TXTOBJ7D81431412F231
The axle you need is about 3/4 down the page. I used it and it looks great! Sid is a stand up guy as well. I sing his praises anytime I can.

Thanks Truckster, but I figure its right at $1000.

The dropped axle and tie rod ends are $360 + short tie rod $60 + kingpins $45 + ubolts $35 + shipping both ways. I may as well spend another $100 and have Sid fit refurbished spindles, it will cost me at least that to have a shop here remove and install my old spindles. Then I have to do the rear end. I only have 5 leafs on the rear so removing any of them isn't an option.

The wife tells me that as long as its down that far to do disc brakes. That's another $280 from Speedway + the master cylinder, proportioning valve and some plumbing. So now Im at $1500-ish.

May as well spend the time and money to do it right and do it once.

Im considering an axle flip and frame notch on the rear. My neighbor has an awesome shop and is a welder/fabricator so he would do it for far less than a commercial shop would charge.

What are the pros and cons of an axle flip vs a hanger flip?

viewtopic.php?t=20334


Check out Sully5's build lots of good 64 info

Danny

For only 2 - 3", you shouldn't need a flip and notch for the rear. Figure out the front first, then remove any helper springs from the rear springs, if there are any. Not sure if that is the correct terminology, but the 1 or 2 real short leafs at the very bottom of the pack which only come into play with heavy loads is what I'm talking about. From there, determine how much lower you want it, then take the springs to a spring shop to have them re arched for that height. You'll also need to find or make shock relocation brackets to get the shock geometry back to a good place.

Charlie Im looking for 2-3 in the front, and 5 in the rear to level things out.

Sullys build was nice, but I only have a garage so Im limited to what I can accomplish.

Im going to do some more thinking on it.

This is a nice truck, maybe the answer is to let it go and find one that's not so nice and bring that back to life.

I wonder how different a '61 frame is from '64. I used 3" drop monos up front and had the rear springs rearched so that the rear is about 1/2" higher. It's not even close to needing a notch

As I said, theres only about 2 1/4 in from the spring pack to the bump stop on the front.

Monos scare me, if the spring breaks you are in deep poo.

Im more concerned with lowering the center of gravity, looks are important, but having a safe DD is my real goal. Its a handful at highway speeds and everything is tight as it should be.

I may leave it as it is, I have my eye on a 63 Ranchero that would be a nice project.

Sure, it is close to the bump stop. The drop axle instead of monos would work. Does it look like the rear would need a notch to level it?

The rear has a bunch of room between the spring pack and axle. Im thinking a 3 inch spring drop + a 1 inch shackle drop will still leave plenty of room.

Im thinking hard about lowering springs.

The cost of the dropped axle is about the same cost of the lowering kit that includes springs, shackles, shocks, and u-bolts.

My steering and kingpins are in excellent condition and do not need replacement.

If I go with the dropped axle I still have 50 year old springs.

One of my concerns is that I don't know what the oem ride height is. If I drop the front 3 inches and the back 4 inches, will I end up with a lower rear because the front is already sagging 2-3 inches?

Not to barge in but has anyone ever heard of or seen a mono break under normal driving or use? I hear that they might break but have never seen any proof. I know there are members here that have them and I dont remember seeing anything since I have been a member.

62bigwindow wrote:Not to barge in but has anyone ever heard of or seen a mono break under normal driving or use? I hear that they might break but have never seen any proof. I know there are members here that have them and I dont remember seeing anything since I have been a member.

Been running mono's f/r for years no problems, Go to a drag strip and wach the older cameros and nova's launch off the line with mono's ......there pretty tough


Danny

F164 wrote:One of my concerns is that I don't know what the oem ride height is. If I drop the front 3 inches and the back 4 inches, will I end up with a lower rear because the front is already sagging 2-3 inches?

That's why you do the front first, then plan for the rear.
When I went to the monos, the actual drop from what it was was about 2.5" The bushings were shot and I think that's why the drop worked out that way. I doubt you'll be sagging 2 - 3 inches but the actual drop is almost guaranteed not to be what is advertised because of sag and other worn parts but that's not the fault of the lowering kit supplier.

Makes sense to do the front first. The problem with that good advice is that the two places Im looking to buy at sell the springs as a kit, so I have to buy all four at the same time.

who's springs are you looking at, if I may ask . Mono's or Spring packs .

Danny

Both, I like the monos because it gives more room to the bumpstop. A bit more expensive but looking at the amount of money already in this truck, whats another $1,200 vs another $950?

Here's My 64' With Reverse-Eye Mono's Front And Rear. I Used A Button-Type Bump Stop In The Front And Haven't Bottomed Out Yet. The Stance Is Just What I Was Looking For. Lowered 6" In The Rear And 4-1/2" Up Front...

Shadow, what size tires do you run with that setup?