1966 f100 mustang IFS

[Gcwstang]

What companies make ifs for a 1966 f100 and what are the experiences you have had with these front ends. What other front ends are the best for these trucks. can they handle having weight in the back of the truck.

[jamesdfo]

look at the Dakota based crossmember offered by Steve (Elpolacko) @ Industrial Chassis in AZ, plenty of info on here

[luckystiff]

the Dakota based kit from Industrial is very high on the list in my opinion. I've seen a coupla people that have put the JW Rod Garage Mustang II kit we offer under slicks and some Fatman Fab which we also offer under slicks.

Donor vehicles are 2003 and up Crown Vic but it's wide. not a problem if you aren't trying to go super low and you choose your wheels accordingly. Then theres the Jaguar XJ series. Awesome donor and this is actually what i'm putting in my unibody(along with the irs from the same donor). very nice subframe that bolts in the og app and can be done so on the slicks or solid mounted or you can go crazy like me and notch the frame and solid mount to go a bit lower. Project66 here is putting a jag sub in his 66 in the projects section. Camaro/nova grafts are not to hard and will get you LOW. theres also the earlier crown vic grafts and full frame swaps. the volare is an option but i'd avoid it as those parts are getting harder to find. oh and the C4 corvette is another option.

if Mustang II is on you radar we are having a sales meeting today and one of the things I planned to propose was either JW Rod Garage or Fatman Fab kits be part of our Oct Sale. We offer Heidt's and Total Cost Involved also. TCI is actually on sale right now through us.

If I can offer any more info on any of the stuff we sell feel free to drop me a pm or call me at the Shop 704-462-1051...ken....

[Hunter's 64]

http://www.nolimitparts.com/




Danny

[6166 Junkyard Dog]

here is my ,, personally if you want a trailer queen the go to the Mustang II,, not for trucks, some can talk to blue in face still not for trucks,, The Crown Vic looks good,, some sub frames might be OK I still believe in Twin-Beam with 73-79 Disc Brakes,,,,,, 73-96 Ford Truck rear to help stable in back with dropped beams if you chose,,, or 73-81 Camaro, change front suspension to the 5 on 5 bolt pattern, take a Mark V rear with 5 on 5 bolt pattern as well and if you can not stop that truck with 4 wheel disc nothing will,, I have done this so may times on trucks, I don't like GM, but this combo I have put miles on trucks with this setup, last truck we put 50,000 that year on that combo

Here is the ????'s ,, Ask somebody that has put miles on a truck and see what they are running, feel their tires to see how the tread is running, see how trucks is tracking,,,, DON'T ask these vendors selling IFS Kits cause they are to sell their kits and don't care after you paid your hard money,, I have seen so many projects started with Mustang II only to be set a side after a few drives,,, unless you want a Trailer Queen,, I have my own trucks and I want something under the front that is going to take miles,rough roads, constant pounding of a heavy truck on top and Mustang II is not it

[bmcgc]

Remember when you sell it will be to a cash buyer.

IMO the twin I-beam is the way to go, cost effective, no fabrication, all factory specs.

Unless you own a 73-79 rear end, I would just go with wider rear wheels to even out the track. Sure you cant rotate tires, but I don't anyway.

[Gcwstang]

If I stick with the I beams has anybody used the djm or the aim kit let me know what you think I have heard pros and cons mostly cons

[luckystiff]

here is my ,, personally if you want a trailer queen the go to the Mustang II,, not for trucks, some can talk to blue in face still not for trucks,, The Crown Vic looks good,, some sub frames might be OK I still believe in Twin-Beam with 73-79 Disc Brakes,,,,,, 73-96 Ford Truck rear to help stable in back with dropped beams if you chose,,, or 73-81 Camaro, change front suspension to the 5 on 5 bolt pattern, take a Mark V rear with 5 on 5 bolt pattern as well and if you can not stop that truck with 4 wheel disc nothing will,, I have done this so may times on trucks, I don't like GM, but this combo I have put miles on trucks with this setup, last truck we put 50,000 that year on that combo

Here is the ????'s ,, Ask somebody that has put miles on a truck and see what they are running, feel their tires to see how the tread is running, see how trucks is tracking,,,, DON'T ask these vendors selling IFS Kits cause they are to sell their kits and don't care after you paid your hard money,, I have seen so many projects started with Mustang II only to be set a side after a few drives,,, unless you want a Trailer Queen,, I have my own trucks and I want something under the front that is going to take miles,rough roads, constant pounding of a heavy truck on top and Mustang II is not it

I have to agree and disagree......

First off disagree with selling you something and not caring after your cash is in hand. We have no problem with helping where we can. Can we be there to hold your hand through every step? No we can't but if there's a problem we try to do all we can to advise folks. If a shop spent ALL the time to walk every customer through a process like this your doors would close pretty quick as you'd get no in house work done.

Now on Mustang II in these trucks(or any truck for that matter) there are some specifics to make it handle like it should. I've driven a slick with Mustang II installed correctly and it drove just fine. On the flip side I've driven one with MII that was twitchy as could be. Proper install and having the caster set correctly can make a HUGE difference here.

Now with that said even as a vendor of many MII kits I said in my above post that the IC Dakota set up is high on the list. And that i'm personally putting Jag Xj in mine.

As for Dropped Beams every truck I've driven with them drove much worse than the MII trucks I've driven....


10 ways to skin a cat. In the end the cat should be skinned in the end. The level of cleanliness of the process can make all the difference in the final product ...ken....

[6166 Junkyard Dog]

man we can debate which front end is good/bad/ugly, But I doubt you can say if you drive your truck a lot of miles you want a Mustang II under here, they are just not tough enough for a truck, like I said trailer queen all Mustang II is a glorified Pinto/Bobcat,, Put a 460 with a/c, etc with all the extra goodies on a heavy truck and well ,,, I guess it's that like me and some other's we put miles on trucks, my Merc gets about 20,000 a year and roads that are not smooth and not afraid to cruise high speeds so I put my money on My I-Beam or something other than Mustang II, of course Mustang II Under a lot of the 48/56 trucks, but look at the weight difference,, and the ones with 67/79 trucks using Mustang II I really see a problem,, as far as customers loosing money,, We hear it a lot of shows customers disappointed or calling us up looking for another frame for one reason which I will leave quiet,,

[Gcwstang]

I understand the weight difference have a friend with a 55 with mustang II style and if really nice, I like the I beams for strength and the ride is pretty good. It's is my daily driver and probably will be for a long time, but I need the truck to be lower I just like the way it looks when it is lower and I don't want crown vic because you have to put new style wheels on. And people that have used the djm beams don't like them.

[6166 Junkyard Dog]

I stay away from those dream beams

[LM14]

I put a JW Rod Garage MII kit under my '57F100. Nice kit, went in easy. drove pretty nice. That being said, it had limited suspension travel. I changed to a different pair of shocks and picked up enough travel to help a bunch. I put Speedway tubular a-frames on it for lowers, had the uppers but never got around to putting them on, too much fun driving it. I know people question the strength of the MII because it was such a small car design. It is also the basis for most a-frame style drag suspension kits and most dirt modifieds (IMCA style) use a Pinto/MII spindle so I know first hand, strength isn't a problem if the kit is properly designed. The problem comes from removing the strut rod and transferring the braking forces from the rod and frame rail to the lower a-frame and crossmember. Well designed kits should work fine.

My '66 has cut coils and the original beams re-bent for camber. Really like the way it rides and drives, no concerns. With the cut coils I occasionally hit the bump stops, I accept that for the looks I got out of it. I didn't do the work and can't tell you how much my coils were cut. I have a disc swap to put on it, but again, never get around to it and just drive it every chance I get.

That being said, I put an Industrial Chassis Dakota kit under my '62 uni. It's still in build stage so I haven't driven it. I really like the way it went together. Got the stance I want and it looks really well designed. The rack sits a bit higher than the actual top of the crossmember so you do loose some oil pan room. It looks like the engine will sit a touch higher than with a MII style rack/crossmember.

JMO,
SPark

[luckystiff]

man we can debate which front end is good/bad/ugly, But I doubt you can say if you drive your truck a lot of miles you want a Mustang II under here, they are just not tough enough for a truck, like I said trailer queen all Mustang II is a glorified Pinto/Bobcat,, Put a 460 with a/c, etc with all the extra goodies on a heavy truck and well ,,, I guess it's that like me and some other's we put miles on trucks, my Merc gets about 20,000 a year and roads that are not smooth and not afraid to cruise high speeds so I put my money on My I-Beam or something other than Mustang II, of course Mustang II Under a lot of the 48/56 trucks, but look at the weight difference,, and the ones with 67/79 trucks using Mustang II I really see a problem,, as far as customers loosing money,, We hear it a lot of shows customers disappointed or calling us up looking for another frame for one reason which I will leave quiet,,

in the case of a 460 loaded out with a ton of goodies and such i'd advise a customer AWAY from mustang ii without a doubt even if it were a trailer queen. IC's dakota kit is TRUCK SUSPENSION FOR A TRUCK APPLICATION. i beleive both trucks are fairly close in curb weight ranges of each other. i think alot of people see the price difference between a standard mustang ii crossmember and the ic dakota crossmember which is 1.5-2 times the price they think it's gonna cost them alot more to do. reality is even buying all the other donor stuff the dakota set up according to my math is usually ends up between the cheaper to mid priced m ii units. i think when i talied it up it was in the $1500-1600 range all in.

now my truck is being built to be my new daily and will probably see 20k+ a year. i chose jaguar xjs for front and am probably doing the rear also. i get many brake up grade features that usually add $400-700 on top of a standard mustang ii. amd i paid $225 for my donor ifs and he said if i come back for the matching rear it's only be $175. even with doing a FULL rebuild on the ifs i'll have less than a grand in the ifs. and the jag is slightly heavier curb weight than the slick.


the 03+ crown vic is a great option if you choose wheels right and don't want slammed. and for the above poster you don't HAVE to run those crown vic wheels if you want smoothie style wheels. 16 smoothies that look like og(kinda) are easily available. and theres already been several people to successfully trim calipers carefully and even run 15s....


i

[Gcwstang]

Thanks for the help I plan on running salt flats

[mercuryv8]

Is the 03+ CrownVic wheel bolt pattern the same as stock slick wheels? I find 5x114.3 for the CV in my searching ?

Nic

[Gcwstang]

It is a 4.5 by 5 wheel bolt pattern but you will have to run modern wheels like fromt he mustang or special order wheels because the front end is wider

[cooter]

i installed a m2 kit with tubular control arms on my uni after looking at all the options, one thing that i think is a must for the street is using coil springs and not coil overs. that being said i do think the dakota setup is a good choice

[theastronaut]

It would be worth waiting until Porterbuilt Fabrication comes out with their Dropmember for F100's. They've been the best available for C10's for awhile now. It'll be completely bolt in. They'll also have matching rear kits too.

[theastronaut]

You asked if they can take weight in the back... This is a Porterbuilt equipped truck.

[frank66]

I agree on Porterbuilt. Very high quality parts, designed for a truck. I bought the chevy cross member before they started working on fords. I will be building the rest of the frame off that.