Fiftee3's suspension & bagging project

[Fiftee3]

Greetings all!

First off, I am so happy to find this forum. I joined instantly. There is a lot of information here and more in the way of what I am looking for, mainly bagged trucks!

This will be my first post, so I thought I would just dive right in and start a build, or suspension build thread.

About me: Name is Phil, 55 years young, married, live in Somerset County NJ, enjoy hot rodding and always have. I try to do everything myself and not as talented as some/most of you out there Also own a 56 210 Chevy with a ZZ454 BB.

About my truck: It’s a 53 3100 ½ ton. I bought it about 5 years ago and had it shipped here to NJ from Missouri. It came primer gray, kinda beat up, with a 216, 3-speed on column. I got it running and drove it for about a year. Driver’s side block was cracked (common), so I upgraded to a 235. I changed to a T5 trans, front disc brakes, new kingpins, rebuilt rear brakes, made my own wood plank bed, new master cylinder upgrade with bracket, and swapped the bench for a set of Silverado seats with the chest seat belts built in. On the 235, I added Williams headers, Summit Racing HEI distributor, MSD wires, Offy dual manifold, dual weber carbs, and dual exhaust out the back. I painted it myself (first time) flat black. Overall, I have been very pleased. Truck drives good and steers pretty well with minimal bump steer. I should probably leave it, however, as you all know, I need to press on!

So, I have ordered and received a complete bagged MII front end kit from JW Rod Garage (real nice people here), rear parallel 4 link from Paul Horton Welder Series (another super nice vendor), step notch from Paul also and will soon be ordering a Ford 9” with 350’s. My goal is to get close to the running boards, and, still retain the straight 6. From my measurements, I think I am going to have to fab the oil pan. I have read here that when using the JW kit members here have notched the front frame 1 ¾. If I do that, I’ll have issues. If I don’t notch it looks like it will make it, but I don’t know how low I’ll get it. “some help here if anyone can assist”. I also just purchased a new Miller 211 so I am ready to go. I am in no hurry so my posts here may be slow sometimes. I will photo as much as I can as I know it is always beneficial to others.

In closing, again, happy to be here. I am always enjoying the crazy talent that some of you possess and wish you were my neighbors!!! Below are a few pics of how it looks now…
Phil