47-55.1 My Impressions of S10 vs MII

[MiraclePieCo]

Over the years I've seen a number of threads in this forum from AD builders asking whether they should go with an S10 chassis swap or a Mustang II suspension. I'm now in the unique position of having owned and driven both and can provide some perspective.

I had a '50 AD pickup with an S10 chassis swap for a couple of years and a couple of thousand miles. It rode and drove great - very straightforward, just like an S10. Now I have a '51 panel truck with a Mustang II front end - nothing fancy, just OEM Ford parts. Both rigs have 350/350 combos. Even the same wheel-tire combos (right down to the hubcaps, ha ha!). I have 200 miles on the MII panel truck now, so I've gotten a feel for how it compares, and I must say that the rack and pinion front end is amazing. Mine is manual, but it turns as easily as the S10 with power steering. It's very quick and precise, like the proverbial go-kart. The MII front end simply begs me to seek out twisting roads for some canyon carving. The turning radius is astonishingly small - I can whip a U-ee in half a cul-de-sac.

Both the S10 and MII have an abundance of aftermarket handling, lowering and performance parts available, so that's a tossup. I liked my S10 truck a lot, but I gotta say this MII rack and pinion kicks butt!