47-54 front suspension question

[jamis]

Has anyone used a 71-72 front crossmember and suspension on a 47- 54 truck? Can it even be done, I haven’t done any measuring just curious if its doable.

[dwcsr]

It has been done. The issues are that the wheels even with a lot of offset stick out past the fenders about an inch. You need to make 1 inch spacers for each side, the frame is 27.5 and the cross member is 29.5 wide. Its a better fit for 55-59 but thats a lot of work.

[jamis]

Thanks for the info. I guess you can also just cut and narrow the crossmember as well. Looking for options other the a clip change or the expensive Mustang II setups.
I'm looking at buying one of two trucks this week and trying to get as much info as I can. One is a 49with a firebird clip and the other is a 53 with a stock front suspension.

[TooMany2count]

this late model truck suspension is narrowed..joe

[jkaylor68gmc]

I believe it would be way to wide.

[BBEEP]

I used 77-78 AMC Pacer. Have since replaced it with TCI. It did work very well and I used the original 48 frame rails. It was heavy duty enough to run a big block in my Panel with no extra modifications. When my truck was in an accident, the insurance would only pay for new stuff! Cool, hence the TCI. I bought my complete setup for $1795, shipped. I would highly recommend you save your money and and time and wait til you can afford new. With used you end up replacing ball joints, tie rods, racks, brakes & lines, rotors, etc, and end up with nearly the same amount of money in rusty greasy old parts! I oughta know, I did old TWICE, and won't again.

[TooMany2count]

HERE's a slick set up, IF you have the $$$$$$..joe

[jamis]

Thanks for all the help, If I get the 53 I may just leave the straight axle in it for now and drive it till the 71 is done. How bad could the drive be if its not a daily driver? I see they have disc brake kits and droped springs and axles as well.
Another bad thing about the 53 is the owner sprayed Rhino Liner in the firewall, cab floor and kick panels. It looks nasty and I dont know how I'm going to get that stuff off. I guess a rug would cover the floor the rest I may have to live with.

[RunninLo]

I recently attempted this on a '52. I had recently installed a new front x-member and suspension on my '72 'burb and thought I'd use the stock parts to give the '52 some IFS. The cross member needed to be narrowed 1 5/8th" (maybe 2" don't quite remember now). It went pretty smoothly but the track width was still way too wide. Finally swapped out the whole chassis for a long box std. cab s-10. not too difficult and much better result. the truck is far from a concourse resto quality so we have no plan to be show room stock.since we're trying to build it into a frame laying simple rod style truck track width was really important.

Josh