bolt on ifs

[HotRod53]

Hi all, been lurking for a while thought I would introduce myself. I'm John and I live in Arkansas and I'm getting ready to start on my 53 3100. I am the second owner of this beauty she is going to have a mid 80's restomod done to her she will be receiving a v8 heart transplant. I will post some pics of her when I start the build thread. the one in my avatar is her before I loaded her up the take her home. 95% of the metal is perfect mainly cab corners and some floor boards need replaced. well on to my question about the ifs. I would like to hear from any and all that has successfully done the "junkyard ifs swap" i have lots of questions on this. I know a lot of you don''t like this set up but than again it is my baby and this is the route I want to go. I already have the the ifs set up.I am looking forward to hearing to any and all that can give any information on how they achieved their setup. thanks in advance for your time. John

[HotRod53]

has anybody here done the 73 through 87 ifs swap

[mr48chev]

Although the frames are real close to the same width the tread with on the mid 70's is several (as in a whole lot) inches wider than the AD trucks putting even the most conservative offset wheels outside of the fender line.
I think that years ago one of the guys in California was using 65/67 front crossmembers with drum brakes which are a bit narrower under the AD trucks he was building at the time. His name will come to me in time but I can't think of now.
Most of the guys now think of this unit http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Bolt-I...ber,50961.html when they think of a bolt on crossmember as it is pretty simple and guys have installed them with the engine in the truck before.

[HotRod53]

thanks Mr48chevy,
I'm not a big fan of the mustang II set up to me it puts the tires a little too far in. I'm going to use front runners. plus my budget won't allow the cost of the M II.and I already have a the parts truck. I just really need for someone who has seen this swap all the way through. my big question is about the steering box position as in exact location, angle.

[STOCKISH]

The steering box location/angle is something you are going to have to figure once you put the IFS under your truck. Get it in the wrong place and it will bump-steer, drive/handle poorly, etc. The 73-87 front end under these trucks is just WAAAAY too wide. You could sell the parts truck and just add disc brakes to your solid axle and probably be better off. Unless you like the tires sticking out way past the fenders. In that case you will be OK with the 73-87 stuff.

[Angryman117]

Doing that swap on mine, did not look to bad (IMHO) when I put the fenders on to see how it would look. Not sure how it handles yet as the truck is not drivable yet.

[mr48chev]

Since you have the donor truck there do yourself a favor and go out and measure wheel mounting surface on the hub to wheel mounting surface on the other hub on the donor and then do the same thing on your 53.

This source http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...l_measurements

Tells us that the Tread width of the 73/87 C 10 at 65.8 is 6.3 inches wider than the 59.5 of the AD 1/2 tons.

The stock MII tread width of 56.5 is a tad narrow if you run the stock hubs and skinny wheels but most guys change to the larger 5 lug hubs and run some reverse or wider rims on the front compensating for that and getting the wheels out where they belong.

I can't see front runners on any full fendered street driven rig unless it is pretending to be a gasser from the 60's I ran 5-20 x15 vw tires on the front of the 48 at one time and that was a disaster handling and stopping wise. It did look like a drag truck though.