The old stink bug stance on the primered Nova or Tri-Five running 3 1/2-inch Centerlines in your high school parking lot belongs then and there, not on your classic truck. Obviously, trucks have a heavy duty/utilitarian lineage, but how many guys or gals do you know who are more careful with their trucks than their mom's antique dining table? They take pride in the fact that nothing goes into, let alone scratches, their truck's bed. That's all fine and dandy and to each his own, but what's the point of seeing blue sky between the ground and the bottom of your truck bed if you're not hauling anything? Time to get with the program. Restorations have an excuse, and we're not building hay haulers or rock crawlers here, so get your truck down to earth!
Each truck necessitates its own way of going about suspension modifications, but it's not rocket science, and you don't need airbags to get your truck low while maintaining a decent ride quality. We have been following a '60 Ford F-100 that has been undergoing a plethora of chassis mods in order to help bring it up to today's standards without getting too wacky. Last month we outlined what it takes to lower a '57-60 F-100 with a dropped axle from Classic Performance Products in order for them to develop several kits for these Fords, which are kinda out on their own as far as aftermarket upgrade parts are concerned. With the frontend nice and low, attention was turned to the rear. All of the kits out there for '57-60s are actually for earlier trucks and use a shorter leaf spring in the rear, which means the spring mounts need to be moved, which can lead to many problems, plus shorter springs don't ride as smoothly as longer ones-it's physics.
One of the easiest ways to lower the rear of most trucks is to "flip" the rearend to rest on top of the leaf springs. That automatically lowers it the width of the axle tube (usually about 3 inches), plus the leaf spring pack, which varies, but let's say at least 2 inches, so that's a modest 5 inches right there! The only problem is that this usually eats most of the clearance between the bottom of the frame and the top of the relocated axle tube, which calls for a C-notch in the frame. This can be mild to wild depending on your needs, and you've probably seen trucks at shows sans a bed floor and tall Brooklyn Bridge-lookin' notches or stepped frames so the owner can lay said truck on the ground, literally. That's not for everyone, and often a dab'll do ya.
CPP's new kit comes with a C-notch package that'll give roughly 2 1/2 inches of extra frame clearance, which on a lowered or custom truck, car, or hot rod is usually about all the suspension is gonna travel anyway. Luckily, CPP got together with Deaver Spring to build the new bolt-in replacement leafs that lower the truck about an inch, not to mention they'll ride smoother than worn-out and fatigued stockers with button sliders at the end of each leaf. CPP has gone to great lengths to make sure this installation goes smoothly, and even include zshorter shocks that bolt into their stock locations.
While all this work was going on the new Truetrac Posi third member with a 3.00:1 gear showed up and was installed into the Currie rearend while the bed was off. That Smeding Ford 392 small-block will smoke both the skins now!
Obviously, with the C-notch there is a decent amount of fabrication involved that requires a certain skill level as well as tools, but even if you hire a shop to do this, it's not too complicated or time consuming. In fact, with the work being done by professionals, this was started at 8:30 a.m., and the last picture was taken by 1:00 p.m. the same day.
So call classic Performance Products at 800-830-1724 to order everything you need to get your late-'50s Ford down on the ground! Stay tuned for more '57-60 F-100 tech.
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Here's the first part of the new '57-60 F-100 lowering kit from Classic Performance Produc
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The new leaf springs are made for CPP by the specialists at Deaver Spring and would have b
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I know it doesn't look like much is even left of this '60 F-100, but if you've been follow
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With the rearend sitting on top of the stock leaf springs and the bed off, there's about 1
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Prep for the C-notch boxing plates starts with a good cleaning and grinding of paint on ea
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The boxing plates basically butt up against the shock crossmember, and the axle centerline
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With the pre-bent notch plates, find their center and match it up to the axle centerline,
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CPP has a few luxuries, like a CNC plasma cutter, but you can cut the notch out of the box
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Just like butter! If you have jagged edges or slag from the torch, it'll be easier to grin
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With the notch cut out of the boxing plate, it gets tacked (or clamped) back in to make a
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Once marked for placement, break the tacks, move the boxing plate to the outside of the fr
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The acetylene torch is still a good way to do this as long as you're careful and steady. O
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No matter how you choose to cut the notch, there will probably be some amount of grinding
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When it comes time to weld everything together, make sure it gets done well with at least
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Finish results should look something like this, with a nice uniform weld joining the piece
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On the road to reassembly! The new leaf springs bolt right into a stock truck and feature
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50 years of use and fatigue can do this to what look like normal robust leafs. This leaf i
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In a stock F-100 the rearend bolts to the bottom of the leaf springs, and one of the easie
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Since the front spring mount is stationary, only the rear shackles are replaced. When doin
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The beautiful thing about CPP's kit is that it allows the springs and shocks to bolt back
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To the unsuspecting eye everything looks just like it oughtta, which is how it's supposed
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With the bed back on the rear end, the truck sits about 6 inches lower than it used to, an
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Look how high the back of the '60 was stock, even during a hard high-speed turn under full
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Here's a shot from underneath that shows the head room gained from CPP's kit. What are you