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1968 Ford F100 - Bumpside Build-Off

1968 Ford F100
Now ECI's big 13-inch cross-drilled... 
   
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1968 Ford F100
Now ECI's big 13-inch cross-drilled rotors can go on. The axle flange's diameter needs to be no bigger than 6 1/8 inches for the rotor to fit properly, so Currie made the new axles with a flange diameter of 5.90 inches to be safe.
1968 Ford F100
With the bed on the truck... 
   
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1968 Ford F100
With the bed on the truck and squared up both visually and with a measuring tape, which takes a while, the cab was still off to one side about a quarter of an inch as well as sagging on the driver's side, so don't always go off the stock original placement. Now I could get a good axle centerline, but I had to borrow a wheel to make sure it looked right in the wheel opening. Your eyes need to be used as mich as a tape measure.
1968 Ford F100
Now I could locate the front... 
   
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1968 Ford F100
Now I could locate the front four-link crossmember/driveshaft hoop. Measure 25 3/4 inches in front of the axle centerline-that's where the back of the crossmember goes while the top is level with the axle centerline's height.
1968 Ford F100
Next, the calipers are bolted... 
   
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1968 Ford F100
Next, the calipers are bolted to the secondary bracket. ECI supplies rebuilt calipers and new pads along with all the hardware.
1968 Ford F100
Because my ride height is... 
   
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1968 Ford F100
Because my ride height is going to be lower than normal, I had to notch the bottom of the frame to mount the crossmember since I was putting the four-link on the outside of the framerails. The notch wound up being as tall as the crossmember, 3 inches, and actually worked out pretty nice since it'll be welded in double-shear each side. I dropped a plumb bob off my marks on the top of the frame to keep everything square, then I marked the area I needed to cut out for the crossmember.
1968 Ford F100
After fitting the crossmember... 
   
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1968 Ford F100
After fitting the crossmember in place, everything checked out well. The bottom of the crossmember was even with the bottom of the frame. Again, make sure you support the frame during all this to minimize movement.
1968 Ford F100
I wanted 5 inches of the four-link... 
   
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1968 Ford F100
I wanted 5 inches of the four-link crossmember sticking out from each framerail, so I trimmed it, then boxed in the ends with the pieces Fatman provides. A piece of tape can help hold the plate in place so you can get it tacked.
1968 Ford F100
The rearend four-link brackets... 
   
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1968 Ford F100
The rearend four-link brackets are pretty self-explanatory. They go together like this, with the bottom hole left to mount the Z-bar/panhard bar.
1968 Ford F100
The rearend brackets need... 
   
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1968 Ford F100
The rearend brackets need to be spaced out from the frame the same amount as long as the framerails are straight; if not, the links on each side need to be parallel to each other, hence the parallel four-link.

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1968 Ford F100  1968 Ford F100
1968 Ford F100  1968 Ford F100
 
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