Stinking I-Beam truck!!!!!

Okay, so I have been talking with my buddy and he has talked me into doing something really drastic to my truck. The question is, which route should I go. Now keep in mind how much money I DONT have when you read this. Doing things on the cheap side is imperative.

I want to get this truck closer to the ground. But remember, I have the dreaded twin I-Beam set up so I am very limited to what I can do. I cannot do bags unless I change out the entire front set up to coils. I could do a front clip but then would have to worry about remounting my motor and such. What I am thinking about doing is to do a body drop or Z-ing the frame. Thinking either way, I will have alot of work involved but would like to see it sitting lower about another 4 inches. Here is one problem I would run into with Z-ing the frame.... my radius arms. And I'm not quite sure how I would get around this issue. And I even thought about taking an S10 frame and swapping it out. With considering all, I think the body drop may be the best route to go. Who knows, I may end up changing my mind about this and scratching the idea. Any suggestions?

Volare' Clip...Disc Brakes, Power Steering, fully adjustable....

Body drop is pretty involved. I would rather clip it with a Camaro clip or something than do the body drop. You get the benifits of power steering and parts you can buy over the counter with a GM clip. It's going to be work either way. I just feel if you are going to put alot of time in the truck why not ditch the worse part, the front end junk. Zing the frame is not a good idea. You will still have to cut the firewall and tunnel. Also you will have to add metal to the frame to get it to the right size. Stacking it will cause the wheelbase to be shorter so you will have to use plate or something else to get it back to the right size.

RebStew wrote:I would rather clip it with a Camaro clip or something

I have heard of people doing an array of different GM frames. Is there an ideal one?

It really matter what you are working on. Stuff like the old 50"s stuff most use G bodies like 79 Monte Carlos,Olds ect ect. The wheels are a little closer together. On stuff like truck and alot of other things people use F body clip. 70 to 81 Trans Ams or Camaros. You need to measure your frame and get one that is close to yours. The good one would be something that is just a hair narrower than your and slip some of the clip inside your frame rails.

CustomCabby wrote:

RebStew wrote:I would rather clip it with a Camaro clip or something

I have heard of people doing an array of different GM frames. Is there an ideal one?

Why cut you truck IN HALF???? Volare' easy in, all the goodies on it, and you don't have to cut the truck in half...also has a 5 x 4-1/2 BC..also don't have to make all of those mount areas for the radiator, fenders and stuff, also the Fat Man Mustang II kit is good too, but costs$$$ They also make a A body clip kit, also $$$$ $300 bucks you get it all....and 1/2 the work....

I really don't know why I'm considering this. Every bit of this is beyond me and my capabilities.

CustomCabby wrote:I really don't know why I'm considering this. Every bit of this is beyond me and my capabilities.

With a place to do it, and enough people, and the tools, welders, grinders, and brake lines and steering couplers, we could have it done in a weekend, unless you want to clean and paint every part...

It is a bit scary to start hacking on your ride when it is up and running. That is hot rodding 101. Best way to learn is to jump in and do it. Like John said with a few hands and everything laid out and ready to go it wouldn't take long. Give it some thought and if you don't feel comfortable doing it just let it ride for a while and see what happens down the road. I've never done the Mopar stuff that John is doing now but it does seem like an easy way. I just had some bad luck with the Plymouth front ends on a Duster and never wanted to mess with another. I know I few guys may remember me getting knocked out by my Duster.

RebStew wrote:It is a bit scary to start hacking on your ride when it is up and running. That is hot rodding 101. Best way to learn is to jump in and do it. Like John said with a few hands and everything laid out and ready to go it wouldn't take long. Give it some thought and if you don't feel comfortable doing it just let it ride for a while and see what happens down the road. I've never done the Mopar stuff that John is doing now but it does seem like an easy way. I just had some bad luck with the Plymouth front ends on a Duster and never wanted to mess with another. I know I few guys may remember me getting knocked out by my Duster.

That was that long torsion bar stuff, Volare' uses the J-Bar set up, much better...and easier too!

Oh okay. I didn't know. One thing I do like with the Mopar stuff is you can lower it and raise it with just a socket set.

And you can get Poly bushings for everything. I put a whole Poly set on the front end of my Satellite and WOW! what a difference!

Cratethis wrote:And you can get Poly bushings for everything. I put a whole Poly set on the front end of my Satellite and WOW! what a difference!

He's wanting to lower it but the ploblem is with the front end on those Fords it's hard to get them way down without alot of work.

Okay, okay... I'm seriously thinking about doing a Volare front end. What would I be looking at to totally switch it over? Would I have to do something with my original steering?

RebStew wrote:

Cratethis wrote:And you can get Poly bushings for everything. I put a whole Poly set on the front end of my Satellite and WOW! what a difference!

He's wanting to lower it but the ploblem is with the front end on those Fords it's hard to get them way down without alot of work.

Right... I was talking about if he were to change it over to the mopar front end.