1959 chevy 3100 apache stepside

[Simplios34]

Good day im new to this forum and i just purchased a 1959 chevy 3100 apache and i have several questions and would like some good advice on what route to take. Im not to happy with the ride on my truck, the steering is very wobbly not very tight, the steering is all over the place and the truck doesn't handle very good, its not safe. so would like maybe to replace shocks, maybe tie rods outer and inner, maybe control arm bushings or complete arms. Also im running a create motor 350 small block and would like ideas on some good headers. Please need some good advise

[CountofMonteCarlo84]

You may want to consider a subframe. Check out the Flat Out Engineering C4 Corvette one, which is what I have and my 57 handles great. Whereabouts in FL are you?

[mongocanfly]

welcome...and lets see some pics..
you could throw a lot of time and money into rebuilding your current suspension..and youd still have 60 yr old suspension...not a terrible choice but a good a arm and disc brake upgrade is hard to beat....for a little more you could upgrade to full crossmember swap ..I'm using flatout and vette on mine also..m2 is also a good choice..

[JohnJ@RideTech]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

welcome...and lets see some pics..
you could throw a lot of time and money into rebuilding your current suspension..and youd still have 60 yr old suspension...not a terrible choice but a good a arm and disc brake upgrade is hard to beat....for a little more you could upgrade to full crossmember swap ..I'm using flatout and vette on mine also..m2 is also a good choice..

I agree. Post some pictures of it so we can check it out. From there, we might be able to get you pointed in the right direction.

[Simplios34]

I purchased the truck this way, it came with a heidts suspension with crossmember. Ive heard a lot to go with a 97-04 corvette c5 subframe with suspension. I guess based on your comments is a good idea. I just want the truck for cruising and have a nice ride.

[Simplios34]

Originally Posted by CountofMonteCarlo84

You may want to consider a subframe. Check out the Flat Out Engineering C4 Corvette one, which is what I have and my 57 handles great. Whereabouts in FL are you?

Im in miramar Florida, broward county

[dsraven]

if it came with a heidts suspension first ensure it is installed properly and you have the proper ride height and rake angle that the cross member was installed for, then consider rebuilding what you have already installed. it should ride just fine after a rebuild and a proper alignment.

[_Ogre]

heidts makes good stuff, it probably just needs rebuilding
last spring i rebuilt my 59 fatman mustII ifs because it squeaked terribly
control arm bushings and shocks were shot after 30,000 miles
while i had it apart i did ball joints and tie rod ends

talk to heidts about getting parts
and thou they recommend not greasing the bushings: do it
use synthetic grease that won't degrade the rubber

[mr48chev]

Wobbly usually means something is loose, worn out or not installed or adjusted right.
Does it have a sway bar on it? I've seen a lot of guys put MII style suspension under rigs and not run a sway bar.

If it has power steering and a Mustang II rack the pump may be putting out far too much pressure for the rack. This is a real common malady with this setup but not that hard to correct. Some guys switch to a different rack to solve the problem.

If the ride feels too harsh I'd first stop and ask myself if I am comparing the ride to what the ride in my Daily driver feels like if the daily has a real smooth ride. Other than that the spring rate may be more than you need or the shock rate may be a lot stiffer than what you need or on the other hand the shocks might be shot and not helping with the ride.

First thing I'd do is study it and see if there are worn parts such as bushings, ball joints or tie rod ends. Make sure that the mounts for the rack are good. Then I would find out who in your area and that might take driving a hundred miles or so knows how to set up one of those front ends right as far as alignment. You might want to hit a cruise night or two or an afternoon car show or two and ask around on that. There is usually that go to guy or shop in and area that can set them up right.

[dsraven]

after you check it out for worn parts and fix that all up (jack it up and put stands under the control arms to unload the ball joints so they can be checked properly) set it back down on a level surface, roll it back and forth a few times so it can find it's happy spot and then check the lower control arm angle, front to rear, to see if it is level. this is the rake angle, the rake angle is set up when the cross member is installed, that is to say, the lower control arm pivot bolt is supposed to be level with the ground, front to rear, when the vehicle is sitting at ride height. if that is not level then the rake angle of the truck is not right compared to what the front end was originally set up for. the lower control arms should also be level, side to side, at ride height. so put a short level on the lower control arm from the frame out to the ball joint and see if it is level. if not then you may have to adjust the rear suspension height to get the rake angle proper, and also adjust the front springs to get the lower control arms level side to side. then, after an alignment, it should drive pretty good if all the rest of the parts are within spec. make sense?
I agree about the lube, use teflon suspension parts for a more "tight" ride but lube the pivot bushings well with synthetic grease before assembly. some have grease nipples but not all. also agree about the power steering pressure issue. there are also different front end specs for a vehicle with power steering as well as other stuff like wheel offset/scrub radius etc.