Best front end swap.

[Malice]

So still in my planning stages. I want to have my game plan figured out before I start making changes.

So the question on the day is what is the best front end swap. I know a lot of people go with the mustang 2 front end. That's probably the most common I hear but is it the best option. I've been considering finding a c6 front end and using that. I am on a budget that's why I am not going an art Morrison it something like that. I did however consider just going with the s10 but there are some down sides to that.

So I want to hear some opinions of what people have done and why and would you do it different?

[msaintg]

Questions I asked myself:
Do I want it stock ride height or lowered.... or slammed?
Am I going to haul with it like a truck? Or just cruise.
What is the cheapest way to achieve my goal? Can I do the work myself?
How is the suspension change going to work with / or complicate other mods I plan to do. (clearances and such)

The answer was easy for me. Nothing from the original was any good or worth fixing. If a modification improves your experiance and is actually cheaper to do, I went that rout. Don't listen to people who 'preach' a certain mod or don't do a certain mod. It is totally what is in your budget and what you want.

Basically, font suspensions fall into two catagorys... independent or straight axle. I think independent will always provide a better ride quality. which one is best is just personal preference..... they are the same in my book. the one that fits your frame the best is the one to use. the next best one is the one you can get the cheapest.

[Malice]

Thanks for the response. Since i don't have old pickups are to look at and see what they have done its kind of hard making decisions with out getting to see how they actually preform.

The few things i do know is I want the ride height lowered and I want to upgrade to better suspension. Coil over or air bags... i'm not sure.

[mr48chev]

it's always good to do your research before spending money or starting to hunt for parts. That little ditty would probably have saved me several hundred if not thousand dollars over the past 40 years of having my 48 pickup and building hot rods and custom cars in general.

One you need to pick the theme and style of your whole build. By theme I mean is it going to be a full on tricked out custom with the latest trick wheels and billet engine pieces and a modern interior with killer sound system or is it going to be a more stock slightly modified custom with a lowered suspension running 15's or 16's a nice paint job and interior or doing it up set in a time period with period correct pieces on it including the wheel and tire combo and engine and interior goodies.

A guy can use a basically stock suspension with a dropped axle in front and flip kit in back or use one of the myriad of Mustang II styled front ends from the bolt on crossmembers that anyone with a half inch drill and tape measure can install to the top of the line ones like Scott's Hot rods sells and just about every thing in between.

Jag XJ 6 and S suspensions have become popular with a lot of us as they unbolt from the Jag donor in one piece from rotor to rotor and have brakes, suspension and steering in one package that is fairly easy to adapt to AD and Task Force trucks. Those may be as limited in supply in Burley as they are in Toppenish though and I missed out on the last complete but dying/dead XJ 6 for a decent price by an hour the last time one came up at a reasonable price. Still at usually under 400 bucks you get independent suspension, disk brakes and rack and pinion steering all in one matched package with a crossmeber that is fairly easy to adapt to our frames.

I'm not a fan of frame swaps unless you don't have a usable frame. If you just happened to find a 50 Chevy one ton sitting in a shed with the head off and laying against the wall and the cylinders rusted solid but with a perfect cab nose and chrome front bumper for a reasonable price and wanted to swap that to an S-10 frame head on as you have the makings of a custom truck but if you have a pretty nice 3100 shortie with a nice box and real solid frame and want to do the same swap because "all the cool guys are doing it" I say NO use your stock frame and do the suspension changes to it.

Plan on hitting a few shows both indoor and outdoor and see what other guys are doing and at the big indoor shows like Boise or the Goodguys show in Spokane next August (yep it's a ways out) go and check the vendors to see what they offer. Goodguys shows are great in that respect because a lot of the vendors have their products there for you to look at and touch and feel and have factory people there to answer your questions. Quite often the guy who owns the company is pushing his wares at the Goodguys show and you get to talk to the people who really know their products rather than a hired sales person who is hired for the weekend and doesn't know squat about the products.

That was a bit lengthy but might give you some ideas to think about. Also read through the build threads in this section as the other guys have done a lot of the things you are asking about and posted their progress photos in those threads and that is a big help.

[Malice]

You make a good point. I defiantly need to give a little more info about the build and what I want to do with it. What I have is a 1950 3100. Not much rust in pretty good condition. I bought all the sheet metal. Cab, hood and 2 sets of fenders and 2 sets of doors for $350. Came with no bed or chassis. So I really have a lot of options and it's a complete build.

I am sure a lot of you guys have seen the expendables truck. Well I am after that kind of feel with this truck. Simple interior. Maybe a few custom touches. Going to mini tub it for some fat back tires. 5.3l motor. Don't know if I will leave the motor stock or cam it and boost it. Probably a satin black paint job. Going to chop the cab 2.5". Shaved handles. Vintage air. This truck won't ever a see a track but doesn't mean I want it to drive comfortably down the road. My brother had a 1946 dodge. Original everything. All though it was a cool truck it was in no way a daily driver.

I don't know if that give you any better idea of what I have in mind but as if right now that's all I have figured out. I just need to work out the details now.

[ghettoluxury]

I have done just the same thing with my 48 6400. I bought a cab with doors, interior, and steering column for $450. Have also picked up a bed with fenders for $100.

The cheapest and best option for me, is to buy a S10 frame and swap everything over to it. The hardest part (figuring out the body mounts) has been well documented on this site many times. I am also just wanting to build a simple truck with a few custom touches. Of course it will be able to cruise comfortably at all speeds.

[57chevyman]

The previous owner who built my truck used the front end parts from a 1968 truck.. he achieved the jacked up look of a 4x4 '57 chevy truck

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by Malice

So I want to hear some opinions of what people have done and why and would you do it different?

i'd start by reading a bunch of finished project builds on this forum and i'd focus on the finished or near finished projects.
there are a lot of projects that start out with good intentions and go south from there.
do you have mad fabrication skills? are you a skilled mechanic? how much time do you have?
i see a lot of people throw money at a project, starting out with a frame swap with no fab skills; buy this, buy that...
pretty soon the progress pics get few and far between, then they disappear into never never land.

pick a plan of attack and stay within reason of that plan.
stay stock if your on a limited time/money constraints or this is your only vehicle.
don't do a frame swap if you can't fabricate; nothing cheap is bolt on.
plan on 3 times the time and twice money you first estimated.

cheap, fast and good; pick 2.
fast and good will cost you dearly, cheap and good will take for ever, cheap and fast is just that.

pick your battles or they will pick you

[fabguy]

Originally Posted by Malice

So still in my planning stages. I want to have my game plan figured out before I start making changes.

So the question on the day is what is the best front end swap. I know a lot of people go with the mustang 2 front end. That's probably the most common I hear but is it the best option. I've been considering finding a c6 front end and using that. I am on a budget that's why I am not going an art Morrison it something like that. I did however consider just going with the s10 but there are some down sides to that.

So I want to hear some opinions of what people have done and why and would you do it different?

Think... corvette. cheaper than a Mustang II and alot better ride quality....IMO

[Malice]

I haven't run numbers but I like cheaper. I actually started this thread in hopes I could get a comparison of ride quality between a c6 vs mustang 2 vs s10 vs anything else that' might be out there that I haven't considered.

[fabguy]

C6 is wonderful, although C4 is alot cheaper unless you already have a C6. Either one is great handling

[tlorber]

I'd say you build whatever will cause you to drive your truck more often.
I've had my AD for around 6 years now, and other than when I need to haul stuff, I rarely use it-even after putting in a T5 and taller diff. I still love the body though, which is why I'm doing a frame swap+AC+LS motor. I think that by making it more streetable I will use it more.