So I have a donor truck with a Vortec 454 and all the matching driveline bits including an 8-lug disc brake rear axle with factory limited slip and 4.10 gears. Initially I was ignoring the rear because it's @18" too wide for the chassis I am hoping to use.
Over the weekend I got sucked into a photo thread of a similar chassis with massive box flares and in the middle of thinking about making the truck axle fit it dawned on me that a matching width 3/4 ton 2wd front suspension might actually solve a few issues I am having and for essentially free using leftovers from a pickup box trailer.
So, I have 70s Dodge or GM available to me that would match the rear. Pros for either are huge brakes, matching width, stiff spring options, beefy bearings, and double wishbone suspension. Cons are more difficult to fab steering (unless I can come up with a rack) and lots of unnecessary unsprung weight.
I can take the lathe/drill/grinder to the parts and shed some of the weight, and the low profile tires I'll have to run will shed a lot more, but am I still going to end up with a suspension that won't handle? What else can I do to make it work?
MY only experience here is with '96 F250 2wd. I rebuilt the front end. The front suspension as a whole was heavier than some cars i've worked on. Massive bolts, massive arms, massive everything. I certainly wouldn't want to deal with it in a swap. Of course, if you are already running 8-lug rears....It's all going to be heavy.
It will be heavy. You wont break it.
Any suspension will work if you dont let it.
That being said, i dont see why it wont work well. Good spring rate with off the shelf shocks valved to them. Oversized brakes, and robust design. A good hit with the lowering stick will be necessary. Any reasonably modern suspension should have good camber gain characteristics and minimal bumpsteer at facory height, but may need tweaked.
What year/donors are you looking at? Im more inclined to reccomend chevy for more possibliity of drop spindle.
Funny you should mention this, as I was just posting a thread about my 78 D200 crew cab.
While I think it rides well for a truck, it is still a truck.
If you are planning on building something that is supposed to be light, or you are expecting it to handle, I would look elsewhere.
I think Curtis was doing a truck guts swap on a 4 door Pontiac a while ago. Diesel, 8 lug axles, the works.
Looking at the original post, why 70s?
Id think gmt400 would be perfect for this.
All the GM stuff 99 and newer is torsion bars, 2 and 4wd, and I am just thinking no to all of that. That means 73-87 or 88-98 and there's plenty of options either way.
Dodge is the same 72-93, and the 1/2 ton stuff is the same geometry as the 3/4, so there are a lot of springs or shocks available.
Since I would be mounting an entire suspension into a different car I can put it anywhere relative to height, so lowering spindles would be unnecessary. Ill be able to pick the sweet spot in the camber curve and build the crossmember to suit. Actually, building a custom crossmember means I can move the width around to match a rack too, so that might work out well too.
