Project Update…
If you saw the previous post on this ol’ bricknose Ford F150, I just wanted to give a quick update as to where it sits now (pun intended). Cliff’s Notes: This was my wife’s grandfather’s 2wd F150. He bought it new, he’s since passed, it’s been sitting for the last decade, & I’m trying to bring it back to life & turn it into a lil barn-truck/shop-truck cruiser.
Brakes…
So – since the last post on this 1990 F150, we went through the entire braking system. I had already replaced the front calipers, pads, and lines out the gate. But now as we went all-in – rebuilding the rear drums, replacing the rear rubber line, and master cylinder.
Is it too low in the rear?…
Back to the rear suspension, I removed the OEM bumpstops that were bottoming-out the truck’s drop in the rear, and replaced them with a much thinner version to allow more travel. Ok if we’re being honest….. I tied a deflated fat-bike tire tube around the axle lol. Hey it works for now as a baseline. Although I don’t want to accept it, the truck’s probably gonna need a notch. I’m hoping that adding the Hellwig rear sway bar is enough to do the trick though.
Buuut anyway, with the bumpstops coming out, the rear of the truck dropped down lower. To bring it back up an inch or so, I relocated the rear leaf-spring mounting point to the ‘next down’ bolt on the Belltech rear shackle (see pic; but the photo was taken before I made the change, so the rear leafs now mount through the hole that is outlined. And on the 2nd pic, the bumpstop & bracket are now removed).
Perhaps the rear-end is still too low? I really gotta get some miles on it before I can make the call. But once you get the weight of a full tank of gas in it (and the tailgate if I ever decide to put it back on), I think it’s gonna squat just a little too much for my personal liking & usability. But dang I like the way it’s shaping up overall. If we come up at all in the rear, we’re talking .25-.5 inch tops… just to offset the weight of fuel. I toyed with the idea of JDM-style flares… just not sure if that’s the right move here with Grandpa’s old truck.
Wheels are TUFF T-12 in 20×10 -19. Tires are Toyo Proxes ST IIIs 315/35/20 all 4 corners.
