1969 Ford Crew Cab / Cummins Project

[69CSF250]

those horse power and torque numbers are sweet but what about the power of over the top coolness!

[HRDROKN]

those horse power and torque numbers are sweet but what about the power of over the top coolness!

Ya, I guess it will definitely have some of that

[HRDROKN]

Picked up some 2001 Ford Superduty (Excursion?) springs today. I will use these to fabricate the new spring mounts. The longer length will give me a much better ride then the old shorter springs. Then I can just purchase new springs for a 2001 Ford!

[460 crew]

The 99-04 SD front springs are the same lenth as highboy originals, maybe an inch differnece on the set pin, the rears are the ones that are pretty long. I had 6in lift set laying around for my truck a while back. Problem was the military wrap on the fronts wouldn't fit in the mounts unless they were dropped about 2in for clearance. Did you get the springs off evilbay?

[HRDROKN]

The 99-04 SD front springs are the same lenth as highboy originals, maybe an inch differnece on the set pin, the rears are the ones that are pretty long. I had 6in lift set laying around for my truck a while back. Problem was the military wrap on the fronts wouldn't fit in the mounts unless they were dropped about 2in for clearance. Did you get the springs off evilbay?

Hey 460,

These front SD springs measure 3" longer than my 69 springs? I got them from local Craigslist. I was trying to figure out exactly what springs they are (1C34 AJA), but haven't had any luck. Either case I just needed these for fabricating the new mounts. I haven't measured the rears yet.

[HRDROKN]

I just remembered that someone told me that it was the 94-97 springs that are the same length as our Highboys...

Set up the measurements today for the 01' Superduty springs on the 69... the front mount will be 2.000" forward and the rear will be 1.000" to the rear.

[HRDROKN]

Waiting for some more steel to get here... so I went back to getting some body work done.

[HRDROKN]

Interior progress.... did I mention that body work "SUCKS"!

[dcbullet]

Cab corners look great!

[HRDROKN]

Cab corners look great!

Thanks neighbor!

[HRDROKN]

Well I've been a bit stagnant on this project... the holidays and kids got the best of my time.

I have all the information for mounting the 01' Superduty front springs... then I was thinking about the spacing? The 69' is set up at 32" ... I'm not sure what my new (later model) Dana 60 front axle will have? Maybe 34" or 36"? So I have to figure out if I can change the spring perch on a later model kingpin D60 without re-tubing the axle? Does the cast perch on the pumpkin offer enough room to narrow the spring spacing to 32"? Or do I need to set my spring eye mounts wider?



Hmmmmmm....

[boots]

I love the build man, and yes I know body work SUCKS!

[averagef250]

Well I've been a bit stagnant on this project... the holidays and kids got the best of my time.

I have all the information for mounting the 01' Superduty front springs... then I was thinking about the spacing? The 69' is set up at 32" ... I'm not sure what my new (later model) Dana 60 front axle will have? Maybe 34" or 36"? So I have to figure out if I can change the spring perch on a later model kingpin D60 without re-tubing the axle? Does the cast perch on the pumpkin offer enough room to narrow the spring spacing to 32"? Or do I need to set my spring eye mounts wider?



Hmmmmmm....

86-97 D60 fronts have a 6" wider spring spacing.

I ran a '91 axle under my '70 for many years. My first try to fit it was move the spring perches inward. It was a ton of work to fab the driver side mount and nickel weld it to the iron center. Had a solid day of work into that one mount and "POP", under the insulation I'd wrapped it in to slow cool it the perch shrunk too fast and dropped right on the floor.

I've done plenty of welding to dana center chunks on early axles (pre-79) without issue, well turns out the later axles use a lower grade of iron that isn't nodular and they are cast much thinner.

Next, I decided to offset the front spring hangers to the 38" centers. I made a new front crossmember and built some fancy rear mounts that ran the inside shackle on each side through the lower lip of the frame. It worked OK.

The biggest issue was power steering. I used both a 68-79 2wd box and a 78-79 4x4 box with that axle steering off the tie rod (as the late model trucks do it). It had the turning radius of a bus, even after I built a custom pitman arm and it was gutless offroad with 35" tires. Late model trucks that steer off the tie rod use a panhard bar, which I did not have. I would recommend one if you steer like that.

My solution to the steering issue was to junk the old frame, switch back to an original one and return to power assist. I retubed my '91 axle to the 78-79 offset buying 78-79 axleshafts and the steering arm off ebay for under $100.

I bought a real 79 HP60 which is a far better axle than the later one and sold the retubed one to a late model chevy owner for an IFS swap.

I wish I'd gone with the 78-79 axle to start with.

I know around my area atleast the later axles can be had all day long in the $500-$700 range depending on gears and condition. The 78-79 axles go for $1100-$1500. There's a reason for this in my opinion, they're well worth it as an alternative to retubing a late axle and they work correctly under an early truck.

If you do go with the late model axle, pay close attention to the relationship between the knuckle tie rod hole and the kingpin centerline. The later axles are further apart, hence the reason The early box would steer the late axle off the tie rod for beans.

[averagef250]

Well I've been a bit stagnant on this project... the holidays and kids got the best of my time.

I have all the information for mounting the 01' Superduty front springs... then I was thinking about the spacing? The 69' is set up at 32" ... I'm not sure what my new (later model) Dana 60 front axle will have? Maybe 34" or 36"? So I have to figure out if I can change the spring perch on a later model kingpin D60 without re-tubing the axle? Does the cast perch on the pumpkin offer enough room to narrow the spring spacing to 32"? Or do I need to set my spring eye mounts wider?



Hmmmmmm....

86-97 D60 fronts have a 6" wider spring spacing.

I ran a '91 axle under my '70 for many years. My first try to fit it was move the spring perches inward. It was a ton of work to fab the driver side mount and nickel weld it to the iron center. Had a solid day of work into that one mount and "POP", under the insulation I'd wrapped it in to slow cool it the perch shrunk too fast and dropped right on the floor.

I've done plenty of welding to dana center chunks on early axles (pre-79) without issue, well turns out the later axles use a lower grade of iron that isn't nodular and they are cast much thinner.

Next, I decided to offset the front spring hangers to the 38" centers. I made a new front crossmember and built some fancy rear mounts that ran the inside shackle on each side through the lower lip of the frame. It worked OK.

The biggest issue was power steering. I used both a 68-79 2wd box and a 78-79 4x4 box with that axle steering off the tie rod (as the late model trucks do it). It had the turning radius of a bus, even after I built a custom pitman arm and it was gutless offroad with 35" tires. Late model trucks that steer off the tie rod use a panhard bar, which I did not have. I would recommend one if you steer like that.

My solution to the steering issue was to junk the old frame, switch back to an original one and return to power assist. I retubed my '91 axle to the 78-79 offset buying 78-79 axleshafts and the steering arm off ebay for under $100.

I bought a real 79 HP60 which is a far better axle than the later one and sold the retubed one to a late model chevy owner for an IFS swap.

I wish I'd gone with the 78-79 axle to start with.

I know around my area atleast the later axles can be had all day long in the $500-$700 range depending on gears and condition. The 78-79 axles go for $1100-$1500. There's a reason for this in my opinion, they're well worth it as an alternative to retubing a late axle and they work correctly under an early truck.

If you do go with the late model axle, pay close attention to the relationship between the knuckle tie rod hole and the kingpin centerline. The later axles are further apart, hence the reason The early box would steer the late axle off the tie rod for beans.

[HRDROKN]

Thanks Dustin for that bit of info!!!!

So I think that I like the sounds of just finding a 78-79 HP60 as compared to re-tubing.

Does the 78-79 sit on 32" spacing? What year did the width change >32"?