1971 short wide (shortstack)

[clemsonjeep]

Really nice truck...and good job on cleaning up the wiring Wheels are one of the things I can't wait to change up a little on my truck and I'll be doing pretty close to the same thing as you. Not sure why your front tires would look so much smaller...have you checked ride height differences front to rear...maybe the front is sitting higher? As far as color goes...I do think they need some beauty rings and/or some dog dish FORD caps...

[shortstack]

All of the weight removed from the engine and transmission swap left the front end sitting high, and with quite a bit of positive camber. I decided to experiment with cutting the coils, starting with a half a coil per side. It was pretty straight forward. Once removed, cut, and reinstalled, I would drive around the block to allow everything to settle. I ended up cutting one coil per side. It dropped the front about 1" and the camber seems to be just right now.

I never bothered painting my coils, as I had planned on experimenting with them before replacing.






I wanted to try removing the helper spring in the rear to see how much drop it gave me. Turns out it was not the best idea...


It dropped the rear about 1" and all was well until I tried to spin the tires on a drive around the block. The axle hopped very badly and I was looking behind me expecting to see pieces of the truck scattered on the road. I got it back in the shop, but noticed that the truck was sitting very lopsided. The band that holds the spring pack together is nowhere to be found, and the second leaf was caught under the spring perch.
Driver Side:




Passenger side:



The axle wrapped and moved so much that the yoke contacted the drive shaft. everything appears to be fine, and I was able to drop the axle enough while supporting the frame that the leafs went back to the normal location.



I am going to reinstall the helper springs and see if there is any permanent damage to the leafs, but I feel I may be looking for another set.

I finally got around to painting the tank so it doesn't stick out so much. I masked off everything in the area, prepped the tank, primed it, and painted is semi-gloss black. It looks quite a bit better, and really disappears now.

[clemsonjeep]

I may be wrong here...but aren't your shackles installed backwards? I believe the open side of them should face the springs and the side with the holes punched in them should face the rear of the truck.

On my 71 the helper spring is still installed, but 1 of the middle leafs has been removed. It sits close to level and I haven't noticed any crazy wheel hop. Might be a better option for you...

[shortstack]

They may be backwards, I am not sure. With them oriented the way they are, I can get to the grease fitting for the lower bushing. When they are turned around I can't get the grease gun to snap onto the fitting.

I am going to pull the rear back off next weekend, clean/paint them up, and put it all back together as it was. I seem to remember one side sagging even before this happened.

[48prerunner]

Nice Job. I've been playing with the same spot for my fuel filler. I have a nozzle I've been test fitting, it is good to see it in action at the pump thanks for the pic. I planned on opening the tailgate didn't like the idea of the hose over the bed size. So I was going to mount it a little farther forward.

[shortstack]

It is not ideal and I can tell it won't work at stations with longer nozzles. The location forward or backwards doesn't seem like it would make a difference but if it was angled it would work better.

[Zorm]

where did those grill inserts come from?!?!

[shortstack]

LMC. The fit is pretty good and they are actual metal, but the little brackets that they come with are pretty flimsy. I have been keeping my eye open for some 71 inserts in good shape so I can swap them back out.