Lowering an '81 F-100

[Roger Carter]

Hello All,

Have a friend with an '81 F-100 short wide bed 2wd and he wants to lower it 4"-6" front and rear. I haven't dug into the truck yet and wanted to have all my ducks in a row before I start.

The rear doesn't seem to be an issue. Flip kits or dropped shackles will take care of that. However, the front seems to be a different story. I haven't found a manufacture of dropped beams that list the '80-'82 trucks. Plenty for the '79 and older and for the '83 and newer, just not the early Bullnose rigs.

What is the difference between the early and later Bullnose front beams? Anyone out there dropped an '81? Any other options for dropping one of these trucks?

I would appreciate any specifics that could be offered.

Thanks in advance.

 

[FuzzFace2]

I also have an 81 F100 flare side and looked into doing the same.

Part of the issue with 80-81 with kingpins is the pins come in 2 different sizes based on power or non-power brakes. I think because of that is 1 reason they are not made.

The other is alignment. With ball joints they make special parts to get it back in alignment.

With kingpins you have to bend the beams and if you don't know what you are doing you can turn them to junk.

So the $64 dollar question how to lower 80-81 trucks?

Use later ball joint beams. Now they say to use a certain year(s) but I don't remember what years they were. I want to say 90 something and the other reason they say it, it has better disc brakes.

So hit the junk yard get the beams on out. Remove the spindles on out and put them on the new drop beams.

I am sure someone that knows more will post up.

Dave ----

[Gary Lewis]

I also have an 81 F100 flare side and looked into doing the same.

Part of the issue with 80-81 with kingpins is the pins come in 2 different sizes based on power or non-power brakes. I think because of that is 1 reason they are not made.

The other is alignment. With ball joints they make special parts to get it back in alignment.

With kingpins you have to bend the beams and if you don't know what you are doing you can turn them to junk.

So the $64 dollar question how to lower 80-81 trucks?

Use later ball joint beams. Now they say to use a certain year(s) but I don't remember what years they were. I want to say 90 something and the other reason they say it, it has better disc brakes.

So hit the junk yard get the beams on out. Remove the spindles on out and put them on the new drop beams.

I am sure someone that knows more will post up.

Dave ----

I found a discussion of this here. But, I'm not sure what the takeaway is from it.

Roger - Can I delete the duplicate topic/thread?

[PetesPonies]

I found a discussion of this here. But, I'm not sure what the takeaway is from it.

Roger - Can I delete the duplicate topic/thread?

My suggestion for such a radical drop, is to use a completely different suspension, such as a Crown Vic. It's not as easy as on earlier trucks, but doable.

[Roger Carter]

My suggestion for such a radical drop, is to use a completely different suspension, such as a Crown Vic. It's not as easy as on earlier trucks, but doable.

Thanks all for the input.

FF, I will do more research into the later beams. The F-100 I am working on has power brakes and the 5x4.5" lug pattern, if that makes a difference.

Gary, thanks for the link, I will read through it. I see where I double posted. My apologizes. Feel free to remove the duplicate link.

Pete, thanks for the suggestion. I am familiar with the CV swap on the '65-'79 F-series rigs. For right now it isn't an option for this truck, though possibly down the road. Have you done the swap on a Bullnose? Any suggestions, hints or pictures.

Again, thanks for all the replies.

 

[Roger Carter]

I found a discussion of this here. But, I'm not sure what the takeaway is from it.

Roger - Can I delete the duplicate topic/thread?

Gary,

Again, thanks for the link. After reading through it a couple times it began to clear things up and at least gave me some things to look for to see if using a dropped beam was a viable choice.

Seems the 80-82 truck front suspension waas transitional between equal length and unequal length beams as well as between king pins and ball joints. Depending on which combination my truck has will determine whether there is a possibility or not of using a dropped beam.

I will post my findings.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary,

Again, thanks for the link. After reading through it a couple times it began to clear things up and at least gave me some things to look for to see if using a dropped beam was a viable choice.

Seems the 80-82 truck front suspension waas transitional between equal length and unequal length beams as well as between king pins and ball joints. Depending on which combination my truck has will determine whether there is a possibility or not of using a dropped beam.

I will post my findings.

Yes, please let us know so we can all learn. And, the duplicate thread/topic is gone.

[PetesPonies]

Thanks all for the input.

FF, I will do more research into the later beams. The F-100 I am working on has power brakes and the 5x4.5" lug pattern, if that makes a difference.

Gary, thanks for the link, I will read through it. I see where I double posted. My apologizes. Feel free to remove the duplicate link.

Pete, thanks for the suggestion. I am familiar with the CV swap on the '65-'79 F-series rigs. For right now it isn't an option for this truck, though possibly down the road. Have you done the swap on a Bullnose? Any suggestions, hints or pictures.

Again, thanks for all the replies.

No Roger, a lowered truck isn't my cup of tea. But the pic I posted is a Bullnose.

[FuzzFace2]

No Roger, a lowered truck isn't my cup of tea. But the pic I posted is a Bullnose.

I thought the beams were the same other than pins/ball joints and cast or stamped, from 80 up to 90 or so and why it was posted to use the later year beams.

As for 5x4.5 wheels and power brakes if I checked it right you pins would be the smaller ones.

My parts truck had power brakes and my project non-power brakes. The project needed kingpins so I was going to swap front suspensions then found out about the wheel size and could not swap the hub so then found out about the pin size.

Some links I have saved may not be just for 80-86 trucks but you can see how it is done.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1415868-84-f150-2wd-project-need-help.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1365547-crown-vic-ifs-swap-for-81-f150.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1493460-its-been-too-long-yet-another-truck-build-cv-ifs-fuel-injection-etc.html

I don't think I have one on the drop beams so you will need to do a search for them.

Dave ----

[Roger Carter]

I thought the beams were the same other than pins/ball joints and cast or stamped, from 80 up to 90 or so and why it was posted to use the later year beams.

As for 5x4.5 wheels and power brakes if I checked it right you pins would be the smaller ones.

My parts truck had power brakes and my project non-power brakes. The project needed kingpins so I was going to swap front suspensions then found out about the wheel size and could not swap the hub so then found out about the pin size.

Some links I have saved may not be just for 80-86 trucks but you can see how it is done.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1415868-84-f150-2wd-project-need-help.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1365547-crown-vic-ifs-swap-for-81-f150.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1493460-its-been-too-long-yet-another-truck-build-cv-ifs-fuel-injection-etc.html

I don't think I have one on the drop beams so you will need to do a search for them.

Dave ----

FF2,

Thanks for the comments and the links. I appreciate it all.

To all who have responded,

I have done some digging and found the front suspension on the '80-'82 F-100's to be confusing, at best. I haven't got into the Ford parts books yet (hopefully this weekend) and I think once I do it may tend to clear things up a bit, at least I hope so.

I did contact DJM tech line and asked if they had anything for an '81 or could make any recommendations. They responded yesterday and said they had a set of beams on the road now and were waiting for results before starting production. They did not say whether the beams were for the large or small kingpins. This morning I emailed the tech and asked if they had any estimate as to availability, but have not had a response as yet.

I will post back once I have more solid information.