66 2wd power disc brake and drop beam swap. looking for help

[66SouthernClassic]

I have a 66 2wd 352 3spd.
I am swapping on power disc brakes from a mid 70s and djm drop beams.
Wondering if I am going to have any surprises?
Lookin for tips tricks suggestions and helpful hints or ideas.

I have read the mongrel motorsports stuff and have it printed. Also have read other threads from other places.
Also wondering what it is going to do to the front track width and wheel options?

[rickairmedic]

I have no clue as all I have owned is 64 and earlier but didnt want you to think your question wasnt noticed . One of the more knowledgeable 65 and later guys will chime in I'm sure .


Rick

[66SouthernClassic]

Thanks, ya I figured somebody would soon.

[bruceandersson]

I found the best information about this on the www.fordification.com site. This guy does a good job explaining all aspects of the conversion, but I don't think it covers the drop beams. I've done this swap twice. Both times, I replaced everything with the newer parts. It was easy and quick. I did not mess with the king pins as both my setup were good to start with. The only non-bolt in aspect came about when hooking up the power booster. I had to re-position the hole for the rad on the brake pedal arm. Welded up the old hole and drilled the new on slightly lower and towards the driver if I recall. I did use poly bushings for the radius arms and adjusted the size of the front one slightly to better center the wheel in the opening.

[66SouthernClassic]

Are there any issuse with using my factory radius arms and the dream beams with the 70s spindle

[SLICKCOLLECTOR]

not positive but as i recall the disc brake front end stuff has a different diameter king pins than the early non-disc brake setup. the disc brake swaps that i have done i always used all of the donor vehicles parts including radius arms , i beams, brackets, etc. all the old stuff went to china.

jim

[randyr]

Are there any issuse with using my factory radius arms and the dream beams with the 70s spindle

If you think you might want to add a factory front sway bar in the future, it would be easier if you get the radius arms from your disc brake donor. They have a notch on the front part that is designed to work with the factory sway bar brackets.

[66SouthernClassic]

What are the options for a sway bar if I want to do one, where can I get a good one are there any links to how to's for doing a sway bar

[randyr]

What are the options for a sway bar if I want to do one, where can I get a good one are there any links to how to's for doing a sway bar

The sway bar on my '66 F100 came from a '76 F250. The disc brakes, i-beams, radius arms, etc all came from a '78 F150.



There are some after market ones available too.

[66SouthernClassic]

What did you have to do to mount it? Specifically, what did you have to do at the radius arm

[randyr]

Quick Reply

The same bolt that connects the radius arm to the i-beam also holds the mounting bracket for the sway bar. The later model radius arms are notched on the end to accommodate a pin on the bracket shown in this pic.




If you found a donor sway bar setup, it would be easiest to install while you're doing the drop beam swap. Once the brackets are installed on the i-beams, you just have to drill holes for the u-clamps that connect the bar to the frame.



I also added the urethane bushings to mine. This is my daily driver so it's kinda dirty....

[randyr]

Quick Reply

The same bolt that connects the radius arm to the i-beam also holds the mounting bracket for the sway bar. The later model radius arms are notched on the end to accommodate a pin on the bracket shown in this pic.




If you found a donor sway bar setup, it would be easiest to install while you're doing the drop beam swap. Once the brackets are installed on the i-beams, you just have to drill holes for the u-clamps that connect the bar to the frame.



I also added the urethane bushings to mine. This is my daily driver so it's kinda dirty....

[66SouthernClassic]

So I need the sway bar off a 74 - ? 250
the radius arms off a 74-79 150
Or could I notch the radius arms I already have. I have already started cleaning and blasted one of the radius arms to paint

[randyr]

So I need the sway bar off a 74 - ? 250
the radius arms off a 74-79 150
Or could I notch the radius arms I already have. I have already started cleaning and blasted one of the radius arms to paint

the front mounted sway bar could come from a '73-79 F100, F150 or F250.....maybe earlier. There was also a sway bar offered on some Camper Specials that went thru the radius arms on the back side of the beams but that one would interfere with headers if you ever wanted to install them.

As for notching your existing arms, I don't know if that would work or not. If you can find a truck to look at in person, you'll see what I mean.

[66SouthernClassic]

Alright thanks, imm looking around for the parts

[Leeroy]

Im going through this exact swap myself (minus the drop beams )
Just had new kingpins....


I believe whilst the ibeams are the same length, the beam/disc combo pushes the wheels out 1" For the life of me I can't remember if thats per side or total, but I think its per side. I'll tell you in a week or so.

The notch randyr is talking about it:

I am hoping there is only meant to be 1 notch, 'cos the other radius rod arm doesn't have one! You could notch it yourself but its a fairly beefy casting.
Sorry about the pic, the grease monkeys went a bit crazy packing the kingpin.

[randyr]

[quote="Leeroy"

The notch randyr is talking about it:

I am hoping there is only meant to be 1 notch, 'cos the other radius rod arm doesn't have one! You could notch it yourself but its a fairly beefy casting.
Sorry about the pic, the grease monkeys went a bit crazy packing the kingpin.

[/quote]


Hi Leeroy. On mine, the notch on the other side is on the top of the radius arm, but both sides have a notch. Maybe one of yours was swapped out sometime in the past...

As for the extra width, I'm not sure if the actual distance between the wheel mounting surfaces is wider but I know the part of the rotor that houses the outer wheel bearing & dust cover sticks out further. If you're running "innie" steel wheels, the OEM bottlecap style hubcaps will not fit over the dust cover.

[Leeroy]

Aha! I just went out and had a look and alas! There is a notch on the other side just up top, thanks for the tip!

Yes I believe the innie's didn't fit, I presently have outies, but they will be replaced with some chrome/steel gennies I just had shipped over

[randyr]

Another little tip I was told when I did mine - use the '66 springs and remember which side of the truck they were on. Apparently the later model springs are a little taller and may cause your truck to sit higher than you want. Also, supposedly the 66 springs are a little thicker on one side (left side in U.S.) to accommodate the weight difference of the engine offset.

I see you're from "down under" Leeroy. Is your truck right-hand drive? Does that mean your engine is offset to the right instead of the left?

[Leeroy]

Thanks, I've heard that also about the springs, although I'm not sure if mine are original to the slick as they have lot of positive camber as it sits now. I'll investigate when the swap happens.

Yes the slick is RHD, second one I've owned thats RHD. Unfortunately the current slick and previous one (blue one in the avatar) were both originally 6 cylinders and were both re-engined as clevelands at some stage in their lives, so it's hard to say if they were originally offset or not.

However one thing I have learned is that the 'engineering' of the slicks didn't change much, they just put everything on the other side. Little things like the instrument housing, it's still 'tilted' to fit in with the dash sweep the same way as the LHD version, but they didnt change the tilt angle when they put it on the right!