'56 F100 Panel truck decisions

[thom]

I have been busy getting my '55 Studebaker truck going for a while. All along I have been planning to restart on my '56 F100 Panel truck as soon as the Studebaker was going, to be my daily driver. The Studebaker is on a Dodge Dakota chassis and I love it so I had decided to use a Dakota under the F100. But now that I have thought more about it I have changed my mind. The '56 F100 that I lost a year ago when another driver crossed the center line and hit me head on, had a Volare IFS and I loved it. The Panel has a Volare IFS that I stuck under it years ago so I think I will just stay with the Volare. I will save the Dakota that I have found for a future project. I will use the Dodge 8 3/4 rearend from under the wrecked truck and the 500 Caddy engine too.

 

[kenny c]

Sounds like a good plan.

 

[Torchie]

Love the panels. [cl
Start a build thread and post up some pics.
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[soltz]

Thom, I used the volare on my 56 and 69 F-100s and yes, loved them both.
Good work your doing there. [cl
[P

 

[MercuryMac]

Thom, I just drove my '55 M-100 with Volare front clip, to town and back, and it handles very nicely. A very good setup.

 

[05snopro440]

Thom, I just drove my '55 M-100 with Volare front clip, to town and back, and it handles very nicely. A very good setup.

Anytime you want to drive that beauty over to Sherwood Park and leave it at my place, feel free! [ddd

 

[MercuryMac]

Snopro, you wouldn't like it. It has that Chrysler really fast, really easy steering and that's hard to get used to. ----- Na, you wouldn't like it.

 

[Skip]

The Volare set-up is great. As long as you don't have to look at it. [ddd

 

[thom]

One thing that I have found that everyone should know about the Volare swaps is the ride height should be set up with the suspension set at factory adjustment when doing the install. Some will tell you that the Volare IFS can be adjusted up or down to your liking after installation. However, I have found, after doing the swap several times, that any adjustment will seriously affect the handling. More than a few turns on either side will either have the ride so harsh it will feel like a straight axle bolted directly to the frame, possibly causing broken torsion bars, or the other way will cause the truck to sway and lean with each turn to the point of being very uncomfortable. The adjustment is handy to get the truck to sit level but you need to get very close to the desired height to start with. Just my 2 cents worth, from experience.[

 

[soltz]

Just Lucky

When I installed both of mine I set the ride height I wanted and had a four wheel alignment and every thing worked fine [S 100,000 miles on the 56
Rather be lucky than good