should i flip ?

icebox · Feb 27, 2011

i am building my first rat rod out of a 1950 ford F100. i am using the original frame . my question is the frame has a upward bend in the front . should i cut the frame about 4 or 5 feet back flip it over and weld it back on .to make the front end lower. if any one has done this or think is the right way please let me know

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rainman · Feb 28, 2011

Could you give us a shot of the whole frame? It's hard to tell anything from just those pics. One thing to remember though is your suspension will determine your ride height, not the frame.

hotrod preacher · Feb 28, 2011

you might wanna look at the 52 ford i built--it is an older build thread called "next project" and shows how i did the front of mine using the original frame

i pie cut it by the steering box and lifted it up where i wanted, but i did remove the 6-10" or so of front frame section...

hotrod preacher · Feb 28, 2011

here is a link to that build, it takes a few pages to get into it good but if you look closely you will see what i did

http://www.ratrodsrule.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4475&highlight=project+hotrod+preacher

Torch · Feb 28, 2011

I'm gonna flip

Here's some really crappy photo chops
My original idea was to flip the front of mine. I cut it just behind the front cab mount which will be the new front end of the frame right where it begins to turn back up (which will be down when it's flipped)

I originally planned on Z'ing the frame in the rear but picked me up a set of chevy truck arms.
Now I'm considering still Z"ing the frame or instead...stopping the frame just in front of the rear axle.
Or maybe welding the 2 halves back together as they were originally situated and run the frame rails under the axle instead of over.

I couldn't make up my mind at the time and figured it will stash away easier in 2 pieces anyway so I just did the deal, got the parts ratt holed away and got the mess cleaned up.

What do you think? does this help you out? what do you think I should do with mine?

You know now that I look at it, I think the new cab portion (what used to be the space between the rear axle and the rear cab mount) should be sitting the lowest even if the rails run under the axle.
It might look funny now but the rear axle will be pretty close to the end of the frame anyways and the rear of the tranny will be about where the front of the rear leaf springs mounted to the frame.

I can't go wrong, I got the whole '71 chassis for $100 and sold the tranny and transfercase for $75
...$25 for a set of rails, a spare dana 44 for my 77f150 and a good 9"...yeah baby