Hi,
I'm planning to do a RUSToration on my 1953 6400/6100 (Its a long story) while making it into a heavy duty rat rod. I want to keep it a big truck and keep all the cab and front clip intact with the original patina, satin cleared. Either way, its got to get lowered. I'm split between going two different directions:
1) Keep the original chassis and drivetrain (with an overdrive added). Everything works great right now....sort of, so why mess with it. I would channel the body like what tomc9770 did here:
51 6400 Body Drop I like the notion of keeping the original drivetrain and Tom's build looks pretty awesome. The limitations of the suspension and drivetrain have me worried, especially down the road. I don't have a machine shop and parts are hard to get. My brakes are near new, but I have no idea where to go to reline brake shoes when I need it or if I'll be able to get other parts down the road. I'm not Jay Leno and I can't afford to have a dedicated employee to just make new parts that can't be bought for my obscure toy.
2) Get a more modern 1ton or higher chassis to swap the cab over to. I know I'd lose the big cool 20" 3pc rims, but I've seen plenty of trucks, especially COE's, done this way with larger rims and tires that seem to fit nicely, especially when the truck is dropped. A model chassis would open the door to me being able to get parts at the local parts places, and I'd be able to drive it more with the better suspension and higher top speed. My big issue here is I have NO IDEA what chassis is a good candidate for a AD body swap. I'm primarily concerned about the front suspension width. Is there a preferable large truck chassis for this body that would allow me to put the truck on air bags and allow the tires to tuck in? I'm OK with welding and fabricating body mounts and doing not-so-perfect sheet metal work, but I do have my limits.
Let me know what direction you'd recommend and why. If you pick number two, what chassis should I look for and why?
