It's long, but bear with me.....
Ok, for all of the sages, gurus, and cigar smokers on this site, I have a couple (well, ok a few) questions regarding your experiences. I have been researching this on this page and others for about a week or two and have accumulated a mess of info that I am trying to sort through, hence why I am asking for your experiences with these options.
I am itching to get my '55 to a good safety and reliability level so that I can dispense with my rice burner that I use for long trips, etc. So, keeping the 235 and any other driveline modifications, I've got all mapped out. My questions have to do with the suspension and brakes. There are many options out there, and I am trying to find the best combinations to use.
Here are the parameters:
Year "round driving, mostly in town but interstate and mountain passes will be traveled (i.e. no long daily commute to work). Also, I will be traveling on maintained forest service roads (gotta go fishin'). These you can typically take a car down. Nothing that you need clearance and a 4x4 to get down, just bumpy with some washboard and rocks to avoid. The truck will still be used as a truck. Occasional light loads, possibly atv, lumber and tools, firewood, towing snowmobiles, etc. nothing constant or exceptionally heavy, just normal light truck work.
Here are the questions:
Brakes:
I know that I am going to redo the brakes first. Disks up front, drums in the rear, new master, etc. There are several companies out there for these systems, or I could cobble together parts from different yards, donors and suppliers. Any recommendations for suppliers? I feel that it would be best to get an entire system from one company, that way (theoretically) it will work properly and easily. It is just hard on the wallet, so I am entertaining other options. (but brakes are VERY important, so I can justify the cost if that is the preferred option)
Suspension:
I would like to drop the truck just a touch - 3” or so on all 4 corners. I am leaning towards monoleafs all the way around. I have read on here that the ride is still ok with monoleafs and occasional hauling is ok. Now I have also read that you can put the front springs on the back (from a donor), and then take a couple of leafs out of the front, and achieve a slight drop. What are everybody's experiences and recommendations? I have not been able to find anyone who has posted an update lately on how their monoleafs or other options are performing for them in the long term. Also, the dirt road driving and loads are another concern with these modifications. Has anyone done both the front spring to rear and taking out leafs or some other random combination of those with the monos? How does that handle? Is it advisable?
Putting it all together:
Is there anything else that I have overlooked or need to keep in mind for the integration of these upgrades? I will be adding power steering, so does that affect any of these choices? I don't have the luxury of blowing this thing apart and spending a few months doing all the work at once, so I will do the brakes first, and then later move through the rest (probably for the next few years). I just want to make sure that if I perform an upgrade now, that it won't interfere with the future upgrades and I waste time and money repeating/replacing work.
Thanks in advance for the input. Educated decisions are better than ignorant guesses. Maybe we could even archive this if we get some good info! Sorry for the lengthy post. Let me know if there is more information that needs to be provided, or if I am off my rocker...
well, strike that last part, i think that has all ready been proven...
