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Big time virgin here looking for some input. Does anyone have any experience with Gibbon's torsion bar front suspension kits. As with most things, they look great in the catalog, but that's a long way from the truck. I like the adjustability of torsion bars and the taxi cab tough components but I would like to hear from the real world. I am building a big block 57, and I would like to pull a heavy boat from time to time. I don't know if a M2 of similar front end will be up to the task (force) Thanks

Richie,

I'm putting a Gibbon front crossmember and '69 Chevy trailing arm suspension under my '49 half ton. I use my truck as a truck once in a while and didn't want to put M2 stuff under it either. My decision on the the trailing arm suspension is based on three things, they ride nice when the truck is empty, they handle well when 'driven' and finally they're Chevy truck!

If I've done everything right, here are some recent pictures of the first trial mock up.

updated \'49 chassis

Richie Just a couple of thoughts on the gibbons.I have seen it and it is OK. A lot of money for a Mustang II though.(it aint no diff except no springs) It is NO stronger than any other aftermarket frontend. It uses control arms that are actually weaker than aftermarket stuff. As far as adjustabilty....well to some extent it is adjustable(as your building it).The lower control arms are set to be level and thats it. If you think you are buying a cheap way to raise and lower your truck ...thats wrong as everytime you turn those bolts on the torsion bars ...its off to the aligment shop.It changes the toe ,camber and some caster. You will get a very nice car type ride with it. The way Olblue is doing his will ride excellant(wish more guys would go the trailing arm route) So.........dont beleive that you are buying a stronger frontend ...cause it is not.(hyped by the manufacture but is BS) Also take a good look at Olblues pix's (great install Blue!!!!) the way it is set up is a big problem with chevy motors cause it is rear steer. You can change to front steer but i dont know which kit blue has. If the tie rods mount to the rear you really dont want any part of it on a chevy truck as you will have all sorts of oil pan and engine clearance problems. I have several 56-57 out there now with TCI, Heidts, and progressive and they tow stuff just fine. However if you go stangII you need to buy a whole kit NOT one that uses stock a-frames with struts or small pinto-mustang brakes.Most good stangII kits have NO mustangII parts in them at all.Its just what the industry calls them now. The dakota kit is also pretty good but a little pricey. In the end gibbons originall built this frontend for the FQRD guys that were using that garbage volare clip(it looks like scrap metal welded to the front of your truck) now the they sold a few to the FQRD guys and had a lot of call for the chevy so... they also market it to chevy crowd. It is more suited toward a FQRD because of the way the oil pan and stuff are. It aint NO stronger but will give a great ride.(actullay the bars are on the small and long side for towing) Hey blue that rear suspension has to be good...its on every Nascar cup car you see on sunday,its the rule gotta use it. LOL Just one other thing i will say about front ends stay AWAY from the overweight guys stuff it is JUNK.

Nice pics Blue, have you preassembled far enough to run into any of the potential snags that Phat mentioned in his reply? I have not ordered one as yet but i probably will soon.Hey Phat, I grew up with the heavy guy, we were in our first street rod club together. I didn't like his work 25 years ago.

Nice work, OlBlue!

Richie,

I was a little worried about the steering part after reading Phats comments so I went out and layed the 'ol tape measure to it today. I have about 10" from the bottom of the brackets that the rack bolts to up to the bottom of the bare block. Measuring on the oil pan at approximately the same distance from the front of the block I get about 5". Looks like it'll fit with the motor where it's at. My only concern is how hard it will be to get the end of the steering column hooked up the rack. Guess I need to buy the rack pretty soon so it can test fit it.

I bought the crossmember, all new pieces to rebuild the brakes and suspension and the used suspension over 10 years ago and I'm just now getting around to putting it in. If I run into to many problems, I'll peddle the Chrysler stuff to somebody putting one in a xxxx and go with an aftermarket package.

So far on this project I've tried putting a late 1/2 ton front suspension in, (way to high and to wide). Sold that front suspension to a guy with a late '60s pickup. Put a Camaro clip on another frame. To wide and no place to put the front bumper brackets. Sold the whole thing to someone else who must have also read all the car mags and thought the Camaro clip was the cat's meow.

Somebody once told me that experience is that what you get when you don't get what you want. I already feel VERY experienced at putting IFS under my '49 and I haven't even finished one yet! :rolleyes:

Thanks to all for the nice comments.

Blue sounds like you have had a b*tch of a time at it. The one you have will work.It aint easy but you can make it work. The thing you have to watch is how high you have the motor mounted and rack placement. get the correct rack or your in trouble. You can not use a rack off a front steer car or the truck will go left when you turn the wheel right(not a real fun thing unless you drive dirt cars LOL) Also i dont know how much weight you will be towing but the torsion bars are a little on the long and small side for a truck that will be used as a truck. Unless your going to haul sail boat fuel. I would look to find a bigger set of torsion bars(road runner or big chrysler?? Not sure) Luck man

Phat,

Out of curiosity, I did a search for Mopar parts and and found the performance suspension parts section at mopar.com. The 'B' body torsion bars that I have on my Gibbon conversion are available in .840, .920, .960, 1.000, 1.120, 1.160 and 1.220 diameters. They also have the seals and clips for the rear mounts.

The bars I have are .920 and they list them as stock replacement for 440 and Hemi equipped cars. Looks like 'ya pays yer money and takes yer choice at the Mopar parts place! Frankly, I was a little worried about putting 25 year old stuff into a new installation because of parts availability.

I picked up up a rebuilt power rack from the local parts store this afternoon and it doesn't fit the mounts on the Gibbon xmember. The book called out 3 different steering units and the guy said he'd keep trying until we get the right one. The rack is '81-'83 K-car so it seems to be readily available. The manual rack however is a different story (at least in a rebuilt), the book had a note to call the factory for availability.

Things are looking up up finally. My tale of woe about IFS conversions in my last post was actually spread out over nearly 15 years so it wasn't as bad as it sounded. The biggest thing I learned was that magazine articles are written to sell ads. They sure as hades aren't written to tell the reader the whole story! :mad:

Yah no blue ,i dont use them anymore(but we used them on the open wheel NASCAR mods)but is the K-car rack a front steer??. Cause it wont turn the correct way for you if it is. Just turn the shaft at the store to make sure it goes the right way. From your pix.s you will need a rack thats mounted behind the the crossmember. I really forgot how we mounted the K-car rack,i do know we hooked the lines up with snow plow quick connectors.The k-car racks broke so easy we could change one in about 4 mins in the pits.

Phat,

Those particular years appear to be rear steer. Service manual shows it behind the crossmember and it turns the right way.

What you guys talkin' about on "wrong way" rack? If the input shaft is pointing at the firewall and the shaft goes counter-clockwise, you are going to go left and clockwise, you'll go right. No matter where you put the rack. Even if you put it in upside down it would still steer correctly. Even if mounted on the firewall, like most frontdrive are now, it would steer correctly. I think you're crazy on your "forward/rear" steer placement. :rolleyes: :p

Now I know for sure that GL doesn't stand for Garage Logic!!! :p If the rack is in front of the spindles and turning clockwise causes the tie rods to go to the right . . . you will turn to the right . . . right? But, if the rack is behind the spindles and you turn clockwise and the tie rods go to the right . . . I am pretty sure proper Garage Logic sez that you will be turnin left! Right? Reminds me of when I was a kid and I wrecked my gokart in a head-on with a 4" square post holding up the roof of my dads carport. I broke the front support for the steering column and it came loose, I could pull the whole wheel toward me, rotate 180 degrees and then push it back down . . . now I had backwards steering. I was always sure to do this just before letting my sister drive it! LOL :o