The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Who's got the best deal on MII?

It's been a long time since I posted here, but I'm finally back to working on my '51 Chevy 5 window with a little encouragement from my 10 year old son. I'm going with a MII frontend and was wondering who has the best deals on these now. I'm wanting a complete setup but nothing all chromed out just "plain jane" will work for me. Any and all info is welcomed.
Thanks in advance,
Matthew

Matthew, I went with the Heidts set up on my 51, It worked out sweet... If I remember right it cost me around $1400.00
MONEY WELL SPENT !
Todd

See my thread on The TCI front end on previous page or so. I am certainly no expert but I will say they are very helpful. I still can't figure out if I am @ fault, but nonetheless TCI came through! I just received my "new" custom made crossmember today but am out of town so can't get to it. Ask lots of questions,you'll need lots of answers.
Jack

Just like Todd I went with the Heidts. It seems to be touted to be the best, at least I have never heard any complaints on it. With some things you just don't know what product is the best, what product is crap, and what product is just fine and a great price as well. When it comes to a part as important as your front suspension I suggest you might want to pay a little more and give yourself better odds at having a trouble free experience.

Fatman Jacks has some good products and the pricing is reasonable. The few times I've talked with them they were very personable with my questions.

Southern Rods & Parts. www.southernrods.com . I bought mine there for $1329.95. I added a power rack and 2" drop spindles so the price was a little more but still under $1500

Thanks for the info. I saw a TCI kit(hub to hub w/rack) on Ebay for $1200 which I thought was a pretty fair deal, anyone else heard anything about the fitment of this versus Heidts or would the extra $300 but worth it without the headache? Also a very big question, What will be the most drop you can go without a notch, will a 2" front work? I don't want the truck on the ground but maybe 4"-6" off the ground would look good to me. Any thoughts? Also what is the best setup for the rear with reasonable cost to get the truck to set level with a 2" front drop so to speak.

My Heidts IFS and TCI rear leaf spring kit gave me a 2" drop both front and back. I'm not familiar with the TCI IFS.

make sure you get one with tubular control arms. I bought mine from JPL streetrods and it is a TCI crossmember with heidts tubular control arms, I was told if you put a Heidts and TCI side by side you can not tell them apart. I am going with a TCI rear leaf setup

BIG CHEVY and 50adrod, Did you go with the 2" drop spindles up front?

I went with the stock spindles up front. I saw a pic with the 2 inch drop spindles and the truck was to low for me. looked like it we be a challenge on some of our roads. the stock mustang II spindles drop it 2-3 inches from the original ride height

I picked the 2"drop. I couldn’t imagine only 2" making a great deal of difference.

the one I saw with drop spindles the running boards were about 3 inches from the ground. I am sure all trucks will sit a little different.

I am ordering a setup this weekend. $2600 for all and $1873 for just the front suspension kit. It consist of a Heidts Deluxe kit, and includes brake lines, rack extensions and front sway bar. I also asked the vendor to include the rear suspension, engine mounts and master cylinder mount. The rotors are 11 inches with a Ford bolt pattern, control arms are tubular, and rack is manual. Spindles are stock height. It was explained to me that the stock height spindles will drop the front end 3-4 inches and the 2 inch drop spindles will drop the front end 5-6 inches. IMHO, you will be in the weeds with drop spindles.

gofstbuick
You've got everything but the camara. Take pictures as you go and post on Webshots or one of the other sites. We could use all the help here we can get.
BTW my drop doesn't seem to be that low. Do me a favor and measure from the bottom of your front crossmember (under radiator support) to the floor and let me know what that measurement is.
If you got all that for that little you have stolen and need to be jailed. Congrads. on some good choices.

I'm still new to this board, but over on Tubobuick.com, some of our members set up group purchases. Maybe we can arrange a group purchase from a vendor, and then we can all be thown in jail for life.

BTW, I will definitely take picture to share, once this project starts to come together

I went with Heidt's w/ stock spindle on my 56. I too wanted minimal drop and as it is, it dropped the front end 2-3 inches. I bought mine off eBay. I vaguely remember getting a couple of things thrown in on the deal for free, like the rack option.

I am very happy with my TCI setup.I purchased it thru a local dealer 5 years ago for $1600.I am sure it would cost more than that now. I have heard from a lot of the local streetrodders,that Fatman is about the cheapest way to go,and they also have good stuff.

WOW! I now remember what a great source of information this board is. Upon further looking at the ebay setup I mentioned above, it doesn't have the tubular A-arms and I want those to ease with installation. Can someone give me a measurement of how low your truck sits with the stock MII spindles? Maybe a measurement to the top of the running board behind the front fender. This sounds like the ride hight I'm looking for. Also, what did the ones who have mentioned having a MII do for the rear setup to get the stance you desired? Leafs, 4 link, etc. What was the ease of installation compared to the frontend?

Matthew,"From behind the front fender" the bottom of my running boards to the street is 6 1/2" and Im running the Heidts with tubular A-arms stock MII spindles,
And (for now)In the rear Im running the stock springs with lowering blocks on a 1981 Trans Am rear end with disc brakes But in time Im going to install that rear end with a nice 4 link but for now It will do
I really like the stance AND It handles so sweet

Todd

On my 55 I bought the rear spring setup from TCI,which worked out very well.It consists of new 5 leaf springs,new mounts,shackles shocks ans shock mounts,plus mine has a sway bar.I had to flip the rearend on mine,which meant mounting new spring perches,etc.It lowered the back end about 4 inches.Cost was somewehere around $550.On my 55 the rearend originally was mounted below the springs,it now sets on top.There are pix in the gallery.

http://zigsstreetrods.com/zigs.html Has sevral package deals that you might check out.i just orderd pk. 2 and it arived in a week plus free shiping

Good link there mtrich and a great deal with brakes and rear components. Let us know how it all works out.

Thanks for the measurements and pics I really like the stance! Also thanks for the link to Zigs, that seems like an excellent deal. Now I'll just have to talk my hand(or the wife's hand) into writing the check.

wouldn't give TCI the time of day. why do TCI kits come with Heidts instructions ? why sell universal polished kits that shorten your wheelbase 20mm or 3/4 inch easy solution go and buy new wheels? and the swaybar still does not fit see post

usa050aus. I have bought both front and rear suspension from TCI.Whats with this Heidts instructions stuff? My instructions were from TCI and were very good instructions.That plus the fact that if you do run into a problem they are there to help you out.Sounds to me like there is always someone around who has no idea whats going on,right in front of them. TCI might not be the cheapest way, but they have always come thru for me.If I decide to build another streetrod in the future TCI will get my business.As for your dislike for the TCI company,I am sure there are many satisfied customers,who will be ordering from them. Way too many people coming in with bad info on a good company,that have probably never bought anything from them. They probaly heard sopmething on the street corner and decide to post thier crap.

Dale:
If you had read his write-up in the gallery you would have seen where he did buy from TCI. He had a bad experience and should let others know about it. I have bought from TCI with only good experiences but if I ever have a problem with them the Bolt will be the first to know. One or two complaints I take "with a grain of salt", so to speak. With multiple complaints most of us would consider other vendors.

To add to this post, as well as my own, TCI have responded with an email. Hopefully this mess will be sorted out with a beneficial ending. I will advise stovebolt of any updates. Please understand I am long way from the USA and have a lot of money invested with this mustang 11. Locals here in Oz said I was wasting my money buying one of these units. I have proved them wrong, firstly on the ease of installation, no loss of existing sheet metal mounts if a front clip from another car was used and many local parts over here fit them. Mustang 11 spindles accept a rotor from a late model Ford and mounting of any late model caliper is fairly easy. I have just had a few problems and channels are now open to fix that.In the end I would not hesitate in installing another M11 supplied by TCI. My other car, the 1934, seen on the gallery has a front end from a 1966 holden. This will be replaced later this year as I have a spare set of arms only need the crossmember a nice saturday afternoon, a few mates and a few cold beers.