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So this ole gal, 97 Limited 5.0 2WD, I bought for $6000 15 years ago on Valentine’s Day and the bitch has been a thorn in my side ever since! Lol
She’s gone through a few stages to get to where she is now, in which was never my projection for it.
We started off the build with a fabtech spindle and some OBS F-150 leafs mates with some 12x2.5 SAW bypasses in the rear. We realized what this thing was capable of and enhanced the front a little by putting a 1.5” uniball on the lower and boxing it in and building an upper to match with a 7/8” grim tapped into the spindle. I ran a fox 2.0 bypass, 2.0 air shock, and and a 2.0 air bump off the upper. As reassurance the stock torsion was still utilized. It swung 13” of travel and it did very well considering what it was.
I subsequently added some 62” deavers with 13” shackles I built and a 18x2.5 3 tube bypass. It did very well but we wanted more.
My buddy designed and built a 5 over full tig welded front kit and full engine cage off the existing cab cage built somewhere around 12 years ago at this point. The new front end used a D35 hub and swung 18” of travel strapped. It is the same front end on the truck now but on this last 2 year re-build that I just went through the upper is now fully boxed, 1” longer and 1.75” wider to except a 3.5” bypass with the 2.5 coilover. I also just added a set of SAW 2.5 hubs, Coleman 14” rotors and Wilwood Aero6 6 piston calipers.
After I got sick of leaf springs about 5 years ago we went to short coarse 4 link it and I showed up at the shop one day and the frame was chopped at the b-Pilar so then it became mainly tube chassis. With a dirt tech premier 4” housing and Desert specialties 2.5 hubs, 300m 40 spline axles and a full floater she was now linked swinging 29” strapped and a 7.5” advanced wheel base.
To try and keep it short my last rebuild post blowingnthe stock 5.0 came with a full bumper to bumper prep, 450hp SBF 331 stroker, a full rewire by independence Electric, and an all new dash with plenty of accessories. I even rebuilt the steering shaft with 3/4x0.095 chromoly and a 1.5:1 steering quickener. I can’t type anymore so here’s some pics…..
She’s gone through a few stages to get to where she is now, in which was never my projection for it.
We started off the build with a fabtech spindle and some OBS F-150 leafs mates with some 12x2.5 SAW bypasses in the rear. We realized what this thing was capable of and enhanced the front a little by putting a 1.5” uniball on the lower and boxing it in and building an upper to match with a 7/8” grim tapped into the spindle. I ran a fox 2.0 bypass, 2.0 air shock, and and a 2.0 air bump off the upper. As reassurance the stock torsion was still utilized. It swung 13” of travel and it did very well considering what it was.
I subsequently added some 62” deavers with 13” shackles I built and a 18x2.5 3 tube bypass. It did very well but we wanted more.
My buddy designed and built a 5 over full tig welded front kit and full engine cage off the existing cab cage built somewhere around 12 years ago at this point. The new front end used a D35 hub and swung 18” of travel strapped. It is the same front end on the truck now but on this last 2 year re-build that I just went through the upper is now fully boxed, 1” longer and 1.75” wider to except a 3.5” bypass with the 2.5 coilover. I also just added a set of SAW 2.5 hubs, Coleman 14” rotors and Wilwood Aero6 6 piston calipers.
After I got sick of leaf springs about 5 years ago we went to short coarse 4 link it and I showed up at the shop one day and the frame was chopped at the b-Pilar so then it became mainly tube chassis. With a dirt tech premier 4” housing and Desert specialties 2.5 hubs, 300m 40 spline axles and a full floater she was now linked swinging 29” strapped and a 7.5” advanced wheel base.
To try and keep it short my last rebuild post blowingnthe stock 5.0 came with a full bumper to bumper prep, 450hp SBF 331 stroker, a full rewire by independence Electric, and an all new dash with plenty of accessories. I even rebuilt the steering shaft with 3/4x0.095 chromoly and a 1.5:1 steering quickener. I can’t type anymore so here’s some pics…..
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