Guys, my F15 chassis had been very much modified by a previous owner. That chassis was 'adapted' to fit modern engine and gearbox, so a great deal of crossmember mods were done to accomodate, thus buggering it for economical repair. Tony, the vehicle this chassis belongs to has become a parts truck. No plans to attempt repair. The rear cross member on the F15 is not nearly good enough, because it is bent and has a section cut out of it, making a replacement essential. Because of all the changes to the F15 chassis, it is basically useless.
The front axle on my F15
may be original, but at some stage, someone has fit later model hubs and wheels from another make of vehicle, Dodge if I recall correctly. Rear axle is definately NOT CMP at all. The chap I bought this from said the owner before had started to turn this vehicle into a 'Hotrod' project. Thats' the way, get a really heavy vehicle and then try to make it go fast. Christ man, BUY A CORVETTE or something......jeez! That truck did come with two rooves and several other goodies which made it attractive.
The chassis of my F60 has definately been shortened, but I am grateful it is only from the rear, not middle. Axle has been moved forward, and this seems to have been done well. I did a test fit of springs before I pulled them apart, everything lined up OK and measured same on both sides! I do have all the spring hanger brackets for this vehicle, and overrider bump stops as well. In fact I have several additional spares of these, should one or more prove to be less than ideal. I couldn't tell you WHY the prior owner decided to disassemble to extent that he did.....and then just stop work and leave truck to suffer weather damage etc, but that's what happened. Tony, the two rear cross members you refer to would include one which was bolted in place. This piece, and a spare, is currently on one of my parts shelves. Apart from the absolute rear member, there are no further parts I need for the F60 chassis.....as far as I can tell! I am planning to replace the very front cross member, becuase I don't like the extent of cracking around bumper bolt areas. A competent welder could easily repair this, but I already have a perfect replacement which came on the piece of chassis that was attached to an engine I bought ages ago. That piece of chassis also had both cross members that engine bolt to (of course), so I COULD redo the F15 chassis back to original if so inclined. I'm not really!
While it may seem a bit of a waste to scrap the F15 (or Frankentruck), it did donate two quite usable doors to my F60 rebuild. I have searched high & low, and not seen too many doors in ANY condition recently. Having said that, I do have three spare doors that might come in handy one day, but they are almost RUBBISH!
I think I have written than I met a fellow around 4-5 weeks ago who happens to have a Ford rear cross member I can have, free.
Pity I can't find his phone number.........yet!
He also has a Chevrolet CMP for sale at $1400, which he says runs, stops and is complete. Not of interest to me but when I find the phone number, I will arrange to go inspect and take photos in case anyone else may want to buy it.
