"An I.F.S Bolt-On" A Bolt-in IFS For 1947 - 1953 Trucks
Here's a pretty veg but good article on a simple bolt in front suspension using a 1977 Chevy truck IFS. Since many 70's vehicle's seemed to go to a "clip" type front end, this seems like a pretty good rate to go for those on a tight budget. Their are a few things I noticed right off the top after reading this article. If you look at the picture below, you'll notice that the front wheels are almost parallel to the front fender openings. The wheels on this truck do look a little wider than the stock wheels but they still seem to stick out too far. This is probably due to the 77 front end being an 1/2" wider than the 53 frame. If you go with this front end, I'd recommend replacing the upper and lower control arms with control arms that are a 1/2" shorter so that the wheels will be in their proper place.
The other thing I noticed, in the first picture, is that the lower control arms not only hang down low but also are very noticeable at any distance. The visibility part is not so much an issue but I'd avoid any speed bumps or dips as much as possible since the lower controls will most likely scrape big-time. Also, keep in mind that the author forgot to mention about replacing or modifying your steering column & left out the part about the brakes since a disk/drum setup requires a different master cylinder. Of course, in any IFS setup, the column (stock column could be modified to work) & master cylinder will have to be replaced any ways.
There's nothing wrong with this setup & I certainly wouldn't want to detour anyone from using this setup. It's a very good economical setup but I don't think it even comes close to the driveablity & handling of the Mustang II (& equivalent) front ends, on the market today, that are specifically made for 1947 - 1953 trucks. Which also includes the proper pinion & anti-dive angle based on the vehicles weight distribution. I guess what I'm really getting at is "you get what you pay for", by far it's a great deal to get IFS for several hundred dollars verse over a $1,000 for other IFS's, like the Mustang II IFS.
Article By J.T. Joyce
American Rodder, May 1992
A simple switch of parts from a late-Chevy pickup straight over to an earlier one, a truck with a little more soul.
It's hardly high-tech, & you'd be hard pressed to call this conversion "state-of-the-art," but the result is undeniable: An old Chevy truck that rides & handles like a new one.
This is a home-brew swap in the truest sense of the term, too. You don't even need a welder to pull it off, as there's no grafting of the new front subframe to the old rails, like there would be with the more-common Nova swap. The parts & the trucks involved here are a '77 Chevy half-ton pickup (the front-end donor), & my old faithful, a '53 Chevy half-tonner.
I found a 1977 Chevy in a wrecking yard. It had only 30,000 miles on it before someone tried to drive it on it's roof. The price for the complete front suspension was $50, hard to beat. Before I unbolted a single thing on the '77, I took plenty of careful measurements, diagraming where & how the factory had installed the front suspension. Then I took everything home & just bolted it into the '53.
Since the 1977's suspension mounts where 1/2" wider than needed on the '53, I made up some 1/2" thick spacer plates for each side, rather than de-rivet & remount the '77's mounts. The idler arm on the right side also had to be spaced over that same 1/2". While I was at it, I bought the '77's power-steering box & pump (for $75) & bolted them on, too.
To drop the front end down a little, I cut a coil-and-a-half out of each spring. Finally, I took the whole deal over to an alignment shop, where they had absolutely no problems getting everything set up correctly. It's a simple deal, & the stance of the finished swap isn't bad at all. But best of all, the '53 handles & drives just great. Which is just what you'd expect, because the '53 is really a '77, & as you can see it didn't take much to get it that way.