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 have gone to a "clip" (meaning that the IFS is bolted to the frame as an assembly, rather then welded/riveted to the frame) type front end...seems like a pretty good rate to go for those on a tight budget, however beware of it's pros & cons.

The author of this article forgot to mention a few details:

• The 1973 - 1987 truck IFS is 1" wider at the frame rails then the 1947 - 1955 1st series frame.
• 1/2" spacers per side are nessecary for the frame rails, idler arm & stearing box.
• The steering column must be replaced or modified for the steering coupler & shaft.
• The master cylinder must be replaced to accommodate the disc/drum brake arrangement.
• Negative offset rims are nessecary for the wider track width.
• Take into consideration the bolt-pattern & lug count of the rims you plan on using.
• The lower control arms hang down fairly low & are visible at a distance.
• You may find this IFS is still too wide & might want to consider an alternative.

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.