Anyone know of a good site for info and parts for 56 pickup

What kind of parts?
Body? Good luck, very little is being made. Rear fenders fit through 82 or whenever the ended the step side boxes. Bed parts are also available that fit the "newer" beds, but things for specifically 54 -57 are pretty scarce.

Mechanical parts are available, for the most part. Specific original style parts are available at: www.robertsmotorparts.com and Kanter automotive and a few other sources like www.vintagepowerwagons.com Try a Google search for specific parts. Don't over look O'rilley's or NAPA. Disc Brake conversions are available at www.rustyhope.com and others.

Unfortunately, there is not one site that covers everything, but there is a lot of info about these trucks available on line, and we can answer more specific questions. Gene

My issue now is information on lowering the stock suspension , what my best option would be as well as power steering/steering column combo

The original front suspension was leaf springs and a beam axle under the springs. If you are not using the truck to haul stuff, you can remove several leafs from each front spring pack (think every other as the most you can remove). You may also be able to move the axle to the top of the springs instead of having them under the springs, but this will require some modification to the axle itself, as well as new U bolts. You will also watch for oil pan clearance and axle to frame contact on downward bounce.


Power steering is different story. You will have to adapt a steering system from a different vehicle. Nothing fits without some modification.

Another option is to clip the front frame with something more modern. Some clips are more difficult then others, all require fabrication skills. A few options are a 90s-2000 something Crown Vick subframe. The Crown Vick has a bolt on front suspension. You will have to fabricate the frame contact points to bolt it to your truck. The Crown Vick is a bit wide and will put the tires right at the edge of your fenders. The Crown Vick has the 5 bolt on 4 1/2" center bolt pattern for wheels.

A second clip would be one from a Dakota pickup. This one you cut off your frame and weld in the Dakota frame. You will have to fabricate radiator and front fender location points, and newer then 1991 will have 6 bolt wheels, 1987 - 1990 are 5 bolt 4 1/2" pattern. The Dakota has about the same wheel width as your truck, unless you get carried away with the wheels. There are other clip options, each have both benefits & challenges.

I had a 54 twenty years ago that I put a Volare clip on. Great driver, nice ride,great brakes, but kind of "soft" suspension and a lot of work. My 54 sat low. the front edge of the running boards had about 4" of clearance. The bottom of the front bumper was scrapped up real bad, and i bent the front of both running boards several times, and I was careful! Low looks cool, but is a pita to drive a lot (we put 40,000 miles on it in 6 summers!) The 54 was the last low vehicle I've built!
Gene

Any beam axle can be dropped. People still do that. Springs can be dearched by spring shops. Springs could also have leaves removed.

For Disk Brakes I'd use Scarebird, it's a straightahead swap.

Power steering is going to be VERY difficult with stock beam axle because of the way the stock steering was designed. The factory P/S from the '61 - '71 is clunky and takes up space in the fenderwell. I'd look at 4wd trucks to get ideas. Actually I'd suggest with some narrower tires up front and try to keep the scrub radius down. Power steering then becomes less of an issue.

To get all three I'd start looking for a Dakota frame. It should have about the right track width in front.

For other front ends here are my opinions:
The Volare front suspension has horrible geometry and that can't be fixed. It looks easy but isn't worth the hassle in the long run. I'd put them on the scrap heap with the Corvair and Pacer IFS swaps.
The Crown Vic suspension would be great if it wasn't so wide, I think it's too wide for your vehicle. The right donors are no older than 2003. Look it up to see.

If it's going to be a street truck the MustangII based suspensions are hard to beat. They are strong enough and every part is made by the aftermarket. Buy a Street Rodder magazine and start looking at the ads.
Fatman Fabrications is someone who has done well in the front suspension business.

R.

I did the 'rusty hope' front disc brakes on my old 54 c-series. It worked pretty well. If I had to do it again I'd go ahead and swap in a front clip and modern rear axle it would have been less work in the end. I was also running the 230cid flathead straight six which is basically a forklift motor. It was fun but a 318/883 swap would have made life easier and I'd probably still be driving the truck instead of having sold it.

Thanks for that real life reminder to look at the whole project and its intended use.

The flathead six goes back at least through 1933. It started out life as a car engine. During WWII Chrysler manufactured tank engines that were five flathead sixes arranged radially. So it's also kind of a tank engine.

Where I grew up they were known as the six with the lead crank, because the crank journals were soft and hard to keep round, at least that's what I heard.

R.

From what I've heard from the old timers (and I'm 58) that if you think that flathead 6 crank is soft, most other cranks were even more soft.

One guy told me when the junked motors, they got more money out of them if they broke the cranks. They would set the cranks up on rocks, and throw other cranks at them to hit in the center. They could bust 4 or 5 GM 6 cylinder cranks with 1 Mopar crank before it would break.

Remember, back in the 50s, a 60,000 mile motor was basically wore out, very few motors ever saw 100,000 miles (even as late as the early 70s).

Back to the subject at hand, the 50s Dodge trucks fit nicely on a Dakota chassis. Shorten the Dakota wheel base to match the 50s truck, and swap the cab, box & front sheet metal. If your really into it, you can even use the Dakota floor pan & firewall. Gene