economical sweptline updates?

bought a 71 truck.love it,except for the high altitude straight axle,front drums,and manual steering.would love to jam a heidts under it,but dont want something that invasive and expensive.has anyone put an f-m-j k-member under one?was the track width close?could ride height go down significantly?if possible,im of course wondering about pros and cons...

Go over to sweptline.org and check it out. There is a ton of info!!

Swap over your 71 frame (or clip the front) for one from a 73-93, then follow the lowering thread here.
Another option would be to swap in an early Dakota clip. Both these options allow you to still use the truck as a truck, if you want to.
To install an F,M & J subframe, you will have to cut your frame off, built a tube frame and attach the subframe to that. I suppose if your lucky, you can hack up your existing frame and weld the F,M & J clip to your original frame, but you will have to remove the front crossmember to do that. Once the front crossmember is removed, the challenge would be to keep the rails straight until you get the subframe welded to it.
Good luck.
Gene

Did that swap before, not for the timid or without skills. I have a 77 Cordoba torsion bar front I was going to try on my next Sweptline project, but I have given up on it. In my opinion the F-M-J swap puts the truck TOO low, that is why I wanted to try the Cordoba set-up, besides it is ready for a big block and has the good brakes and steering.

What 5.7 and poorboy said.
Later model truck front clip and check out the sweptline site!

IMO, F-M-J is too narrow, Dakota also. Not sure about the Cordoba. My friend has one under a 47 Studebaker M5 and it looks alright, so it may be a little narrow for the sweptline as well. Lifestyle truck is a nice fit. Any of these are a fair amount of cut and weld.

Do it once ..

Do it right , no regrets

The new one that people are using is the Crown Vic IFS. The closest one to actually bolt in would be an Aerostar.

You can also lower it with the I beam, convert to disc brakes and adapt integral power steering to it.