1969 Ford F100 / 2002 Ford Lightning "Thunder's Truck"

[V8TV]

Originally Posted by waynieZ

It looks good Kevin. Will you shorten the frame where it levels out under the bed after that rise behind the cab?

We'll show you what the crew came up with to make the bed fit and align with the cab. We ended up moving the wheelbase and shortening the frame.

[V8TV]

With the cab bolted in place at the front cab mounts, the crew felt it was safe to begin addressing the wheelbase situation. They drilled out and ground off the rivets holding the stock leaf spring mounts to the chassis, and measured the frame to see if the rear suspension could be moved forward to shorten the wheelbase. When the wheelbase seemed to be in the right place, they tack welded the brackets back on the frame to evaluate.






Next, the crew needed to address the bed height situation. This was done by grinding notches in the transverse supports below the bed.

[V8TV]

Cutting the notches allowed the bed to come down approximately 2 inches, which helped, but was not quite enough. Next, the crew shim the back of the cab upwards to make up the difference in height. At this point, the wheelbase is nearly correct, the cab in bed are in alignment, and the truck has a slight rake which is exactly what the customer wanted.

[V8TV]

We were all pleased at how quickly the major pieces came together on this project. It is far from finished or driving, but it is really coming together nicely. The rear track which fits under the bed, the front wheels fit comfortably in the front fender wells, in the truck looks natural. At this point, it looks like a '69 truck with Lightning wheels! This one is going to surprise more than a few people!

[WSSix]

Looks great!

[waynieZ]

It looks perfect, but its what we've come to expect. You guy's do great work. No one will be the wiser.

[Boss 5.0]

Incredible! You guys are making it look easy.

[V8TV]

Thanks guys, we have a talented crew that does make it look easy. We caught a few brakes on this one also... we were expecting to have to narrow the track width, but got lucky!

[V8TV]

Next it was time to solidify the chassis. The crew removed the X shaped crossmember and repositioned it to work with the shortened frame.



Originally, the leaf springs were riveted to the frame, but we decided to weld everything solid. Adam made some closeout panels to box up the rails to prevent the leaf spring perches from twisting the frame rails.

[65 347]

Kevin
Great build! Paint the rims black and it"s time to sneak up on an unknowing Camaro owner at a stop light.

Mike