I've been using Total Cost Involved Engineering products for years with great success, so when my pal Andy asked if I'd do this installation for him I agreed without hesitation, 'cause I knew that it'd be a pretty easy task. This is because Total's done all the engineering and builds all the correct angles and geometry into their crossmembers. Heck, all one needs to do is prep the chassis, make a few careful measurements so you locate the crossmember correctly, and weld it in place. The rest of the assembly is an easy bolt-on process that any hobbyist can handle!
Old hot rods never die, they just keep getting better. A case in point is a '31 Model A belonging to my pal Andy's dad. The A had seen years of use utilizing a dropped I-beam and four-bar setup that worked well, but rode and handled like, well, a dropped I-beam setup. Since a total rehab was planned for the coupe, Andy decided that dad deserved a better-handling, smoother-riding rod this time around. With that in mind he decided that nothing was too good for dear old dad, so he dialed up Total Cost Involved Engineering and ordered up one of their '28-34 Ford rear-steer IFS setups. As the phone rang, Andy decided that since he was going with the best IFS system he could get, he might as well go whole hog and make it the fully polished show version-and while he was at it, add the optional polished Anti-Sway Bar Kit too, what the heck!
It was only a few days before the Total Cost Involved parts arrived. Unfortunately, so did a bunch of customer jobs that'd keep Andy busy for quite awhile (Andy's the owner of Radi's Custom Auto Upholstery in Garden Grove, California, by the way). With pop hot to get going on the coupe's rebuild and him up to his eyeballs in work, he decided to give me a call to see if I'd be interested in doing a bit of side work. Well, Andy's idea of giving me a call worked out great for all involved, as I ended up working out a deal to trade labor for labor-I'd install the IFS, if Andy'd upholster Candy's King-T project. What a deal!
I've been a fan of the whole Total Cost Involved line of chassis and suspension parts for years and have done quite a few installations for myself and others, so I knew this would be a cakewalk for me. I figured I might as well shoot a few images as I went along and make an install story out of it, too!
With the deal made, Andy swung by the house that next Friday afternoon with the chassis in tow. Minutes after we rolled it off the trailer and unloaded the Total Cost Involved goodies, I had Andy over at Candy's car checking out its bare cockpit and telling him what she was looking for upholstery-wise. Everyone was happy.
The next morning I rolled the chassis into the garage and got down to business. The folks at Total have got this stuff down pat, and past experience had convinced me just how straightforward the install would be-unfortunately, stripping out the old four-bar brackets, shock mounts, and crossmember was gonna be a workout. Oh, well, that's how it goes. Once I had the frame stripped and prepped for the new IFS, though, everything went smooth as silk. In fact, the conversion was completed by Sunday afternoon and the chassis was ready to go. So take a look at some really high-quality components and check out just how easy Total Cost Involved makes it for the installer. If you're looking for improved handling and a great ride, you should check this stuff out, as not only do they offer their IFS systems for '28-34 Fords, but they've got systems for everything from street rods to classic trucks and muscle cars, too!
