For the Bulletside Build-Off front suspension on our Gasser-style '72 Ford F-100, there really isn't going to be a lot of deviation from a stock F-100. In fact, one could even say we're going to stick with a stock F-100's front brakes. For the basis of our '72's front brake setup, we opted to dump the front drum brake arrangement that saw its last year of service for F-100s in '72 and adopt the factory setup introduced on the '73 model-year trucks that continued until '79.
Of course, if we were building a real Gasser intended to be used primarily at the dragstrip, we would maintain the drum brakes because these offer a very slight decrease in rolling resistance, but that's not what we are after. Disc brakes will continue to work after driving through water, and they are considerably superior when it comes to resisting brake fade. There are several ways to go about obtaining a set of '73-79 disc brakes-you can scrounge around the junkyards and hope to find a set to rebuild, or you can give the guys at Classic Performance Products a call.
Next on our list of frontend goodies to give our '72 an authentic Gasser look was to round up the perfect wheel/tire combination, and there's nothing that says mid-'60s drag racer like a pair of M/T ET front tires mounted on a pair of skinny 4-inch-wide Cragar S/S wheels.
 |  We removed the five 1/2-inchx20...  We removed the five 1/2-inchx20 lug nuts on each wheel with a 13/16-inch wheel wrench and soaked all the hardware to be removed with Rost-Off. |  The next step was to mount...  The next step was to mount the skinny dragster-style Cragar S/S wheels shod with M/T ET fronts and determine how much of a lift we will need to set the '72's Gasser stance. |
 Next in line was to remove...  Next in line was to remove the '72's drum brake frontend. On the newer trucks all it takes to disconnect the tie rod ends is a quick rap with a hammer, but on the old ones you will have to use a pickle fork. |  After disconnecting the tie...  After disconnecting the tie rods, the next step to remove the twin I-beam frontend was to unbolt the shock absorbers. Since the shocks were junk anyway, we used vise grips to hold the shaft while the nut was backed off. |  To disconnect the front coil...  To disconnect the front coil springs, we soaked the two nuts on the retaining bracket at the top near the shock absorber with Rost-Off and loosened them up with a 9/16-inch six-point socket. |