I am working on my early body 1947 chevy panel truck (1941 - 1946 body style)
and i am in the process of figuring out what to do with the front suspension. I picked up a front clip and a rear axle from a late 80s 2wd suburban and it is about 3 inches to wide for what i need so i am looking to do something else. I cut a front clip off of a 1977 mustang 2 (it is missing the spindles) that i am thinking of using with buying a sub frame online for it. My other option i am throwing around is buying one of those online disc brake conversion kits online to mount to the current axle but my panel is a 3/4 ton. Is the axle beam itself the same vs half tone or am i up the creek with a 3/4 ton finding a kit. Thanks

why not get wheels with a 1 1/2 inch offset that whould get rid of the 3 inches?

My vote is keep the solid axle set up, that is a good part of the charm of an old truck. M2s belong under old ugly Mustangs, not 40s trucks IMO. I don't think you would have to look very far to find something that works. Go to a junkyard and peruse the 3/4 ton trucks, maybe pick up a rotor or two and start doing some measuring on spindles ect to come up with cross over bearings to put the rotors on your spindles. Then go to the dirt track store and buy the weld on caliper mounts (about 10$ ea) and get some reman Chevy calipers and you are in business. I did this on my econoline and had about $110 into the brake parts, not counting bearings and seals. Also ny friend did that on his 37 Ford and put vhevy hubs on his 37 spindles but he is a machinist and was able to cut the simple bearing spacer required.

I'm all for keeping the straight axle also . Sure the independent fronts have better handling and ride but the Straight Axle has the Charm. These's a lot of options that will bring it up to date.( Better Ride and Braking) Do Some research before Damaging some thing that you can not repair and take something away from your Ole Rig ! But All In All It's Your Ride ! Do what you want to get the LOOK YOU WANT ! :

Might create a clearance problem between the wheel and the caliper/rotor.

I'll take the contrarian point of view. I wouldn't think twice about retiring the old parts to the rear of the shed and using a later IFS unit. Better ride, better handling (provided you're proficient at installation of the IFS) and much improved steering. With the aftermarket crossmember, you can set the front ride height where you want it too, without having to resort to dropped spindles, cut coils and all the other voodoo that renders IFS systems to little more than barely operable.

I agree go with the aftermarket crossmember and do not use the factory mustang control arms they are stamped and not as strong as aftermarket tubular ones. thats what I am doing on my 50 model. sounds like you are not keeping it stock so why stay with 61 year old technology.

first of all I vote keep the straight axle. try moving up to a `60's 1/2 ton frt. axle, you can get disc brake conversions for them. also, use an `80's 1/2 ton rear end, you will be able to get automatic compatably gears. of course you'll have to use 6 bolt wheels, unless you can find one with a 5 bolt brake set-up.

Good Luck!!!