The 2026 Fad Report
Everybody calls everything a trend. We checked what bumpside builders are actually doing in 2025–26 — Ford-Trucks build threads, vendor product launches, magazine project series and show builds — and ranked it. One pattern runs through all of it: nearly every mod below exists at two price points, a DIY version and a shop version. That split is the 2026 market.
Crown Vic Swap — and Its Fixes
Still the #1 entry point in the bumpside world — and a 1967–79 game, since the cradle matches those generations’ frame width. The 2025–26 conversation has moved on to fixing its one flaw — track width — with narrowed crossmembers, coilover conversions for the stock clip, and electric power steering.
Coyote Swap — Gen 3/4 + 10R80 Is the Default
The aspirational motor and the highest-value parts list on the page. New builds spec Gen 3 or Gen 4 with the 10-speed; Gen 1/2 + 6R80 is the budget lane. The Ford Performance control pack (~$2,100–$2,730) is treated as non-negotiable.
S550 / S650 Mustang IRS Rear — Fastest-Rising
The steepest growth curve we found. Range Industries’ $795 bolt-in kit made a Mustang independent rear a weekend job; S650 compatibility was news in June 2025, and a Sept 2026 forum build reports it “feels like a sports car.” Small volume today — this is the topic to own early.
Bolt-In Coilovers Displace Mustang II
For ’67–’72 trucks, the growth category is truck-specific bolt-in coilover crossmembers — no welding, correct track width, geometry built for a lowered truck. Weld-in Mustang II kits are legacy content on bumpsides now — but read the generation label: on ’53–’56 straight-axle trucks Mustang II still rules, and there it’s the right call, not a legacy one.
Long-Bed → Short-Bed Conversion
Driven by the short-bed price premium, and CPP’s $339 template kit made the frame job an afternoon’s work. Cheap, photogenic, and very DIY-searchable: 16″ behind the cab, 4″ off the rear.
Godzilla 7.3 — Rising, But Halo
Ford Performance’s $18,500 crate + 10R80 turnkey bundle and a 612 hp Megazilla on Fat Fender’s chassis menu give the big pushrod real legitimacy. Cost and donor prices keep it behind Coyote — growth from a near-zero base. Watch it; don’t bet the homepage on it. We didn’t.
The Comfort Stack — Gauges, A/C, EFI, Quiet Cab
Lower ticket, much broader audience than any swap, and the natural second purchase once a truck runs. Dakota Digital + Vintage Air + sound deadening + a Sniper 2 on the motor you already have.
How to read this: the ranking is inferred from forum recency, vendor product launches and content output — no public search-volume or keyword-tool data exists for terms this niche, so treat the order as a well-informed read, not a chart. Prices were checked Oct 26, 2026; vendor list prices move, and each row names its source. Figures marked “est.” are estimates, and items the research could not verify (a current No Limit chassis price; Roadster Shop’s factory list vs. the dealer listing above) are flagged as such in the Suspension lane rather than printed as fact.
Go deeper: QA1 F-100 catalog · Range Industries S650 update · Street Trucks Team321 install · FordMuscle IRS kit launch · Fat Fender chassis menu
