Originally Posted by whlman5150 (Post 5189859)

Hello all, I am new to the forums and am trying to gather some information for a new project I am beginning. I picked up a 62 Chevy C10 shortbed fleet side. The truck needs work to get it back on the road, the rust issues, body, engine, etc. The truck has the straight six (not sure of the engine size..if anyone has info to do this it's appreciated), drum brakes all around, I believe its a 4 speed..on the floor, has a 10 bolt rear end, not sure if it has a positraction or what the gears are.

Some of the modifications and upgrades include putting an LS engine and 4L60e tranny in it, upgrading the brakes to disc, fronts first and rears later. I plan on taking it down to the frame to start cleaning and repairing so I am trying to decide the way to go on the suspension and brakes. I am on a moderate budget so keeping that in mind here are my questions.

For the 62, what year front suspension / brake swap is recommended? Also need info about running a master cylinder and booster or possibly a hydro boost. I think I saw a thread from CaptFab about a hydro boost, just can't find it now.

I've seen people do the 5 lug conversion. Is this done to add the disc brakes or because of wheel choice and available rims for a 5 lug? And, if you do the swap, do you want to go with the 5-4 3/4 or 5-5? Is changing over to a 5 lug recommended or stay with 6?

My plans for the truck include rims and tires. The look I'm going for is a lowered profile look with a slight rake. I'm not sure if I want to run air bags but will definitely be lowering it, nothing crazy I still want it drivable. The rims I was thinking about are either 22x10 in rear, 20x10 in front or just running 20s all around....still looking at different combos. But again, goes back to my question about the lug patterns.

Any information is appreciated...just trying to get this thing going. Thanks!

Gary
Posted via Mobile Device

Originally Posted by whlman5150 (Post 5199040)

CaptFab, thanks for your responce. I still have a few questions though.. just to confirm with you, ANY front suspension unit from a '71 through '87 will work and bolt in? And these will convert the front brakes to disc with a 5-5 bolt pattern? And if I wanted to..could I get rotors with a 5-4 3/4 pattern rotors?

Does this swap eliminate the front torsion bars on the truck?

If I had the chance to swap out the 10 bolt rear end for a 12 bolt, would that be recommened? I've seen ads out there for 12 bolts from a 65 truck...would that work?

Also, I may have a line on a front suspension from a '77 C10 and 12 bolt rear end. Would that be a recommended swap? The rear should be 5-5 bolt pattern, right?

As I said in my original thread, I am thinking of putting an LS 5.3 engine in the truck. I am looking at one out of a 2006 GMC Sierra. Can I use the power steering unit from the '71-'87 donor with the LS power steering pump? I believe GM switched over to metric some where down the line...or would I have to use some adapters or have hoses custom made?

On a side note, I do plan on odering the power brake booster bracket from you AND the power steering bracket if it will work out for me in my application. Eventually the rear disc brakes too...trying to decide whether to go with the Impala SS set up or D52. If I'm reading your posts right, the D52 seem a bit more heavy duty??

I will look up the thread from markeb01 to see what he did.

Sorry for all the questions...just trying to learn this stuff so I can start planning my build.

Thanks!

Gary

Originally Posted by whlman5150 (Post 5200708)

Will any front suspension from Chevy or GMC full size (1/2 ton) vans from these years work also? Are the front frames the same?
Posted via Mobile Device

Originally Posted by Captainfab (Post 5202379)

On the full sized 1/2 ton vans everything from the control arms out is the same as a 1/2 ton truck. The van crossmember is wider than the crossmember on a truck. So a van front suspension won't work for you since you need the crossmember.

Originally Posted by Captainfab (Post 5206825)

The 12 bolt fronm a '65 Chevy with trailing arms, won't just bolt up. There will be cutting and welding involved. Why not get the rear end from the same '77 C10 you got the front suspension from? Or are you going to convert the front to 6 lug? If you need a leaf spring rear end that simply bolts up, you will need one that was originally for a leaf spring truck. Either a '63-'70 C10 Chevy or GMC with leaf springs, or a '63-'87 K5/ K10 will be 6 lug.

Originally Posted by rudy350 (Post 5207172)

thats a great I dea ima go ahead and get that rear end from the donor. Is there gonna be any diffrence in the lenght of the rear end? . Whic one is better going 5 lug or 6 lug ?
How can I convert the donor (1977 c10) 5 lug rear end to a six lug ?
Posted via Mobile Device

Originally Posted by Captainfab (Post 5208939)

That depends on what size tires and wheels you run on the back. You will just have to choose those accordingly to the room there is available. There are many guys here that run the wider rear differentials. You might try a search to see what backspacing those guys are using. I'm thinking you will need 3.750" +

Originally Posted by Captainfab (Post 5208939)

That depends on what size tires and wheels you run on the back. You will just have to choose those accordingly to the room there is available. There are many guys here that run the wider rear differentials. You might try a search to see what backspacing those guys are using. I'm thinking you will need 3.750" +

Originally Posted by rudy350 (Post 5210473)

What do,you mean by 3.750 " ???
Posted via Mobile Device

Originally Posted by 66chevyjunky (Post 5219027)

Well I read through the thread, and maybe I missed it....Will 66 control arms accept 71-72 ball joints?

Originally Posted by LostMy65 (Post 5224529)

Thanks
That is good to know.
That'll save me some money.
Posted via Mobile Device

Originally Posted by Captainfab (Post 5224537)

You can also buy rebuild kits for them, and rebuild them yourself if you want. They are not expensive to buy already rebuilt, but every $$ counts.

Originally Posted by rudy350 (Post 5226049)

hey captain fab you wouldnt know from the top of your head a thread thats shows a rear end swap like the one im going todo on my 65 gmc?? the rear end is coming from the 77'' donor. its going to be my first swap and i wanna know what to look out for u know what measuremnts i ned to look out for :lol:but my original mounts were my leaf springs are bolted are rusting out were could i find some were i can buy them??? im going to keep the 5 lug bolt pattern.. thanks

this forum rocks !!!!!1:metal::uhmk::devil:

Originally Posted by Captainfab (Post 5226760)

No I do not know of any threads here on swapping the rear ends. If the leaf spring mounts on your original rear end are rusted, that shouldn't matter since you are changing the rear end. Or are you talking about your U-bolt plates? If so, then just use the ones from the '77. The '77 rear end will bolt right up to your leaf springs. Really no measuring required. The only thing you might have to measure is when changing your shock mounts.