suspension question

[richard2717]

I am thinking about digging my 68 panel out of storage this week and go ahead and get it road worthy and just drive it for now. Kills me seeing it just sit there. I have been collecting parts for quite a while to do all the rust work and have most everything, just not the time or extended space. One thing I want to do is upgrade the front brakes to disc. I have a complete cross member out of a 69 pickup that I parted and put up on the shelf in order to do this.It had just been converted to 6 lug disc and appears to have dropped spindles & new ball joints. I have two questions

1) Can the entire cradle be changed out with the motor still in the truck? It kinda looks possible but there was no engine to worry about when I took it out of the 69'. I do have a 2 post lift and tall transmission jack I am hoping will make it go smoothly.

2) There was no drag link or tie rod ends on it when I got it. How do I determine what year tie rods I would need for the spindles short of buying a new set and seeing if they fit? I am hoping it is a 71/72 spindle since I already have drag link for that. It has manual brakes as well but i have booster and new master cylinder here to upgrade that with the correct PP valve.

TIA
Richard

[richard2717]

here are some pics of the cradle


.

[CG]

Rust repair? Who needs that ... too bad you are on the other side of the US

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=767937

[LockDoc]

-
Look through Keith's thread. (Lolife99)

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=456889

The information you need should be in post #4 or below. I always have to read each section a couple of times before it soaks in.....

LockDoc

[richard2717]

Thanks, I will take a look. I did a few searches but missed that one for some reason

[richard2717]

Originally Posted by CG

Rust repair? Who needs that ... too bad you are on the other side of the US

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=767937

CG if it just wasn't so dang far away. I could not imagine the logistics on that one but it does look real nice and would save loads of work

[lolife99]

The easiest, would be to figure out what tie rod fits your spindle.
Buy a 1970, 1972, and a 1973 outer tie rod.
Take them home and see which tie rod taper fits your spindle.
That will tell you what year they are.
Take back the two that don’t fit.

Remember,... the centerlink needs to match also.
Or you’ll end up needing tie rod conversion adapters.
The center links aren’t sold new.

[richard2717]

Originally Posted by lolife99

The easiest, would be to figure out what tie rod fits your spindle.
Buy a 1970, 1972, and a 1973 outer tie rod.
Take them home and see which tie rod taper fits your spindle.
That will tell you what year they are.
Take back the two that don’t fit.

Remember,... the centerlink needs to match also.
Or you’ll end up needing tie rod conversion adapters.
The center links aren’t sold new.

I happen to have a 71/72 center link as well as a 67/ 68 so my gut tells me it will need to be a 69/70

[richard2717]

Guess i should have looked at the link provided by Loc Doc that you wrote up 1st. Looks like you are saying center link is the same 67-70 so I should be covered in either case. I found a brand new tierod I had on the shelf but i did not mark the year on it so i am going to try to stop by napa with the part # to see if they can tell me the year

[71meangreenc10]

I changed out the cradle with the motor in and it was easy. Ran a new 4x4 over the fenders and used a heavy strap to secure it. You may have to play with the holes to get them to fit.

Smitty