Disc Brake Upgrade Reference Thread

[Sick5]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

You might try sending a PM to JGross. I was just looking at a pic of his front steering, and it looks like he may have bought what you're looking for.

Here is where the pic is.......
http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...d.php?t=416069

well i just sold my spindels and bought the ones on ecc

[CVA59]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

I did get around to measuring a couple of front suspensions. Bear in mind that these were both 'unloaded' suspensions, so the actual width in the driving position will be slightly wider. Plus I couldn't get a real accurate measurement with where they were.

So the '63-'70 C10 front drum brake suspension measures 62" WMS to WMS. The '73-'87 C10 front disc brake suspension measures 63.5". So they appear to be basically the same width as the rear differentials for the respective years.

Thanks for the help Fab. That is the info i was needing. I just wanted to make the front end is the same width as the rear.

[Sick5]

adapter sleeve that mates your original inner tie rod to the later model outer tie rod
does anyone know where to buy this at

[Captainfab]

The guys that use them get them from CPP, ECE and maybe POL. There are ways around buying those. One is to simply upgrade the entire steering linkage to the '73-'87 parts. Another way, but I haven't confirmed this, is to change your inner tierods to the ES2020L tierods. These will mate up with the '73-'87 outer tierods with the '73-'87 adjusting sleeve. But like I said, I haven't confirmed that those inners will fit the taper in the '63-'70 draglink.

Originally Posted by Sick5

adapter sleeve that mates your original inner tie rod to the later model outer tie rod
does anyone know where to buy this at

[Sick5]

i just wanted to make it as cheap as i can. by changing the spindels and the upper and lower tie rod
and using the adapters was the cheaper way.
others wise im going to have to replace and buy ever single item
i want to upgrade to disc but im on a budget
if someone has a link to those adapter sleeve would be great!

[vivisix]

here's what i've found to be the easiest: Early Classic Enterprises has a spindle that works with the stock 64-66 suspension. I've grabbed calipers, booster, master and small parts from a 80 G-20 van. Yard parts=$50. Dropped spindles and 6 lug 1 1/4 rotors+dust caps, bearings, etc small pieces=500. So for $550 I will upgrade everything. If I went to 5 lug I could subtract about 130 from that total of new parts.

Freaking gorgeous pieces from ECE. can't wait to get my spindles. The extra benefit is that they are 12" rotors, not the 10" found in some of the kits. Massive freaking rotors.

I'll post pics of the upgrade when I have all the parts.

[Captainfab]

I looked for those adapter adjusting sleeves but couldn'r find them....I know I've seen them before, and have seen guys on here using them. Maybe one of them will chime in. Seems to me they were a little $$. You might check into the cost on those inner tierods I listed above, plus a pair of stock '73-'87 adjusting sleeves, and see how they compare to the adapter sleeves cost wise.

Originally Posted by Sick5

i just wanted to make it as cheap as i can. by changing the spindels and the upper and lower tie rod
and using the adapters was the cheaper way.
others wise im going to have to replace and buy ever single item
i want to upgrade to disc but im on a budget
if someone has a link to those adapter sleeve would be great!

[old_1966_GMC]

i need help with front suspension. my 66 gmc has 8 lugs drums and im on a really tigth budget i need a simple list of parts to make it a 6 lug.i want to keep my crossmember and control arm other then that i need to find out how to bolt it in. im new to my 66 gmc c1500 3/4 ton first time drum to disc brake swap

real tigth budget i have to grab parts from junk yard piece by piece

[old_1966_GMC]

ive just search each part number and some were incorrect part numbers and the rest were exact parts listed

[Captainfab]

OOOOk, which ones are you saying are incorrect part numbers?

Originally Posted by old_1966_GMC

ive just search each part number and some were incorrect part numbers and the rest were exact parts listed

[old_1966_GMC]

the only one i think was the inner and utter beaaring a seal br3 and 5 with to brake shoes and 19984 inner seal went to another part but the rest were ok

[Captainfab]

Well I just looked this up again, and of course O'Reilly's have changed to their brands of parts. All of these part numbers were for the brand of parts that were on the site when they were CSK. So since they no longer carry CR seals, I couldn't verify that part number, but I can check on that tomorrow. As for the bearings, it still shows a set #5 for the inner and a set #3 for the outer. The only difference is the prefix has changed to a 'A' from a 'BR' due to the brand change.

[old_1966_GMC]

thanks captain

[Captainfab]

I checked on that part number for the seal, and that is the correct one.

[Justins76]

I am getting all the parts together and I have 2 questions for you CaptFab.

1. I'm using the 6 lug rotors, same p/n as you posted. Is there a dust cap available? Everywhere I go says n/a.

2. Is the fitting on the 88+ brake hoses the same as the old inverted flair on the hard line or are they metric bubble requiring an adapter?

Thanks!

[Captainfab]

Originally Posted by Justins76

I am getting all the parts together and I have 2 questions for you CaptFab.

1. I'm using the 6 lug rotors, same p/n as you posted. Is there a dust cap available? Everywhere I go says n/a.

Well I haven't had to try and find one since I started with a donor '94 1500 that had all the small parts. It would seem like you should be able to find a dust cap for a '88-'98 pickup. I wonder if the '71-'87 dust caps would work. I'll see if I can find something out tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Justins76

2. Is the fitting on the 88+ brake hoses the same as the old inverted flair on the hard line or are they metric bubble requiring an adapter?

Thanks!

I'm pretty sure they are the metric bubble flare. I can verify that tomorrow as well as provide a part number for a metric to inverted flare adapter.

[Captainfab]

OK I have an update.

The dust caps for the '73-'87 C10 5 lug rotors will fit the '88-'98 6 lug rotors. Also the '88-'98 5 lug rotors use the same size dust cap. Those should be easy enough to find.

Regarding the front brake hoses. I checked one that I have from my '94 C1500 donor and to my surprise they are standard 3/16" inverted flare.

[Justins76]

Thanks. Just goes to show its a gamble whether GM used metric or US in the 80-90s.

[old_1966_GMC]

well i just picked up some 5 lug spindles today at half off price today at picknpull the spindles are from a 73 chevy what other parts do i need to make my 8 lug 65 c1500 gmc to 5 lug disc brake

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by old_1966_GMC

well i just picked up some 5 lug spindles today at half off price today at picknpull the spindles are from a 73 chevy what other parts do i need to make my 8 lug 65 c1500 gmc to 5 lug disc brake

Spindle backing plates & bolts, calipers & bolts, rubber flex lines, rotors, seals, bearings, the correct BJ's (upper & lower) for the spindles, a disc brake master cyl, pwr booster (if you're converting to pwr brakes @ the same time), & the correct tie-rods/adapter sleeves so the disc spindle outer tie-rods work w/the drum spindle inner tie-rods.

[Captainfab]

Scot pretty much covered it.

You won't need the special tie rod adapters if you change the complete steering linkage for the '73-'87 assembly. There is another possibility on that, but I haven't been able to confirm yet that it will actually work.

I don't know for sure just what lower ball joints you will need to use, as I haven't done the swap quite like you're doing. The ball joint hole in the lower control arm is larger than the C10 ball joints. And you can't just change the lower control arm for the C10 unit since they mount differently. You may have to try a few different lower ball joints to find what will work. You might get lucky and the '63-'70 lower ball joint may work with the '73-'87 spindle.

That is why I mentioned earlier about using the '88-'98 spindle, since I know what works to do the conversion that way. Let us know what you find to work.

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Spindle backing plates & bolts, calipers & bolts, rubber flex lines, rotors, seals, bearings, the correct BJ's (upper & lower) for the spindles, a disc brake master cyl, pwr booster (if you're converting to pwr brakes @ the same time), & the correct tie-rods/adapter sleeves so the disc spindle outer tie-rods work w/the drum spindle inner tie-rods.

[old_1966_GMC]

then it would of been best to just find some 88-98 spindles or am i still ok with the 73's i got today, just have to try diffrent lower ball joint to see the best fitment.

also i would like some more info on tie rods part i just got done with school and learning collision repair so dont really know the mechaincal repair yet thats why im here to learn from u peeps

[Captainfab]

Here is one of my other posts on the subject of tie rods. However I don't know just what size your original C20 inner tie rods are as compared to the C10 inner tie rods. I wouldn't give up on the '73 spindles just yet....see if they will work with the '63-'70 lower ball joints first.

Originally Posted by Captainfab

The guys that use them get them from CPP, ECE and maybe POL. There are ways around buying those. One is to simply upgrade the entire steering linkage to the '73-'87 parts. Another way, but I haven't confirmed this, is to change your inner tierods to the ES2020L tierods. These will mate up with the '73-'87 outer tierods with the '73-'87 adjusting sleeve. But like I said, I haven't confirmed that those inners will fit the taper in the '63-'70 draglink.

Originally Posted by old_1966_GMC

then it would of been best to just find some 88-98 spindles or am i still ok with the 73's i got today, just have to try diffrent lower ball joint to see the best fitment.

also i would like some more info on tie rods part i just got done with school and learning collision repair so dont really know the mechaincal repair yet thats why im here to learn from u peeps

[old_1966_GMC]

are the upper and lower control arm interchangeable with frame and crossmember if so i migth just go and look for some this weekend

[Captainfab]

I'm not quite sure what you mean.

As I mentioned in post #132 above, you can't just switch the lower control arms. This is because the '63-'66 C20's have a flat lower control arm shaft that bolts directly to the crossmember. The C10's from '63-'87 and the C20's from '67-'87 both use round control arm shafts that sit in a saddle that is riveted to the crossmember and attached with U-bolts. Without making it difficult, you will have to change the front suspension crossmember if you want to use the C10 lower control arms.

A last minute thought here, you might be able to switch the control arm shafts from your C20 arms to a set of '63-'70 lower control arms. I'm not sure if the bushings are the same or not. If you decide to try this, be forewarned, changing the control arm shafts and the steel bushings can be a big pita unless you have the proper tools to do it.....even then.

Originally Posted by old_1966_GMC

are the upper and lower control arm interchangeable with frame and crossmember if so i migth just go and look for some this weekend