C10 2wd Cross Shaft w/ Endcaps vs Bushings

[hubcapboy]

I'm in the "parts list" stage of a front end rebuild on a 1968 C10. I assume that the earlier end-cap style of cross shaft is interchangeable with the later design using a bushing, but I can't find any reference to one being the superior design over the other (whether the revision was due to lack of durability or cost savings).

Does anyone have an inclination one way or the other? I don't think there was any significant play from my existing pieces, and if it comes out as a wash I'll just be replacing the seals and throwing them back in.

I'm trying to add the obligatory shop pic to attract some attention... Sorry about the mess.

[hubcapboy]

To clarify: I think the 73-87 lower control arms have to be swapped at the same time. I'm already incorporating later disk spindles when it gets put back together, so it's just a question of where I stop with the later parts.

[Tx Firefighter]

You are correct. To convert to the later, rubber, type of bushings, a complete control arm swap is necessary. I'm not an engineer, but I do listen closely when qualified folks speak, and the general consensus as to why GM made the change was to soften the ride quality somewhat.

The beauty of the earlier steel type is that if they ever had any modicum of preventative maintenance by someone with a grease gun they are usually still pretty tight even after all these years.

As an added trivia, the half ton trucks got the rubber bushing change in 73, but the heavier 3/4 and 1 ton trucks continued to use steel bushings much later. As a matter of fact, my 1988 model square body cab and chassis flatbed one ton had steel bushings.

[hubcapboy]

Thanks Kevin, that's all I need to hear. I've seen your name around here enough over almost 10 years of lurking.