Drop spindles on a C20, Custom Camper?

[Nevada51]

Do 2.5" drop spindles, such as those offered by CPP fit a C20 or Custom Camper ('66 model FWIW), without any mods?

I did a quick search but couldn't find an answer to the above question

Thanks in advance
Cam

[Captainfab]

The vast majority of the dropped spindles on the market are for C10's. I do remember reading that someone does make a dropped spindle for C20's and C30 but I don't remember who it is. Basically ir depends on what you are doing with your truck and if you want to stay with 8 lug wheels or change to 5 or 6 lug.

[Nevada51]

Thanks for the response Captainfab. I'd be swapping to 5 or 6 lug wheels as all the drop spindle kits I've seen require a disc brake conversion.

Is the issue with the C10 spindles around the C20 ball joints being different? And if so, could I just swap the ball joints out for C10 versions, or are the control arms different in a C20? I suspect they are, but would like a definitive answer.

For reference, I found this link to C20 drop spindles (no affiliation):
http://www.earlyclassic.com/catalog....ry=Drop%20Kits

My next truck really should be a C10 to make all these things a non-issue!

[Cooper197]

Originally Posted by Nevada51

Thanks for the response Captainfab. I'd be swapping to 5 or 6 lug wheels as all the drop spindle kits I've seen require a disc brake conversion.

Is the issue with the C10 spindles around the C20 ball joints being different? And if so, could I just swap the ball joints out for C10 versions, or are the control arms different in a C20? I suspect they are, but would like a definitive answer.

For reference, I found this link to C20 drop spindles (no affiliation):
http://www.earlyclassic.com/catalog....ry=Drop%20Kits

My next truck really should be a C10 to make all these things a non-issue!

I have a '66 C20 with 2.5" drop spindles and 5-lug disc conversion.
To make it happen we swapped control arms from a '65 C10. A friend of mine had a number of parts trucks and that was the quickest and easiest way for us to get it done.
I am not 100% positive if it was just the balljoints, or if the arms themselves were different. We knew the spindles would bolt right up to them so we just swapped. I suspect I could have gotten away with just ball joints.


Even if you just keep the old master cylinder, which is probably not a great choice but is what I did, the disc brakes will greatly help your truck's ability to stop. Well worth doing.

[Captainfab]

As far as I know, there are no lower ball joints that will press into the C20 control arms and also fit the C10 spindles. And the '63-'66 C20 lower control arms mount differently than the C10 control arms. There are no saddles to accept the round shaft on the C10 lower control arms. This means that the entire front suspension crossmember will have to be changed for a C10 crossmember or entire front suspension.

Originally Posted by Nevada51

Thanks for the response Captainfab. I'd be swapping to 5 or 6 lug wheels as all the drop spindle kits I've seen require a disc brake conversion.

Is the issue with the C10 spindles around the C20 ball joints being different? And if so, could I just swap the ball joints out for C10 versions, or are the control arms different in a C20? I suspect they are, but would like a definitive answer.

For reference, I found this link to C20 drop spindles (no affiliation):
http://www.earlyclassic.com/catalog....ry=Drop%20Kits

My next truck really should be a C10 to make all these things a non-issue!

I don't know how you swapped the C20 control arms for C10 control arms since there are no saddles on the C20 crossmember to accept the C10 lower control arms.

Originally Posted by Cooper197

I have a '66 C20 with 2.5" drop spindles and 5-lug disc conversion.
To make it happen we swapped control arms from a '65 C10. A friend of mine had a number of parts trucks and that was the quickest and easiest way for us to get it done.
I am not 100% positive if it was just the balljoints, or if the arms themselves were different. We knew the spindles would bolt right up to them so we just swapped. I suspect I could have gotten away with just ball joints.


Even if you just keep the old master cylinder, which is probably not a great choice but is what I did, the disc brakes will greatly help your truck's ability to stop. Well worth doing.

[Cooper197]

Looking back at my notes, you're right. I had mistaken what we did. We had planned on just doing control arms, but did end up swapping the crossmember as well.
I got sick and wasn't around when we did the crossmember swap so I had forgotten about that.

Good catch!

Originally Posted by Captainfab

As far as I know, there are no lower ball joints that will press into the C20 control arms and also fit the C10 spindles. And the '63-'66 C20 lower control arms mount differently than the C10 control arms. There are no saddles to accept the round shaft on the C10 lower control arms. This means that the entire front suspension crossmember will have to be changed for a C10 crossmember or entire front suspension.





I don't know how you swapped the C20 control arms for C10 control arms since there are no saddles on the C20 crossmember to accept the C10 lower control arms.

Posted via Mobile Device