3/4 ton axle Leaf to Spring conversion.

[Rocketir]

Greetings, I recently purchased a 3/4 ton GMC Camper Special. Came with an 8 lug dana 60 rear axle on leaf springs. My goal is 5 lug w/disk on coils. What are some of the options to get this going. I did look at a new Strange Axle and the QA1 coil overs. But my oh my, that gets awful spendy and haven't found out if they would work together.
Is there a better option for the axle? Newer Chevy 1500 with disk brakes that will retrofit without too much fab? Eventually I would like to have this truck on Coil overs front and back. Initially thinking to have a 6.0l LS but future plans would probably have me adding some sort of forced induction to get up to 500HP, so I would need something that would handle that.

Help me spend my $$ (wisely). Thanks!
Jesse.

[j_cst_10]

That's a really cool heavy duty truck. Kind of a shame to turn it into a car. However it's yours so you have the creative freedom to do to it as you please.

As a lover of the 3/4 ton trucks, maybe drive it around for a while before gutting it of it's heavy duty glory.

It would still be cool to have a 500hp truck that could be used as a truck.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by kwmech

I second the motion on J cst 10s comment. Find a truck that already is 1/2 ton on coils.

(Edited out last sentence.)

First off, this is not a for sale thread. Second off, with 7,000 posts you know he can't sell stuff on here because he is not a Premium member. If you are looking to get a new member in trouble this is how you do it.... ... Grrrrr..

LockDoc

[Mike Bradbury]

Rocketir welcome to the board, you'll find this place a wealth of information. I did just what you are considering. You gotta work with what you got. I turned my 20 into a long and low 10 and I love it. I am currently working on a C30 and will leave it a 1 ton so in my opinion it is your truck it is your prerogative.

I converted to coil overs spread wide to increase stability rather than the coils more inboard and squishy.

Here is my build thread to get some ideas. it is heavy on the custom fab but it handles like a slot car.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=414961

[Dieselwrencher]

As far as the rear axle, you could go a lot of different avenues. Ford 8.8 from a crown vic, or explorer for really wide tires. You could use a newer GM 12 bolt from a pick up too. The suspension part is really how much work you want to do. Switch it over to trailing arms in the rear, 4 link, there are a lot of options.

[special-K]

Welcome to the board. You sure found a great 3/4t GMC. I can not be of any help with what you plan, no experience with such a thing. But Mr. Correction here just wanted to say what you want to do isn't a leaf to spring conversion. It's a leaf to coil conversion. Both leaf and coil are springs. The purpose of my correction is to help you sound like you know what you are talking about. You will get to know a whole lot more about what you talk about here. Again, welcome

[Mike Bradbury]

As far as the axle goes I used a Lincoln 9" out of a '77 Mark 5. The Lincoln comes stock with disc brakes vs the ford 9" comes with drum brakes. I have had no problem getting parts at Napa for them and they are an 11" disc which offers plenty of stopping power for the truck.The Mark 5 is a pretty wide vehicle and I had 4.5" back spacing on my wheels which made it very close flush with the outside bedside. I wanted a deeper well wheel Coys had discontinued the style I wanted so I took what they had available. I used a spacer to bring it the rest of the way with no issues.

[Caddylackn]

I vote for keeping the Dana 60, which is probably a 4:11 then getting a detroit locker for it, and then order new custom axles with a 5 bolt pattern. That is what you want for running a 500 hp and an 4le80 overdrive. A Dana 60 is a stout set up, that is why they came stock in Hemi cars in the 60s.

You won't be happy with the factory 12 bolt and 500 hp and sticky tires. A truck 12 bolt is not that strong. As far as coils, you could swap in a 4 link, they make kits for this.

The other route is just to swap the back half of the frame and for the front swap the spindles, control arms, hubs, brakes. I have seen roller frames for sale time to time on craigslist for just a few hundred.

the cheapest route for the rear would probably be a crown vic 8.8 swap. Get one from a police interceptor, they have factree trac loc and 3.54 gears, and rear disc brakes (with internal drum e brake). Replace the stock clutches with the carbon fiber discs and they are a pretty stout unit. The hubs are 5 x 4.5" for wheels with a 40 mm negative offset which is about as common pattern as you can find for modern wheels. Matching the front might be a problem, since the rears take a negative offset for a crown vic. A nuetral offset may be too wide for the truck, so check.

[1969_CM2590D]

FWIW, my 1969 3/4 ton has coils, and they are the optional HD springs. Mine is decked out as a "light" 1 ton.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by Caddylackn

I vote for keeping the Dana 60, which is probably a 4:11 then getting a detroit locker for it, and then order new custom axles with a 5 bolt pattern. That is what you want for running a 500 hp and an 4le80 overdrive. A Dana 60 is a stout set up, that is why they came stock in Hemi cars in the 60s.

Do you end up with a 5-lug that is still full-floating or are you talking about a full-float to semi-floating conversion kit? If such a thing exists (the latter) I'd like the info on who and where. As it is, I only know about having Mark Williams build such a beast and that ain't cheap. It's what I dream of for my coil sprung SWB. I'd love to stumble onto a rare semi-float coil Dana60 out of a GMC of this era truck... bolt-in awesomeness!