crossmember swappers inside please
 

i have a '65 GMC that i'm looking to swap to power disc and power steering. i have the complete crossmemeber including control arms, spindles, wheels, springs, sway bar, brake lines, prop valve, steering gear, idler arm, EVERYTHING from the front from a '79 GMC C15.
i plan on putting lowered spindles and springs for the '79 on the truck at the same time as doing the disc brake and power steering swap.
is there an actual advantage to using the later crossmember? the engine is still in my truck, and to me it looks like it would be easier to just swap the upper and lower arms while i have everything apart doing the spindles and springs than swapping the crossmember while the engine is still in the truck. is the crossmember swap easier when your just swapping straight over?

Re: crossmember swappers inside please
 

This thread should answer all of your questions.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=364621

Re: crossmember swappers inside please
 

I know there are people on here that will disagree but I have done the cross member swap on my 62 with the engine in and it was a pain in the but and I dented my oil pan in the process. I would do just the control arm swap I think all the modification you have to do is enlarge the holes where the u bolts hold the lower control arms to the cross member.

Re: crossmember swappers inside please
 

I haven't done it with the engine in place. That said, I likely still would have swapped over the entire cross-member. Just easier for me mentally to know everything attached to the front belongs to a certain generation vehicle rather than mixing/matching.

Re: crossmember swappers inside please
 

I swapped the crossmember/suspension from and 81 into my 62. As said above, I had to drill a few holes and wallow a few holes to get it to mount up. Markeb01 has an excellent thread detailing the project.

The biggest issue I had was my motor mounts. I wanted to use the 81 mounts, which are about an 1 1/2" taller then my frame. We ended up cutting them down to fit properly. Here's a few pics of how mine turned out. Excuse the paint on the valve covers, they are being replaced soon.

Thanks,

Pappyx4!

Re: crossmember swappers inside please
 

i'm looking toward just swapping the arms. looking at the crossmembers i see no actual gain to swapping it. i was wondering i there was a caster/camber or other other advantage to using the later crossmember, but i can't seem to find any. in my situation, swapping the arms seems simpler since i'll be taking the suspension apart to change spindles and springs anyway. i'm planning a 5.3 swap next year, so engine the engine mounts aren't an issue with my situation either.

Re: crossmember swappers inside please
 

I see zero advantage to swapping the crossmember itself, unless you have a 60-62 torsion bar truck.
Most do the entire swap because they don't disassemble anything or rebuild anything.