Like I said above, if you can't return the new larger ball joint spindles and you want to use them the swap is simple. There is no Jerry Rigging about it. It is just assembling the right parts to do the job like in any modification.. In '71 GM beefed up the steering and ball joints on the front of these trucks to go to the disc brakes. In other words the '71 parts are larger and stronger than the older drum brake parts. The control arms are the same for all practical purposes and the ball joint mounting areas are exactly the same. You do not rig or modify the control arm to accept the newer ball joint. The uppers bolt in just like the smaller shaft drum brake parts store replacement ones and the lowers press in exactly as the originals. You just end up with ball joints that the '71-'72 spindles will bolt to.
The tie rod sleeve is not a compromise at all either. In fact it is made just like the ones used for road racing. It makes a stocker look puny in comparison. After you do this conversion the weakest link in your system will be the few '67 pieces left over (even if they are new) just because they are smaller in diameter. These pics show the swap with some stock '72 spindles.
I agree that the best way to go would be a complete '71 up system or to use the dropped spindles that are now available for the '63-'70 stock suspensions. If those had been available when I did my swap I would have purchased those and made the swap a lot simpler.
Tom
