The 73-87 crossmember swap is basically a bolt in deal. I think there are 2 or 3 holes that need to be drilled, but it isn't bad. I'm quite certain that you can use 73+ ball joints in your control arms and then swap spindles, but the outer tie rod ends are different and you'll need an adapter sleeve. I've only seen the adapters for 71-72 tie rod ends, but they make them for other years. Personally I think you'd be better off either swapping the entire x-member from another truck or just swapping arms. I just swapped the arms, centerlink, tie rods, etc from an '89 burb and everything worked great. Good luck with whatever you decide and
