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#1 |
Registered User
![]() Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 170
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Best Handling Bang For Buck?
In a few hours, the 15% sale at Hotchkis will be over. So with a little bit of cash in my pocket, I'm considering options to make my truck safer. Disc brakes is one consideration for my '68 short fleet (factory drums all around), and so are chassis/suspension mods.
I love the look of my mostly stock survivor, so if I were going to lower the center of gravity at all, I would be looking at maybe the 1.875" drop Hotchkis Springs in front, and some 2" springs out back. Would sway bars give me a better improvement in cornering/handling? I have a solid sway bar up front (Early Classic, iirc). I don't feel like it did a whole lot for me. |
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#2 |
How did I get this OLD!
![]() Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Lamont County, AB, CANADA
Posts: 1,047
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
I recently went from no sway bar to 1-1/4" from a square body 1 ton.
The handling on highway ramps is night and day. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1495417586
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1967 Oshawa built LWB Fleetside. 327,3 OTT, 515 Vermilion, CST, PS, PB, Shoulder Harness, Tach,Vac, Speed Warning, Choke Delete, Manual Throttle, Fawn interior. Dealer installed A/C 04/2015, N34 Rosewood Wheel 06/2023 Members who I have met personally. Metaldoc, chevnkevin, 62 Longbed, 72LHorn, 72MARIO, YBNORML, TBONE1964, Classic Bowties, Chevemall, Dagnabbitt. |
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#3 | |
Registered User
![]() Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 170
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
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#4 |
How did I get this OLD!
![]() Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Lamont County, AB, CANADA
Posts: 1,047
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
__________________
1967 Oshawa built LWB Fleetside. 327,3 OTT, 515 Vermilion, CST, PS, PB, Shoulder Harness, Tach,Vac, Speed Warning, Choke Delete, Manual Throttle, Fawn interior. Dealer installed A/C 04/2015, N34 Rosewood Wheel 06/2023 Members who I have met personally. Metaldoc, chevnkevin, 62 Longbed, 72LHorn, 72MARIO, YBNORML, TBONE1964, Classic Bowties, Chevemall, Dagnabbitt. |
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#5 | |
Registered User
![]() Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 170
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
Quote:
Looks great!👌🏻 |
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#6 |
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Vinton, Va.
Posts: 479
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
I realize the sale u were referring to is probably over but u mention a safety upgrade. If your drum brakes are not "power", that's where I would start. If they ARE vac. assisted then u may be able to live with 'em. Disc brakes up front would greatly decrease your stopping distance. It's a big upgrade in performance but also is not cheap. Lowering a little ( but- "I love the look of my mostly stock survivor") with new spindles are mentioned as this is one way to start the addition of the disc brakes. You could still retain the stock height if u wanted, or drop it a little. Same price. Leveling the truck looks better in my opinion but you may "love the look" of a little rake as in stock trucks. Lowering the rear is cheap. $100 springs and a new pair of shocks. I would venture to say the most popular drop is a 2/4" , though some will debate that. It's all up to your taste. A front disc set up will most likely need different wheels. A lot of old, stock wheels weren't designed with enough clearence for the disc brake caliper and will hit eachother. And wheels are not cheap. Sway bars do help. Generally speaking, the bigger the diameter, the better. Not sure with these trucks, but a rear sway bar only adds to help. But hey, it's a truck!!! And a 60's era truck. It'll never ride/handle like a modern vehical without extensive suspension upgrades. Just my opinions.
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#7 | |
Registered User
![]() Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 170
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
Quote:
Since I already have an aftermarket sway bar in front, I'm going to drop it 2", and consider the grippier tire option. Right now I'm riding on 235/75R15 American Classic all-seasons. They're still almost brand new, though. I've got the stock 3 nub drum brake steel wheels on the truck now. 5.5" wide, I believe? Would I be able to fit any wider tire on the rear if I put 6" wide wheels on it, or would I need to go 8" to get say, a 255 tire on the rear? |
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#8 |
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Klein Texas
Posts: 3,852
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
Biggest bang for the buck? Wheels and tires.
The suspension in these trucks didn't change much over the years. Sway bars should help a lot.
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My Classics: '72 K20 Suburban + '65 Dodge Town Wagon '72 Corvette Roadster +'67 Corvette Roadster '73 Z-28 Camaro '63 Ford SWB Uni Pickup '50 Ford Coupe |
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#9 | |
Registered User
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Motor City
Posts: 9,194
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
Quote:
I used to run skinny tires front and rear in the winter and put the fat tires back on in the spring. Night and day difference. K
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Chevrolet Flint Assembly 1979-1986 GM Full Size Truck Engineering 1986 - 2019 Intro from an Old Assembly Guy: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=342926 My Pontiac story: http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=560524 Chevelle intro: http://www.superchevy.com/features/s...hevy-chevelle/ |
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#10 |
Registered User
![]() Join Date: May 2014
Location: PA
Posts: 1,417
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
I went from 215/70 15's (I think) on the stock wheels to 255/55-15 on the 15x8 Rally wheels and wow what a huge difference that made. I was only doing it for looks. It was a nice surprise when the handling improved that much. I have a 1969 C20 front sway bar to put on. Can't wait because everyone says it's such a huge improvement.
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1967 C10, LWB, 250, Powerglide, PS, PB, 3/4 STATIC DROP |
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#11 |
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: 10-Uh-See
Posts: 5,609
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
I'll try to add some input, here, and try not to hurt any feelings. I apologize in advance if I do. Several years ago, I did something very similar to what you're trying to do. I had just swapped in a 350 in place of the original 250 6banger. The truck had a decent stance on stock springs, but I wanted to drop it "just a little." So I stood back and thought where I wanted it to sit. After purchasing new 1" front and 2" rear drop springs and installing them, it actually lifted the truck about an inch. I never put consideration to the fact the stock springs had settled over the past 30 years. I lived with it for a couple years, but was never happy with it. When the truck came apart for new paint, I added drop spindles up front and 4' drop springs in the rear, which even still got replaced with 5" drop springs a year later, and eventually .75" blocks.
That satisfied me until I did an LS swap in 2012, in which case I ended up ordering 2" springs for the front and Hotchkis 6" rear springs. If I had it all to do again, I'd have just ordered the 4.5/6 drop kit and been happy for much longer for much less money. I'm not saying you'll go this exact route, but I just want to let you know how it can snowball. My advice is look at LOTS AND LOTS of stance photos with a wheel/tire combo you plan to run and make sure exactly what you want before just ordering parts and hoping it looks the way you want. Also, I'm not trying to put down Hotchkis in any way, but their springs are a bit pricey for the very small gains you'll actually see from them. If you bought the whole package, maybe, but just springs won't make huge differences. ECE springs with correct length shocks would suffice quite well for much less money. As for a sway bar, yes, it will make a huge difference in handling on these trucks. I couldn't believe the difference just a sway bar made on mine when I first installed one. A rear sway bar may or may not make a difference. I've heard some say it helps, and seen lots of guys in trucks say the rear bar makes the front push too much. My advice for a sway bar is to either find an original(make sure you get the frame stands) and add Poly bushings. Or, buy a "stock style" bar from a company like ECE, CPP, etc. No need to get exotic with a sway bar unless you plan to hit the autocrosses or road courses hard. Something about sway bars: 73-87 3/4 and 1 ton trucks came with a larger 1 1/4" bar instead of the 1" or 1 1/8" bars on half ton trucks. I'll also ask a question. When you say "handling", exactly what performance goals are you wanting from the truck? Do you just want it to be fun on back roads or are you after something more spirited? Either way, you want the wheels/tires as squared up as you can get. Skinnier tires up front with fat meats on the rear doesn't make for a good handling combination. I went from a 17x8 255/50 F, 17x9.5 275/55 R combo to an 18x9.5 285/40 on all four combo last year. The difference was night and day!! The first autocross event with the new wheels/tires, people were asking what I had changed because it cornered so much better then the previous events.
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#12 |
Registered User
![]() Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 170
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
Thanks for the tire tips, guys. Makes all the sense in the world.
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#13 | |
Registered User
![]() Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 170
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
Quote:
When I mention handling, I mean greater stability at speed (highway transitions, emergency maneuvers at speed, etc.), and fun on back roads. I totally appreciate what you're saying about poring over tons of stance photos before I start buying stuff. I really love the way that my truck looks, and if I could make it handle like a NASCAR racer without changing the stance, I would. Except that I couldn't afford to. |
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#14 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: 10-Uh-See
Posts: 5,609
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
Quote:
As said before, these trucks do quite well compared to their previous models, and even slightly better than the 73-87 models(probably the trailing arms vs leaf spring setup.) One thing to make sure, is that the ball joints, tie rods. and control arm bushings are in good shape, as they will cause for ill handling characteristics.
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#15 | |
Special Order
![]() ![]() Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Mt Airy, MD
Posts: 85,859
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
Quote:
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"BUILDING A BETTER WAY TO SERVE THE USA"......67/72......"The New Breed" GMC '67 C1500 Wideside Super Custom SWB: 327/M22/3.42 posi.........."The '67" (project) GMC '72 K2500 Wideside Sierra Custom Camper: 350/TH350/4.10 Power-Lok..."The '72" (rolling) Tim "Don't call me a redneck. I'm a rough cut country gentleman" R.I.P. ~ East Side Low Life ~ El Jay ~ 72BLUZ ~ Fasteddie69 ~ Ron586 ~ 67ChevyRedneck ~ Grumpy Old Man ~ |
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#16 | |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Turlock, CA
Posts: 8,658
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
Quote:
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Please help my sister in law with her battle with cancer https://gofund.me/902f6fce Project "C10 Fever" (68 factory black 396 swb) Project "Little Sister" (70 c10 blue original paint refresh) Project "Blue Bomb" (70 c30 blue original paint refresh) SOLD Project "Vitamin C" (71 c10 orange original paint refresh) SOLD |
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#17 |
Registered User
![]() Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 170
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
Thanks for your perspective, Tim. Living in Southern California, I'm interested in accident avoidance. So, probably front discs, and slightly lower center of gravity for emergency maneuvers.
Thanks Matt. I think I'll do just about that. Except that I may do the Hotchkis 1.875" drop higher rate front springs with two inch lowering blocks at the rear, just to keep the look closer to original. |
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#18 |
Registered User
![]() Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 170
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
Thanks! Yours is beautiful as well! Love the steelies/dog dish combo, and the painted bed wood. I've been thinking about what to do with the original red painted wood in my bed as well. It's so expensive to buy those drilled and countersunk kits.
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#19 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 3,076
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Re: Best Handling Bang For Buck?
Rear disks won't change dry braking performance much unless you start to beat on it til the rears fade. Best bang for the buck? Use scrapyard parts and rebuild them as needed. All of the work can be in your driveway w/ hand tools.
A disk front crossmember from 71-87 bolts in. Might have to drill a few holes. Of course rebuilding that new front end will cost money, but its the same needed to rebuild the existing front end most likely. Later sway bar in front. Troll for a rear sway bar and make it fit. Finally, a deep tuneup, detail, and (most important in this sentence) complete fluid change are almost always needed. Fluids: coolant engine oil brake flush diffs trans transfer case in my case |
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