1960-62 Front Suspension Upgrade

[markeb01]

For those interested in upgrading the 60-62 to the later disc brake front suspension the following information explains the front suspension swap in my 1960 GMC short stepside. The quality of the photos isn’t the best as the temperature was never higher than 18 degrees in the shop when I did the installation which prevented cleaning anything.

The newer front suspension is from a 1975 Chevy. It is my understanding anything from 1973-1987 (Chevy or GMC) will fit. (Actually anything from 63-72 should also fit, but these years don’t provide disc brakes).

I wanted 5 lug wheels and disc brakes, but the main reason I did the conversion was to eliminate the ball bearing wheel bearings. At the time they were costing over $100 a side. Like so many other replacement parts, the newer ball bearings do not appear to be as high a quality as the originals and burned out with alarming regularity, while roller bearings seem to last forever. The 1960 ball joints and steering parts are also rare and expensive.

(Note – if the only desire is to eliminate the ball bearings, I’ve read in forum threads that 63-66 hubs will fit on 60-62 spindles without modification, and these hubs utilize roller bearings.)

For the newer crossmember/suspension a local wrecking yard sliced the frame off just ahead of the firewall. In order to make sure all the later components fit in exactly the right place on the 1960 frame, once the donor suspension was disassembled templates were made out of manila file folders indicating the location of all mounting holes for the crossmember, idler arm, flexible brake hoses, sway bar, etc



I cleaned up and rebuilt the donor suspension well ahead of the installation.



This photo shows the passenger side of the stock suspension before any changes. The only non-stock item visible is an aftermarket sway bar for a Mustang II suspension which had been added much earlier. It actually worked very well with the stock suspension.



The holes for the brake hoses were the first step of the conversion, which took several hours. These holes are half round and half hex to prevent the hose from rotating. I made the hex portion with a small triangle file and a lot of patience until the hose end fit. There are other ways to attach the hoses but I wanted everything to fit like it did in the 75. Connecting the hard line to the frame end of the hose was rather difficult (inside the frame) and required a lot of wrench work through a small opening in the top of the frame. (There are other and probably easier ways to mount the hoses, including the use of stainless flex hoses instead). The 1960 configuration of the idler arm is very visible in this shot, as compared to the newer design shown in photo number 10.



And the driver side.



As can be seen, the swap was completed with the engine still in place. Two chunks of surplus frame rail were simply bolted to the early 1955 style motor mount holes in the front of the block. The engine was rested on top of the frame, and the motor mounts, towers and suspension crossmember were removed. Although it can be done with the engine in place it isn't recommended. It would be far more convenient with the engine out of the way. At the time this wasn't an option.

After placing the truck frame on jack stands and before removing the 1960 suspension, I marked the fender and garage floor identifying the centerline of the spindles so I'd make sure to put the new suspension in the same place. The 1960 crossmember came out semi-easy. The bolts came right out, but the crossmember was stuck pretty tight and required use of a cable engine puller. Initially the rear torsion bar crossmember was left in place. Subsequently it was realized this was unnecessary and removed for improved exhaust clearance.




Here's the original suspension after removal. I never did get the torsion bars out of the lower control arms.



The new suspension crossmember was put into place and it was discovered two of the holes lined up on each side. I believe one was underneath and the other was the upper rear which needed to be elongated. The crossmember was then removed for drilling. I've marked up the following photo to show which holes were added or elongated.

Although it looks like Swiss cheese, only 3 of the holes are added. The rest were already there. Again the manila templates were used to confirm location. It appears looking at the pictures the two large holes required opening up a bit to provide clearance/access for the upper control arm bolts. The new crossmember/suspension was then permanently bolted into place.



It was immediately discovered the upper shock brackets were no longer in the correct orientation causing the shocks to bind. They needed to be moved to the rear at more of an angle. (The following photo is marked showing the old and new locations).

The factory welds on the shock brackets were cut free with a Dremel tool cutoff wheel. Using a tool this precise prevented any damage to the brackets. The truck was lowered to the ground to bring the suspension to ride height, the brackets were bolted to the shocks, and the brackets were centered midway between their front and rear travel, and the frame marked. It turned out the original brackets had two holes drilled in them, as if the factory originally intended to bolt them on. I simply used these holes and attached the brackets with grade 8 bolts. This was a bit tricky since reaching inside the frame to hold the nuts required the use of 2 wrenches taped together. They’ve been on over 10 years and the bolts have worked fine. Welding might have been easier but that capability wasn’t available.





The last step was the steering linkage. I did not want any 1960 steering components to remain, due to high cost and weaker components. There are conversion adapters available to mix and match the steering linkage, but this seemed like a waste of money since everything was being replaced anyway. Once again the manila file folder template was used to locate the mounting holes for the idler arm. Accuracy in mounting the steering linkage is particularly important as it is a close fit to both the frame and the crossmember.



I had previously installed power steering using the REZ Engineering kit which is designed for the 63 up frame. A few solid steel spacers and it worked fine on the 60 frame. (CPP now offers an adapter kit designed specifically for the 60-62).

This project could probably be completed in a weekend if planned out ahead of time. Hope this helps.

[Captainfab]

Nice "How To" write up Mark.

Would be nice if this could be a sticky or at least be put into the FAQ Truck Tech.

[markeb01]

Thanks. I've coordinated with one of the administrators. He suggested I post here and and he's going to move it to the FAQ forum.

[1Bad62Pro/Street]

***** 5 stars!
This is good info!

Thanks,
Big "B"

[N2TRUX]

Awesome how-to! I copied it to the FAQ Suspension forum- LINK

[Greg Hoffmann]

I have a 62 gmc long bed and i am going to build a Pro Touring long bed truck. this is going to be my next project as soon as I complete a 69 protouring camaro i am building. I put a TCI suspension , frame and ford 9 inch curry rear in the camaro. I will have the camaro front sub frame to install in the pick up as well as camaro rear, 69 35 350 fuelly head engine and muncy m22 trans. i am looking for ideas on where to start. I own a body shop restoration shop and my employees are well versed in all aspects of restoration.

Any idea where to start wood be helpfull.
I bought the truck completely apart The truck was a texas truck most of its life and has very little rust.

[Dene Risden]

Originally Posted by markeb01

For those interested in upgrading the 60-62 to the later disc brake front suspension the following information explains the front suspension swap in my 1960 GMC short stepside. The quality of the photos isn’t the best as the temperature was never higher than 18 degrees in the shop when I did the installation which prevented cleaning anything.

The newer front suspension is from a 1975 Chevy. It is my understanding anything from 1973-1987 (Chevy or GMC) will fit. (Actually anything from 63-72 should also fit, but these years don’t provide disc brakes).

I wanted 5 lug wheels and disc brakes, but the main reason I did the conversion was to eliminate the ball bearing wheel bearings. At the time they were costing over $100 a side. Like so many other replacement parts, the newer ball bearings do not appear to be as high a quality as the originals and burned out with alarming regularity, while roller bearings seem to last forever. The 1960 ball joints and steering parts are also rare and expensive.

(Note – if the only desire is to eliminate the ball bearings, I’ve read in forum threads that 63-66 hubs will fit on 60-62 spindles without modification, and these hubs utilize roller bearings.)

For the newer crossmember/suspension a local wrecking yard sliced the frame off just ahead of the firewall. In order to make sure all the later components fit in exactly the right place on the 1960 frame, once the donor suspension was disassembled templates were made out of manila file folders indicating the location of all mounting holes for the crossmember, idler arm, flexible brake hoses, sway bar, etc



I cleaned up and rebuilt the donor suspension well ahead of the installation.



This photo shows the passenger side of the stock suspension before any changes. The only non-stock item visible is an aftermarket sway bar for a Mustang II suspension which had been added much earlier. It actually worked very well with the stock suspension.



The holes for the brake hoses were the first step of the conversion, which took several hours. These holes are half round and half hex to prevent the hose from rotating. I made the hex portion with a small triangle file and a lot of patience until the hose end fit. There are other ways to attach the hoses but I wanted everything to fit like it did in the 75. Connecting the hard line to the frame end of the hose was rather difficult (inside the frame) and required a lot of wrench work through a small opening in the top of the frame. (There are other and probably easier ways to mount the hoses, including the use of stainless flex hoses instead). The 1960 configuration of the idler arm is very visible in this shot, as compared to the newer design shown in photo number 10.



And the driver side.



As can be seen, the swap was completed with the engine still in place. Two chunks of surplus frame rail were simply bolted to the early 1955 style motor mount holes in the front of the block. The engine was rested on top of the frame, and the motor mounts, towers and suspension crossmember were removed. Although it can be done with the engine in place it isn't recommended. It would be far more convenient with the engine out of the way. At the time this wasn't an option.

After placing the truck frame on jack stands and before removing the 1960 suspension, I marked the fender and garage floor identifying the centerline of the spindles so I'd make sure to put the new suspension in the same place. The 1960 crossmember came out semi-easy. The bolts came right out, but the crossmember was stuck pretty tight and required use of a cable engine puller. Initially the rear torsion bar crossmember was left in place. Subsequently it was realized this was unnecessary and removed for improved exhaust clearance.




Here's the original suspension after removal. I never did get the torsion bars out of the lower control arms.



The new suspension crossmember was put into place and it was discovered two of the holes lined up on each side. I believe one was underneath and the other was the upper rear which needed to be elongated. The crossmember was then removed for drilling. I've marked up the following photo to show which holes were added or elongated.

Although it looks like Swiss cheese, only 3 of the holes are added. The rest were already there. Again the manila templates were used to confirm location. It appears looking at the pictures the two large holes required opening up a bit to provide clearance/access for the upper control arm bolts. The new crossmember/suspension was then permanently bolted into place.



It was immediately discovered the upper shock brackets were no longer in the correct orientation causing the shocks to bind. They needed to be moved to the rear at more of an angle. (The following photo is marked showing the old and new locations).

The factory welds on the shock brackets were cut free with a Dremel tool cutoff wheel. Using a tool this precise prevented any damage to the brackets. The truck was lowered to the ground to bring the suspension to ride height, the brackets were bolted to the shocks, and the brackets were centered midway between their front and rear travel, and the frame marked. It turned out the original brackets had two holes drilled in them, as if the factory originally intended to bolt them on. I simply used these holes and attached the brackets with grade 8 bolts. This was a bit tricky since reaching inside the frame to hold the nuts required the use of 2 wrenches taped together. They’ve been on over 10 years and the bolts have worked fine. Welding might have been easier but that capability wasn’t available.





The last step was the steering linkage. I did not want any 1960 steering components to remain, due to high cost and weaker components. There are conversion adapters available to mix and match the steering linkage, but this seemed like a waste of money since everything was being replaced anyway. Once again the manila file folder template was used to locate the mounting holes for the idler arm. Accuracy in mounting the steering linkage is particularly important as it is a close fit to both the frame and the crossmember.



I had previously installed power steering using the REZ Engineering kit which is designed for the 63 up frame. A few solid steel spacers and it worked fine on the 60 frame. (CPP now offers an adapter kit designed specifically for the 60-62).

This project could probably be completed in a weekend if planned out ahead of time. Hope this helps.

Mark,
Thanks for ALL the detail!
I recently put an 84 C10 front crossmember w/all suspension under my 63 GMC.
The only issue I'm dealing with at this point is the placement of the Idler arm. I didn't have anything to refer to other than the original placement of the stock suspension.
Do you have any suggestions as to measurements etc. to achieve the correct placement for the late model Idler arm.
Any help would be appreciated.... Dene

[markeb01]

Sorry I don't have any dimensions for the 63 and up chassis. What I did for mine was create a template out of a manila file folder directly from the donor chassis. I started at the forward most hole holding the front suspension crossmember to the frame, so I'd have a known dimension to start from. I cut out the holes, placed it on my frame and used that as a pattern.

One other thought would be to take good close up photos (assuming you can find a donor truck with the idler arm you need). Hold a ruler up on the photos showing the height of the frame, or distance from a known bolt or feature. Then adjust the final image size on your computer screen until the dimensions match what you measure directly on the screen, or by some factor like 50% if you can't make it full size.

I've made several model buildings and other projects using this technique. For example if you're trying to measure something that is 12 inches long, but that is too big for your computer monitor, try making it show up 6 inches long, or even 3 inches long. Then you can just measure the other dimensions on the monitor and multiply the actual result by 2 or 4 depending on what you can work with.

I hope this makes sense. If it doesn't let me know and I'll try and provide some type of example.

[Dene Risden]

Thank you for the info, I may have access to an 84 to get some measurements...
Great build thread, very helpful.....
Lowell

[LostMy65]

I'm thinking one could replace the upper ball joint to the 73-87 because it's a bolt-on ball joint. And then for the lower, bolt the ball joint cup portion of the lower arm of a 73-87 to the 60-62 lower arm.

[LuckyLightning]

Hi markeb01, I thought '60-'62 front-end frames (x frame) were narrower than '63 and up frames (ladder frame). It sounds like you didn't have any trouble mounting the upper A-arms to the frame though. Can you confirm that the frame width was not an issue for you?

[SteveMiller]

Hi Lucky

I performed this work earlier in the year on my 61. Frame width was not an issue. The xmember was really the easy part. A little drilling and you're in there. You'll find the holes that do line up from the start easy enough. It's not a big deal really, once it's done you'll see.

[LuckyLightning]

Thanks for the response SteveMiller. I'm a bit surprised that frame width was not an issue though! Good news for sure.

[Captainfab]

The front portion of the frame of the '60-'62 trucks is the same width as the '63 -'87 trucks. The rear of the '60-'62 frames are wider than the '63-'87 trucks.

[markeb01]

Yep what the guys above said. Sorry I've been away from the forum a bunch the last couple of weeks and have missed a bunch of posts. If you need input from me in a hurry you're welcome to send me a PM and I'll see it as soon as I log on.

[Leroy-B1]

Good thread

[austin60c10]

Has anyone done any measurements on newer torsion bar front ends? Are they even close dimension wise?

[markeb01]

I've never even heard anyone consider that option before. It might be a nice conversion if practical.

[LVPhotos]

Ok, I'll bite. Why would you want to swap to newer torsions? There are brake kits now for the 60-62 along with more stuff than you can shake a stick at. Or swap the joints for 73-87 and run those brakes (my original plan)? If I was-a-swapin torsions I would make it 4wd. Back in the day Volar clips made their way into 55-57 trucks and some F***s.

[LostMy65]

LVPhotos,
You say you were thinking about using 73-87 ball joints on the 60-62 A-Arms?

[LVPhotos]

At one point. If anything you can box the arm.

[LostMy65]

Yeah, that's been my plan as a way to keep the torsion bars and use all the newer less expensive balljoints and tie-rod ends.

[Rockit]

Timely, I think I scored an 83 setup tonight, looks like your truck already has power steering, what's the story there? Factory or an add on?

[austin60c10]

Yeah I was wanting to do a 4wd upgrade

[Leroy-B1]

Any how too on adding a saginaw power steering pump to a 60 - 62 frame? ...I've got the front stub bolted on just want to get the rest right?