1967-72 Truck ?

[Tony Stewart]

Hello all my ? Is will a 67-72 chevy shortbed 1/2 ton truck fit down on a 1973-87 chevy shortbed 1/2 ton chasis and what all will need to be changed If anything?I got several trucks and no help of doing anything so I don't wanna tear something apart and not get It back together with no help.thanks

[smokekiki]

There is somebody on this board who did this with a 4x4,might have been 67Mudder.I would think it would at the very least take all new mounts.Why do you want to do this?Problem with the frame?And welcome to the board

[landon4421]

tony stewart ? big nascar star and all the tecs in the world and you guys can not figure out this one? J/K hahaha, Mudder67 I also belive did this, I sent him a PM, mabe he can help you out.. so are you guys going to win the richmond race this weekend? J/K Take care Landon

[Mudder]

PM sent!

[Longhorn Man]

I hear that you better not try this on a 2 wheel drive. It'll look like poop and nothing will line up.
But that is just what I've heard.

[racedvl]

The 67-72's have a great chassis set up, exp. if you have rear coils. I personally think going to a 73-87 frame would be kinda a down grade. But that's just my thoughts. . . .

[Longhorn Man]

I have to agree with Jason on that statement.

[Tony Stewart]

thanks for all the Imput the reason I was asking about the swap Is cause of the 5 lug newer bolt pattern on the 73-87.the 6 hole stuff does not have alot of options on wheels and old drum brakes.so will this work or does anyone have a better suggestions to the delima?I figure It would be easier to change bodies then to change from spindles and rear ends and all?I know somebody probably makes change over kits fro the 6 lug to 5 lugs but your looking at alot of money and rearends are not cheap either.let me know?

[Longhorn Man]

The 5 lug is easier to install on your truck than a whole rame off ordeal.
The whole front cross member from hub to hub will swing out from under there and is a direct bolt on with the exception of hogging out a couple holes on the 67 frame.
The rear is a little mre work. Finding a 71/72 rear is one way, or having your 6 lug axls re-drilled is another option.

[Tony Stewart]

thanks what are the advantages of keeping stock 67-72 frame?and what Is better or worse about the 73-87 frames?which has better lasting a arms and so on give me all the details?I know the older u get the better they are built on cars/trucks cause new stuff Is junk cheap made desposiable made to last couple years then time for new 1.I have 11 old cars total nothing newer thne 86 which Is a work truck.

[Longhorn Man]

I am unaware of any real durability issues between the 2 trucks running gear, however, the coil spring set up gives a much better ride, gets better traction if you decide to drag race (or just like launching from the stop light) and with the long trailing arms, it'll distribute the weight of a large load a bit better.

I have noticed a tendency for the old leaves to break, but I don't know if that is a real issue, or something I have just come across more often than others.
If you were to look under some of the NASCAR... I think bush car, they have an almost identical set up as our trucks.
The coil set up also corners quite well for a live axle in a pig of a truck.

[Tony Stewart]

yes I like the coil springs verses the leaf spring ride myself since the coils ride like a car.I own 5 chevelles 70's and 71's and the trucks are set up like the chevelles moreless this Is 1 plus I like about the stock set up at this point just was not sure of all the pros and cons of the 67-72's and the 73-87's.Thanks

[Longhorn Man]

No problem.
There is a kit to instal the real long trailing arms from a truck into a chevelle.
Car craft is doing one to theres. It is supposed to hook up pretty good.

[Tony Stewart]

LOL seems like theres a kit for everything If your got thousands to drop on every kit.also I like the caddy Idea on your truck my grandpa built 1 over 25 years ago like that his was a 69 1/2 ton longbed with a 500 caddy It was a running son of a ***** If you wanted It to be or your could just punch It off the line and smoke them over a block long.Or take off and ease Into to and bring It on like a 35 miles per hour It ran like a race car.

[Longhorn Man]

heh heh heh I can't wait. I have a set of rear tires (old Bias Ply) set aside with one mission in life....good smoke shows. <insert evil laugh here>

[tom hand]

The coil springs have an advantage...if your running it at a track...lol. On the street the only advantage is the ride. If you want to use it as a truck leafs rule...just pull a large enclosed trailler that catches some wind. As far as putting the truck on a 73 up frame you could do it, but thats a lot of work just to change to 5 lug. Besides having to locate and install all the mounts for everything, the wheelbase is a little different...you would have to remove and reinstall the mounts for the rear leaf springs. Installing the front crossmember to get disc and five lugs is easy, and there is a weld-on kit to install the rear end in a coil spring truck.

[lukecp]

I love coil springs....nice ride, decent handling, and my truck even has good traction in mud and snow with a one legger rear end. I also have fairly large rear tires that help out, lol.

I agree though....coils aren't the best for hauling. My truck will squat down really bad when it is loaded up. It sags an easy inch or two in the back if i put a riding lawn mower or a 4 wheeler in the back, which way ~500 lbs. or less. On a leaf spring truck it won't sag very much at all. But i don't haul heavy loads in my truck very often, it is mainly driven on the street so coils are far better

[MandarinSixSeven]

i know 67cst tried doing this exact same thing for the advantages of disk brakes and the frame already had lowered suspension...but when he tried mounting the body on the frame they found out that the 73 frames have a big hump in the middle where the 67-72 frames do not. so the body was way higher than the box and unless you cut out part of the body it wouldn't work...this was a 2WD by the way

[busterwivell]

I have leafs in my 1 ton Longhorn. I pull a 525 gallon water trailer at least once a week with it, and the thing hardly drops at all in the back. I'm picking up a load of firewood again in a couple of weeks, and it has never dropped much with a full load, either.

[Longhorn Man]

Well, on the 1/2 ton rear springs, the leafs and coils are both rated the same. If you are loading by the amount that the truck is designed to haul, then it does not matter which you have, they will handle it the same.
If you go a little heavier than rated, the leafs are better.
If you load to the stupid level, (like 2500 pounds in the back) then the coils will be better. They will go into coil bind and stack up on each other making a suspention lock out and you can haul like that.
not that I recomend it though)
I wonder what it will take my one ton longorn to squat...it has the overload springs on top of the one ton longhorn springs.

[lukecp]

I have had a fairly insane amount of firewood in my truck before....enough to make the back bumper be about 4" off the ground (truck is stock height) and my tires squat down to about half the normal sidewall height. It swayed back and forth quite a bit.....as well as it rode kind of weird. Steering wasn't that great with most of the weight over the rear axle, and my brake pedal was kind of stiff but the old truck had no problem pulling hills with the wood in the back

Good point on the suspension lockout longhorn man....i never thought of that. I was thining....what about the factory-like set-up with add on leaves. Wouldn't they give the handling, traction, and ride of coils with the load hauling ability of leaves when you load the truck down?

[zap350]

Hello, just bought a 1968 chevy truck, with drum brakes all around. can anybody help me here i would like to go front disc brakes.what parts do i need to get from the yard. It s a 6 lugs. Thank you
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[67ChevyRedneck]

WOW, this is an OLD thread! I didn't know you could even search back that far anymore!

Since the title of this thread has nothing to do with your question, I would recommend starting a new thread with a proper title (disc brake conversion for 68 or something...)

We don't mind new threads around here

That depends on what you want to do. You can get the entire suspension from a 71/72 and it will be a straight bolt in (I mean cross member and all, it comes as one piece!) However, it will be 5 lug. You can also use a 73+ (my memory gets fuzzy on this I think you can go to 87, but I may be mistaken) but again, you'll have 5 lugs. Also, you'll want to take the entire thing again, because ball joints/tie rod ends, ect don't match up to the 68 stuff, so it's a lot easier going to the parts store and asking for everything off a 71, or 75, etc... (you can mix and match parts, but it's a pain. You'll need the ball joints for whatever year spindles you get and outer tie rod ends for those as well, it's just easier to get the whole thing.)

As far as the rotors, ECE offers them in 6 lug (I run them on my truck) but they are $, but mine are over 10 years old with 30K and look new still.

You could have a set redrilled for 6 lug.

Or you could swap the rear axle for a 71/72 5 lug rear axle, or buy new axle shafts, or have your old ones redrilled for 5 lug. You can not swap axle shafts from 67-70 6 lug and 71-72 5 lug, they are different lengths.

Crap, I just typed all the crap assuming 2wd... I have no idea what works for a 4x4.

[In The Ten Ring]

My truck saw some heavy loads when my dad used it. I can recall (gosh I was little!) him taking it to a coal mine and a front end loader dumped a load of coal directly into the bed.

When we moved from our old house to their new one, I recall the truck REALLY sagging down in the back. It has coil springs.

[slow-1]

I think thats the oldest thread revival I have seen anywhere.
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