1968 suspension rebuild

[fb111ewo]

Although I've been on the forum a short while, this is my first post. I'm in the process of tearing down and rebuilding my 68 stepside. The plan is to go as stock as possible, with upgrades to disc brakes and power steering. I've got the truck torn down to the point of almost a bare frame. I'm looking at a complete rebuild of the front suspension and am looking for opinions on the best route to go.. stay with my 68 suspension and get disc brake conversion spindles or swap out with a 71-72 crossmember setup with disc brakes. I want to stay 6 lug. I will be replacing the tie rods, ball joints etc. I can get a used 71-72 setup for about $300 bucks, but would have to swap the rotors to a 6 lug. I'm assuming that the spindles would be in good shape and could be reused, but would have to also rebuild the entire crossmember anyway. The only advantage that I can see would be that the brake hose tabs would be set up correctly for disc brakes. Any thoughts?? and thanks for your inputs.

[68bowtie]

first of all welcome to the forum!

if you want to stay 6-lug i don't see much advantage converting to 71-72 parts. the various ball joints, tie rod ends, etc are not interchangeable between 67-69 vs 71-72. there are a lot of rebuild kits and disc brake conversion kits for 6-lug that everything will match up nicely. i would suggest Early Classic Enterprises for parts search.

[fb111ewo]

Thanks for the input. I think I'll stick with the original suspension and check out ECE!

[michael bustamante]

If you switch to 71-72 you'll need to grab the whole steer rack as well and grab the brake headlines in the front as well as the brake booster, master cyl, prop valve and the rod that goes to the pedal. Going used will save you a little and you'll learn how to rebuild the suspension firsthand. It's a good learning process. You'll want to replace ball joints as well. No need to replace upper and lower control arms