Dumb question but have to ask

[donthekawguy]

As soon as the snow clears I'm going to the local pull and save to get a new front end for my 66. They have a ton of 73-87 2wd trucks and I'm hoping to find one with a complete front end. I will be getting the crossmember and complete suspension, steering box, MC and maybe brake lines. While I have it out I'm going to rebuild it with new ball joints, tie rod ends and bushings. One of the questions is when I get drop spindles and springs, do I get them for the year of truck I get the parts from? Sounds pretty obvious but I had to ask. Also do I get new tie rod ends for the same year as the donor? And one more. Do I use the pitman arm from the donor or use the one from the 66? That should cover it for now. I was going to get my truck out of storage and start the tear down next week but we got hit with around 6 inches of snow and now it looks like it will be mid March before I can start on it due to having to work on it in the driveway. My plan is take the whole front end off, clean and pain t the frame, rebuild the front suspension and brakes, change the gaskets and paint the motor, do the bodywork and paint the front end. Should take a couple of months but it will be fun.

[brokenspoke]

Yes ..... Yes....donor......BTW its much easierto just remove the suspension from the crossmember and bolt it on to yours.....my 2 cents

[donthekawguy]

I was thinking of that but since I'm taking the whole front off the truck including the motor and trans, I thought I would just roll the new front suspension under when it's rebuilt.

[tincan1966]

You don't really have to change crossmembers, but understand what you are saying, you want to rebuild it as a unit and install all at once.

Just make sure you get the exact year of the truck you get the donor parts from, just in case you run into any goofy questions when ordering parts.

I personally find it much easier to remember what I need by converting it all over to the newer parts.

[donthekawguy]

I'm shooting for as new as I can get. They have an 86 listed but I haven't seen it yet. Now everything is covered in snow so my motivation has gone way down. lol

[ljackson]

Originally Posted by donthekawguy

Should take a couple of months but it will be fun.

I did this to my truck a couple of years ago. I didn't use drop spindles though. I have some part numbers in this post that I used to connect the new(er) to the old. Have fun

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=453346

[kieth]

MOST GUYS MISS THIS, YOU CAN USE THE FRONT END FROM A 91 SUBURBAN, THEY DID NOT CHANGE THE BURB DESIGN UNTIL 92, I USED THE 91 SUBURBAN AS A DONOR VEHICLE, USED THE ENGINE, TRANSMISSION, WIRING HARNESS, FRONT CROSSMEMBER, SWAY BAR, AND TILT WHEEL. IT ALL WORKED WITH NO HIC UPS.....KIETH

[Branman1971]

Originally Posted by brokenspoke

Yes ..... Yes....donor......BTW its much easierto just remove the suspension from the crossmember and bolt it on to yours.....my 2 cents

Here's a dumber question for you. I have a 61 with torsion bar setup. Do I have the option of just bolting suspension parts from donor onto MY crossmember as advised above? I doubt it but I'm still learning here.

[Branman1971]

Originally Posted by kieth

MOST GUYS MISS THIS, YOU CAN USE THE FRONT END FROM A 91 SUBURBAN, THEY DID NOT CHANGE THE BURB DESIGN UNTIL 92, I USED THE 91 SUBURBAN AS A DONOR VEHICLE, USED THE ENGINE, TRANSMISSION, WIRING HARNESS, FRONT CROSSMEMBER, SWAY BAR, AND TILT WHEEL. IT ALL WORKED WITH NO HIC UPS.....KIETH

And if I could use a 91 Burb that would be cool too with a tilt column and all!

[forestb]

no the 61 cross member does not have the upper spring pockets. If I were you I would not bother with it unless you want to bag it and I think there must be a way to bag it without changing the front cross member.

As for the original question you are probably going to need to take the new cross member apart to install it just so that you can bolt it in. It will be a hole lot easier to just use the new components.

Why do people want to put new cross members on the 63-66 trucks? What is the matter with those cross members?

Originally Posted by Branman1971

Here's a dumber question for you. I have a 61 with torsion bar setup. Do I have the option of just bolting suspension parts from donor onto MY crossmember as advised above? I doubt it but I'm still learning here.

[Branman1971]

So you can go with disc brakes

[neal 66]

the cross member has nothing to do with disc brakes.i used all parts from an 82 front end except the cross member,reason? I didn't want to support engine while changing cross member.its all personal choice.if I was removing engine also I may have gone the other route.

[tincan1966]

Originally Posted by Branman1971

So you can go with disc brakes

You can put disc brakes on a torsion bar front end. there's kits out there for it.

On the '63-66's tho, they already have coil springs, so no real advantage to changing crossmember just to add the components from a '73-87.

[Branman1971]

And there ya go! Thanks for the knowledge!

[donthekawguy]

Well it looks like I will just rebuild the front end of my truck and put on the right ball joints, springs and spindles. I'll probably end up using junkyard calipers, MC and little stuff. After thinking about it paying for a new (old) suspension set up, rebuilding it along with the extra work of putting it in, it makes sense to rebuild my stock stuff.

[tincan1966]

why go to the trouble to rebuild anything if you're going to rely on junkyard parts to stop the truck?
A master cylinder is only about $25 bucks new and calipers are around $20.
Don't think I'd want the problems of some rusty POS that's been sitting in a salvage yard.

Safety is not something worth saving a couple bucks on. The difference in salvage parts vs new or rebuilt at the parts store is minimal.

JMO

[donthekawguy]

Originally Posted by tincan1966

why go to the trouble to rebuild anything if you're going to rely on junkyard parts to stop the truck?
A master cylinder is only about $25 bucks new and calipers are around $20.
Don't think I'd want the problems of some rusty POS that's been sitting in a salvage yard.

Safety is not something worth saving a couple bucks on. The difference in salvage parts vs new or rebuilt at the parts store is minimal.

JMO

I was thinking I would rebuild whatever I got from the wrecking yard. But I had a moment of clarity and realized I already have almost what I need and would be replacing all the parts on the junkyard set up so why waste that money.

[Desert.Chevy]

A few of the post above were saying to get the news parts you can, but when you replace most parts from the pepboys or oreiley or others isn't it just the category of 73-87 replacement parts. Or is it per year1985 or 1986 ect.

Thanks

Post some pictures when you go the work, I would like to see some progress pictures.