Twisty's Dumb Questions Thread

[twisty]

ok, so i havent worked with old chevys in about 10 or 15 years, so im sure ill have many dumb questions to ask. if this annoys you, im sorry. ill try to keep the stupid contained in this thread so you wont have to see it unless you want to.

a bit of background... my son had been searching for a 67-72 chevy truck for a while, i found a great deal on a project truck so he bought it. been a while since ive restored chevy, ive been doing the import thing for a while now. i havedone extensive work on various old vehicles in my day tho, ive owned and done all the work on a 61 scout 80, 71 merc montego, 79 chevy step side, 76 impala, 80 cadillac, 73 dodge coronet (383) and a few others i cant seem to recall. gas mileage is what pushed me into imports, and i prefer 2nd gen subaru legacys over most others.

heres my recent dilemma. when we trailered the truck home, the PO didnt have a rear axle under it. i told him it needed to roll so we could get it on the trailer without ruining the wood, so he put a 14 bolt industrial 1 ton rear from a 91 3500. problem is, that sucker is from a leaf spring truck and our 72 c10 is trailing arm/ coils. fast forward to last week, i found a 12-bolt posi rear for a good price so i got it. it too is from a leaf spring truck (came off of a 72). so, my newest decision i need to make is whether it would be better to switch our truck to leaf springs or switch the rear axle to the coil and trailing arm set up. it looks to me like it would be cheaper to find some leaf springs and weld on some new brackets than it would to find new perches and reset the whole axle. which one is the better system? keep in mind, this will be my sons first vehicle, not a work truck or show truck.