Control Arm question

[Eazyrider111]

Well I have been lurking on her for a few months now and have tried to find as much information as possible but one question still eludes me. I bought a 63 short bed fleet side a few months back and noticed that the passenger side lower control arm had tried to make friends with the curb at some point. So I decided to pick up a 73 Chevy front end and I want to keep my drums but upgrade the control arms. So my question is can I use my stock spindles with the upgraded control arms if I use 63 ball joints?

[Gooker928]

I did a crossmember swap on my 63.
As I recall, the 63 has a different style of bushings.
I have no idea why you would want to keep the drums
You might as well cut a hole in your floorboard and use your feet like Fred Flintstone. The newer control arms allow you to use the 73-87 sway bars.
But yea you can use your control arms.

[PGSigns]

Just do the split on the brakes and go to the disc using all the stuff you got. You will be glad you did once you see how much better the truck will stop.
Jimmy

[chevy_mike]

Short answer is yes. Put your '63 ball joints into the later arms and it will bolt up to your stock drum spindles. You will want to replace both lower arms to keep everything even.

[Eazyrider111]

Thanks for the short answer chevy_mike. I figure if tractor trailers and school buses can stop fine with drums the truck should have no problem.

[PGSigns]

I got my first one of these trucks in 1976 and they do stop OK. Have wrecked one over a line failure on a single pot system. Had power drums on the 66 for a while and now the disc brakes. I would say the power disc setup stops 25% shorter with a lot more control than the power drums. With most cars on the road having 4 wheel disc and anti lock, anything we can do to improve the stopping power of these trucks ads to the safety when others around you panic and they can stop much faster than you can. I also have modern 3 point belts in the truck. Its also been a long time since tractor trailers and bus's have had front drum brakes.
Jimmy

[Captainfab]

I will disagree. I haven't been under a 2015 class 8 truck yet but a 2010 class 8 truck still has drum brakes all around. However there is a big difference between hydraulic drum brakes and air operated drum brakes.

Originally Posted by PGSigns

Its also been a long time since tractor trailers and bus's have had front drum brakes.
Jimmy

[PGSigns]

I know Peterbuilt went all disc on the front in 2011 and Freightliner has been disc on the front of the big motorhome and bus chassis for a while. I agree that you can not compare the stopping power of the air drums and our trucks. I still feel that splitting the brakes is a must and if you can go disc do it.
Jimmy

[sambrutay]

Originally Posted by PGSigns

I know Peterbuilt went all disc on the front in 2011 and Freightliner has been disc on the front of the big motorhome and bus chassis for a while. I agree that you can not compare the stopping power of the air drums and our trucks. I still feel that splitting the brakes is a must and if you can go disc do it.
Jimmy

Not 1 single freightliner school bus in KY with disc brakes. OTR trucks are mostly drum still to this day. School bus industry is still drum except flat states that run hydraulic disc brake.

[amueller454]

hey guys i have a similar situation.. only opposite.. I have a 66 crossmember and upper and lower control arms. I already cupped my 66 lower control arms for my airride but want to put my 85 spindles and disc brakes on it. can i just put in 85 ball joints in the 66 arms? thanks guys

[Captainfab]

Yes, just change the balljoints and install the spindles, etc.

Originally Posted by amueller454

hey guys i have a similar situation.. only opposite.. I have a 66 crossmember and upper and lower control arms. I already cupped my 66 lower control arms for my airride but want to put my 85 spindles and disc brakes on it. can i just put in 85 ball joints in the 66 arms? thanks guys

[chevy_mike]

Just remember, the outer tie rods on '73+ are larger threads (and I believe taper). To use the later spindles, you will need to either convert all the steering parts to the '73+ style or by conversion tie rod adjusters that have the two different sized threads (inner smaller, outer larger).

Other than that issue, it's all bolt on.