Front Crossmember Question-Please Help

[Pritchard1970]

I have a 62 Fleetside that I stripped the front crossmember and all of the original torsion bar suspension off to make way for the donor 76 chevy truck crossmember and front discs, drop spindles and air bags. My question is should I expect any problems with the process? Any ideas on how to make the process go smoother and be sucessful the first time? Thanks for your help in advance

[darklord]

I was talking to a friend that did the same thing in fact he is the reason I decided to put disc brakes on our truck. He told me it was a simple no mod swap. The one thing he suggested to make it easier was to soak the bolts with something like wd40 over a few weeks before trying to remove them. Just spray them every few days.

[Pritchard1970]

Thanks.....I had only two bolts that gave me a problem...the other 12 were encased in grease and were in great condition.....I will start posting pics as soon as I make progress

[qksilver]

not a bad swap. A few holes might not line up but no big deal. Bolt all the one that work and drill out the rest. Make sure you use grade 8 bolts with washers.
The only thing , if you are going to use the P/S box is that there isn't a dimple for clearance.
When you try to bolt up the box you will see what I am talking about.
several ways to deal with this, buy a kit for around 70 bucks or take a torch and heat the area and clearance it with a hammer

[damnyankee36]

I converted to P/S on my 66. I didn't like how the available kits placed the steering box further away from the idler arm. They use a spacer that is notched to allow the bulge on the gear box to fit in.

I used the approximate dimensions from the '78 donor truck and cut a notch in the frame so the gear box could bolt flush to the frame and keep the dimensions the same. I then welded in a piece of 3" tubing to the notched section to keep the frame strong.

I also didn't need to remove the crossmember. I just removed all the parts associated with the suspension and steering system. (Control arms, w/ rubber bushings, idler arm, steering linkage, gear box, spindles, rotors, calipers...)

Works beautifully!

Larry

[Pritchard1970]

Thanks for the help guys....I will be tackling the power steering issues once all the welding for the air bags are done