arm swap for disc brakes 60 chevy

[bigblackcat]

I have a 60 chevy swb box and would like to install disc brakes. As i dont have a mountain of cash to throw at this project, I want to keep it low buck. In a post by "mongo" he reports that all you have to do in swap out tha uper and lower A arms and spindles off a disc brake truck say 71 and newer. I has seen post that claim you have to swap out the whole cross member from the donor truck. Has any body out there completed this swap with just the A arms? And has any body done it to a 60 chev? The 60 chevy's have the torsion bar suspension.

[slepysal]

The swap out posted by "mongo" will not work with the 60-62 trucks. Starting in 63 Chevy switched to a spring set up and they used diffrent A arms. You can do a complete cross member swap, or you can get spindles ( stock or lowered) with spindes beeing easiest to do, while some will say the cross meber is cheeper, take into account it would be wise to replace all bushings,ball joints, inspect or replace tie rods, calipers , rotors , hoses, bearins , seas etc. it can add up.
One thing to keep in mind is the NEED to replace your master cylinder, this can be pricey ( 300.00-450.00)if you have a manual transmision. This is becuse the master cylinder controls ( on difrent resivours) the brakes and hydrulic clutch.
I am leaning on the drop spindels on my 60. and fabing up a seprete brake and clutch master. Good luck keep us posted

[poorboy]

With the brake and clutch part. What about a circle track set up. I ran one in my 50 and it worked great. The have a balince bar to adj front and rear pressure so there's no need for a proportioning valve. here's a link to one
http://www.daymotorsports.com/product/868/c/C9/
They also have different style masters. I ran one's with remote reservoirs.

[Chevy Fleetside]

If you just use spindles and you need to rebuild that 60 front end it will cost plenty. Price out some bushings and ball joints. If you use a crossmember for a mid 70's you can get a set of ball joints for about $60 if you look hard enough. Summit sells energy suspension bushing kits for $57 for a 75.. The clutch issue is something you will have to deal with also.. You need to study more before you jump into things.. Maybe I can hook up with Slepysal someday and look at his truck.

[slepysal]

Originally Posted by Chevy Fleetside

If you just use spindles and you need to rebuild that 60 front end it will cost plenty. Price out some bushings and ball joints. .

Good point !!! I stand corected, spindles would be easier,not cheeper.

[bigblackcat]

I just found a complete crosmember with all the hardware for the disk brake conversion. Will the engine in my truck need to be removed to complete this swap?

[poorboy]

You should be able to support the front of the motor on a jack stand and do all the needed work. Just don't forget to unbolt the lower portion of the motor mounts on the crossmember.

[poorboy]

This thread showes how he supported the motor.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=137398

[slepysal]

Hey black cat I dig your truck. what kind of drop do you have on it? What size lowering blocks you running ? Nice very nice

[bigblackcat]

torsion bars cranked down and rear springs cut. Old school style.

[slepysal]

Originally Posted by bigblackcat

torsion bars cranked down and rear springs cut. Old school style.

very cool paint job too.

[bigblackcat]

Has anybody heard if there is a width difference on the frames from 60-66, 67-72, and 73-87??????? Reason I ask is that I was talking to a friend about swapping out my crossmember from my 60 to a 78 and he said that he did a crossmember swap out on a 66 and tried to use a mid 70's crossmember and it was wider than the 66. So then he installed one from a 72 and it was correct width. Any comments on this??????

[62 short step]

I have heard that the 60-62 frames are wider than 63-66. I know for sure the rear of the frames 60-62 are wider. Not sure about the rest.

[62CHEVYC10]

hey bigblackcat, I have a 62 that I converted to disk brakes. I removed the torsion bar set up and crossmember and installed the complete crossmember and suspension from an 85 half ton donor truck. very easy to do just had to drill a couple holes and make a bracket to use the 85 idler arm. Plus you can drop it with coils and spindles. I have 3 inch dropped coils up front and fours in the rear. The frames are the same width. I ran into no unexpected problems when I did mine. Some fabrication experience is useful but i do that for a living. If you can wrench you can do the swap.

[62ChevyStep]

Hey BCat, we have already PM'd, on this topic I too have completed the swap like 62ChevyC10 and am just echoing his remarks.

[bigblackcat]

so it looks like my engine has a front mount, but also has the holes on the side of the block for engine mounts. Would it be easier so convert my engine to side mounts when I convert the crossmember?

[poorboy]

I would use the side mounts. They bolt to the crossmember anf the top of the frame rail.

[62ChevyStep]

Ditto - PoorBoy