1963 1/2 ton front suspension

[Greg63]

I am going to begin the replacement of the original front suspension in my '63 with a complete original front suspension from a '70 1/2 ton. All the parts; upper and lower "A" arms, cross shafts, spindles , brake backing plates and front crossmember, have all been sandblasted and painted seperately.
I have all new ball joints and tie rod ends as well as pitman arm and idler arm.

My question is this; Is it easier to assemble all the new parts before I put the new crossmember in (essentially build the front suspension on the garage floor beside the truck and then bolt the entire assembly in) or should I take out the original '63 front suspension, bolt in the '70 crossmember and then start assembling the '70 pieces on the truck?

Greg

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by Greg63

I am going to begin the replacement of the original front suspension in my '63 with a complete original front suspension from a '70 1/2 ton. All the parts; upper and lower "A" arms, cross shafts, spindles , brake backing plates and front crossmember, have all been sandblasted and painted seperately.
I have all new ball joints and tie rod ends as well as pitman arm and idler arm.

My question is this; Is it easier to assemble all the new parts before I put the new crossmember in (essentially build the front suspension on the garage floor beside the truck and then bolt the entire assembly in) or should I take out the original '63 front suspension, bolt in the '70 crossmember and then start assembling the '70 pieces on the truck?

Greg

I'd go with option #2. Easier to get the crossmember in place by itself.

[Greg63]

Here is what I am working with;







Thanks to p-low (T) for setting me up with the crossmember and Dave for the control arms and spindles.

[kevindtimm]

Hey, that looks like what I'm doing (going to do anyway).

I have the xmember disassembled and ready for blasting. Soon, Soon, Soon!

My only real holdup is that I have to buy the 'special' master cylinder as I have a '62 and will be keeping 'forever' the manual transmission.

Gonna be a bit before I've got that spare $400 laying around

[Greg63]

Originally Posted by kevindtimm

Hey, that looks like what I'm doing (going to do anyway).

I have the xmember disassembled and ready for blasting. Soon, Soon, Soon!

My only real holdup is that I have to buy the 'special' master cylinder as I have a '62 and will be keeping 'forever' the manual transmission.

Gonna be a bit before I've got that spare $400 laying around

I don't know what yours looks like, but mine is a prime example of what 45 years of exposure to Canadian weather can do to metal.
Except for a couple of bolts, everything is rusted beyond recognition.

I am real glad I got a second crossmemer before I stated this project.

Greg.

[scotts62]

Thats what i did with mine, i assymbled it all outside truck, put wheels on it jacked the truck up as high as i could, and rolled her under. it worked out good