Disc Brake Upgrade Reference Thread

[old_1966_GMC]

well i just picked up some 5 lug spindles today at half off price today at picknpull the spindles are from a 73 chevy what other parts do i need to make my 8 lug 65 c1500 gmc to 5 lug disc brake

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by old_1966_GMC

well i just picked up some 5 lug spindles today at half off price today at picknpull the spindles are from a 73 chevy what other parts do i need to make my 8 lug 65 c1500 gmc to 5 lug disc brake

Spindle backing plates & bolts, calipers & bolts, rubber flex lines, rotors, seals, bearings, the correct BJ's (upper & lower) for the spindles, a disc brake master cyl, pwr booster (if you're converting to pwr brakes @ the same time), & the correct tie-rods/adapter sleeves so the disc spindle outer tie-rods work w/the drum spindle inner tie-rods.

[Captainfab]

Scot pretty much covered it.

You won't need the special tie rod adapters if you change the complete steering linkage for the '73-'87 assembly. There is another possibility on that, but I haven't been able to confirm yet that it will actually work.

I don't know for sure just what lower ball joints you will need to use, as I haven't done the swap quite like you're doing. The ball joint hole in the lower control arm is larger than the C10 ball joints. And you can't just change the lower control arm for the C10 unit since they mount differently. You may have to try a few different lower ball joints to find what will work. You might get lucky and the '63-'70 lower ball joint may work with the '73-'87 spindle.

That is why I mentioned earlier about using the '88-'98 spindle, since I know what works to do the conversion that way. Let us know what you find to work.

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Spindle backing plates & bolts, calipers & bolts, rubber flex lines, rotors, seals, bearings, the correct BJ's (upper & lower) for the spindles, a disc brake master cyl, pwr booster (if you're converting to pwr brakes @ the same time), & the correct tie-rods/adapter sleeves so the disc spindle outer tie-rods work w/the drum spindle inner tie-rods.