Decisions.......Decisions!?!?!?

[Jerryrig]

So I have a little dilemma. I have a 70 c10 2wd, and I have been able to save about a grand in the last month or so to throw at the truck.....

I definately want to lower it 5.5/7 because I like the stance with 20's on it.

But I want to do power steering and a front disc conversion to it.

Good guys is this weekend so I am going to see if there are any deals to be had...lol

I also stumbled on a big sale that brothers is doing that last until the end of April. So I figure if I can't find it a the good guys swap meet, then I will buy it from brothers

So with the idea of making my money stretch the furthest on new parts I was thinking that I would do a 2.5" drop spindals with 3" drop springs up front. And then a axel flip kit with 2" leaf hanger in the rear.

But the problem lies with wanting to do the power conversions. The brake conversion they offer has the drop spindals in it, but it will use up most of the $1000 that I have to spend. And same story for the steering conversion using up most the $$

So my question is should I go with all the lowering components and try to piece together the other systems with the remaining cash?????

And driving home from work today, I found a donor truck sitting in a field, so I left my info with the neighbor because the owner wasn't home. So now I'm waiting to hear from him.....it was a square body. I couldn't tell the year because the front clip was not on it.....(73-87)

So I'm hoping that I can use the main power steering and disc brake stuff from it. But I'm not sure if the rotors from that truck will fit the aftermarket drop spindals I want to order from brothers. Because I have read that there are different diameter size spindals out there......

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.....


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[Tx Firefighter]

If you're savvy you can do the lowering job and convert to discs and power steering for your thousand.

Buy a donor 73-87 front end. That gets you all the disc brake stuff and power steering box. Get the brake lines too to save some money. Everything from the master cylinder to the calipers. You can use it all.

3 inch drop spindles are about 250 delivered from Summit. I just bought a pair of 3 inch DJM spindles from there a few weeks ago.

Cut a coil off your front springs. This combined with your spindles will give you a full 5 inch front drop.

Do a homemade flip kit in the rear. Anywhere from free to 60 bucks or so. Summit sells real nice weld on perches for 12 bucks a pair for your 2.5 inch wide leaf springs. That nets you right at 6 inches of drop in the rear.

If you really fuss over getting good deals, you could come in well south of your 1000 dollar budget. I think I could do it with a set of nice drop shocks and some fresh brake parts for good measure thrown in. Craigslist is your friend.

[stomper]

You didn't mention if you want to keep 6 lug or swap to 5? Makes a difference in you plan. I'll assume swap to 5 because you're on a budget and it can be cheaper that way as you don't have to buy 6 lug rotors.

Assuming you have the space and an understanding wife (or no wife)... To stretch your dollars and not be waiting to collect all the right parts, I'd get the square body for it's disc brake set-up and swap the whole front cross member over. While you've got it apart, cut a coil out for a 2" drop (Or buy your 3" drop springs). You can also pirate the power steering parts. You can drive it that way until you get $250ish more for the 73-87 spindals.

I've never done a leaf rear 67-72 so I don't know if the rear swaps directly in from a square body or not. Nor do I know about the stages of dropping the leaf rear. You'd want that to match your two step drop process in the front (springs then spindals)

EDIT: Tx beat me to it. I like his plan better!!

[Jerryrig]

Ok, thats kind of what I'm thinking...

And to answer your Q stomper, I do not want to convert to 5 lug. I kind of like the idea of keeping it 6 lug.

With my desire to keep it 6 lug, you can see that the donor option is pretty hard to come by...

And do you know what size the spindals are from the donor trucks? I've read that they are either 1", 1.25" or 1.5".....but no solid answer yet.
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[Jerryrig]

And what if I were to get a disc brake set up from a 73-79. Could I swap the 5 lug rotor for a 6 lug rotor and have everything work???
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[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by Jerryrig

And what if I were to get a disc brake set up from a 73-79. Could I swap the 5 lug rotor for a 6 lug rotor and have everything work???
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Yes, the 6 lug rotors are a straight on swap for any 73-87 era truck with 1 1/4 inch thick rotors.

[CC69Rat]

^^ Wow, never knew that.

[Jerryrig]

Hey Tx....

If i did get the 73-87 donor truck....would I have to use the upper and lower A arm from the truck too or would it all fit on my current A arms? Only reason i ask is because i have read somewhere that you have to change out the lower A arm because those year donor trucks have different sized ball joints than the 67-72.

And if thats the case, would i order the drop spindal for my 1970 or would i order it for the donor truck year?
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[Tx Firefighter]

Cheapest and easiest way is to run the entire 73-87 setup. The control arms will have the ballpoints in them already for the cheap 73-87 drop spindles.
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