Twisty's Dumb Questions Thread

[twisty]

ok, so i havent worked with old chevys in about 10 or 15 years, so im sure ill have many dumb questions to ask. if this annoys you, im sorry. ill try to keep the stupid contained in this thread so you wont have to see it unless you want to.

a bit of background... my son had been searching for a 67-72 chevy truck for a while, i found a great deal on a project truck so he bought it. been a while since ive restored chevy, ive been doing the import thing for a while now. i havedone extensive work on various old vehicles in my day tho, ive owned and done all the work on a 61 scout 80, 71 merc montego, 79 chevy step side, 76 impala, 80 cadillac, 73 dodge coronet (383) and a few others i cant seem to recall. gas mileage is what pushed me into imports, and i prefer 2nd gen subaru legacys over most others.

heres my recent dilemma. when we trailered the truck home, the PO didnt have a rear axle under it. i told him it needed to roll so we could get it on the trailer without ruining the wood, so he put a 14 bolt industrial 1 ton rear from a 91 3500. problem is, that sucker is from a leaf spring truck and our 72 c10 is trailing arm/ coils. fast forward to last week, i found a 12-bolt posi rear for a good price so i got it. it too is from a leaf spring truck (came off of a 72). so, my newest decision i need to make is whether it would be better to switch our truck to leaf springs or switch the rear axle to the coil and trailing arm set up. it looks to me like it would be cheaper to find some leaf springs and weld on some new brackets than it would to find new perches and reset the whole axle. which one is the better system? keep in mind, this will be my sons first vehicle, not a work truck or show truck.

[PanelDeland]

WELCOME!!! For your situation I would look for a coil rear to go under it.They're usually fairly inexpensive and would bolt in.Look for one from 71-72 so you have the wider of the two and less track width difference when you go to disc(unless it already is).I've seen them around for $100-150 which is probably cheaper than using/modifying what you have.I think SSTIm has a chart showing factory gearing b the code on the axle.This way you just bolt it in and you should be good to go.Converting to leaves is doable but 8would probably require finding a leaf truck to get all the parts.

[twisty]

the one i got came off of a 72. i went through the truck before and after the yard yanked it out. the only other rear he had was a 6 lug on coils but it wasnt looking in very good shape. every time i see one of these with parts still on them they are stripped down to nothing. the one i got to had only been in the yard for about 18 hours and the interior was already gone, as well as the front clip.


that makes pretty good sense, but i havent seen any rear ends with 5 lug and set up for coils at all, let alone that cheap. the axle already has all the bump stops, bracketing and stuff on it, as well as full brakes. what else would i need on the frame side? leafs, mounts for leafs and one more shock mount is all i can think of.

i know, it sounds like im trying to find agreement to justify what i want to do, but i really dont have my mind set. the other option is i sit and wait on a coil set up to show for a decent price. the last one i called on was 500 bucks and 120 miles away. yikes.

which style ends up being more stable? been leafs in all my trucks so far

[tlcrz1972]

Here is the issue of swapping from coil to leaf. The frame crossmounts and shock mounts are located in different places and maybe even be different in themselves.
To do a swap you need the cross-structure pieces from the donor leaf truck, along with shock mounts.
Then you will have to end up bolting all those back onto the frame your using. I would shy away from welding them on. For structural reasons, welding can make it to rigid and these frames need to able to give a little. There is a reason the factory didn't weld these frames all together.
And here are a few pictures of a leaf rearend frame and just a coil frame. Study them and you'll see the differences.

I do have several 5 lug (71-72) rearends for sale as well but I am in North Central Texas.

[twisty]

great pics and info,thanks.