Front suspension mess

[bighead]

Need advise guys. So I bought all the ball joints, control arm shaft kits, tie rods, dropped spindles, springs, etc to rebuild and lower the front of my 71. Problem is once I started pulling it apart I realized I had rubber control arm bushings so maybe this isn't the original suspension from my truck. What is my best path to recover from this mess? Do I need to go buy a 71-72 clip and keep the parts I already have or can I use some of what I have and exchange the rest? Thanks for your help!

[jjzepplin]

Rubber is 73 up. Post pics and someone on here will identify them and you can move on. In my opinion the 73 up is a smoother riding unit and the brakes are a little better. But that's my 2¢.

[lolife99]

Use everything you bought except the cross shaft kits in the rubber bushed 73-87 control arms. The centerlink will be different so you will need to change to a 71-72 centerlink, or change your inner tie rods to 73-87.
It's your choice, but that's what I would do.
The 71-72 lower balljoints are the same as 73-87 balljoints.
71-72 Upper balljoints willl bolt into 73-87 a-arms.

[bighead]

Ok, thanks for that lolife. So running the 3" drop Belltech's with the 71-72 ball joints on 73-87 a arms is not going to mess with the height of the suspension? The front coils will work too? What a relief that is!

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by bighead

Ok, thanks for that lolife. So running the 3" drop Belltech's with the 71-72 ball joints on 73-87 a arms is not going to mess with the height of the suspension? The front coils will work too? What a relief that is!

You need the BJ's to match the spindles. The different year BJ's will interchange on 63-72 & 73-87 a-arms.