Squarebody Trailing Arm Conversion

[MalibuSSwagon]

Wow. Lotta work here! looks pretty good. I actually talked to Porterbuilt about their conversion, told me it would be bags or coilovers only for their setup. Didn't want to bagged my truck or drop $2k+ on rear suspension so I went with the CPP kit. Just wanted a simple coil spring suspension.

[bluex]

Originally Posted by DjS71

Lookin' Good! What wheels / tires are you running? I notice they're different than your older thread and I like the look of 'em.

Thank you! The current wheels are from 2010 or newer camaro. They were pretty rough when I got them but my powdercoat guy worked his magic and refinished them for me. They have a ton of metal flake in them that is hard to capture in an overall picture of the truck. In person in the sun they sparkle like a bass boat lol. Right now they have the factory camaro size tires on them but I'm planning to replace them soon with some that will work better for a lowered truck.

Originally Posted by moregrip

very nice work and great solution!

Thank you!

[bluex]

Originally Posted by MalibuSSwagon

Wow. Lotta work here! looks pretty good. I actually talked to Porterbuilt about their conversion, told me it would be bags or coilovers only for their setup. Didn't want to bagged my truck or drop $2k+ on rear suspension so I went with the CPP kit. Just wanted a simple coil spring suspension.

Ive had this kit for about 2 yrs now an the price has gone up a good bit in that time. The issues I've had with it aside, the price today would probably keep me out of it. From what I remember when I was researching each kit you could use bags on the CPP kit if you wanted so it is at a better price point in todays market for sure.

[MalibuSSwagon]

I initially liked the CPP kit but did some shopping around. I came back to it because it was built around the 67-72 trailing arms. So I was able to use stock trailing arms with the kit to keep the cost down. Plus it uses many other parts as the earlier trailing arm trucks which makes me more comfortable with affordability and future part availability. I just don't have the budget at this time to have this project spiral.

[bluex]

Today's progress was mounting an beginning wiring of most of the air system components

[GBJ]

Great looking work. Did you put your trailing arm perches back in stock location? If so do you remember what the center to center distances are for front and back holes? I'm getting ready to fab up a Ford 9" my 72, the guy I bought it from put a 99 Z28 7.5 Torsen Posi in it and my beefed up 5.3 Vortec has it whining big time. If you have the perch dimension I'd really appreciated it. I just want to lightly tack them while I'm lining everything up.

Thanks,
George

[bluex]

Originally Posted by GBJ

Great looking work. Did you put your trailing arm perches back in stock location? If so do you remember what the center to center distances are for front and back holes? I'm getting ready to fab up a Ford 9" my 72, the guy I bought it from put a 99 Z28 7.5 Torsen Posi in it and my beefed up 5.3 Vortec has it whining big time. If you have the perch dimension I'd really appreciated it. I just want to lightly tack them while I'm lining everything up.

Thanks,
George

I used a 71/72 trailing arm rear axle specifically to avoid that issue and having to have them welded so I dont have the measurements. If it wasnt all together I'd get them for you but it would be hard to get now with it on the arms.

[bluex]

Well I spent this week routing, protecting and securing lines an wiring. I also pulled the front apart an moved the bag plates to center the bags in the a arm better.

Before:



After:

[bluex]

Here's a few more pics of the progress

[bluex]

Still plugging away at it, all the plumbing an wiring is finished up. I got a new Panhard bar that clears the cover. I just rattle canned it silver for now as I have no time left to have it coated.



I switched to a 245/40 front tire an a 1.5" spacer to help with the fender clearance issue. I had to grind out the hub on the front wheels to fit over the rotor an I have no idea what I'll do for a center cap but I still feel it was worth the effort for what I gained.





Hope to have the bed back on an take it for exhaust early next week!

[bluex]

Well I've been going at it all week, yesterday was my day off an I was close enough I thought I could get it relatively finished up to take to a local show today. I had pulled the door glass for new seals so I tinted it while it was out. Got the doors all back together, trimmed the fenders up front where they were close to the tires an started hacking together an exhaust so I could drive it. Ran out of welding wire with 4 welds to go of course lol.

Finally got the exhaust in, an I can't air the truck out because of how I had to run it.

Get it running an pull around to put the bed on an it won't sit all the way down. Remember those bolts on the top of the c notch? The middle row is right under the bed crossmember. Quit for the day after that...



Guess I wasted the time I spent on the exhaust but I didn't want to drive it over the weekend with nothing. It has an appointment Monday for a new setup that should be tucked up nice an high an hopefully I get tailpipes to.

[bluex]

Bed modded up now. I clearanced all 3 of the small crossmember just in case. Then had to make room for the axle at full drop.





Got everything back on it an it's ready for a real exhaust system tomorrow. Then I can hopefully get a picture of it aired out with the bed on.

[SCOTI]

Nice progress.

[bluex]

So I trucked it over to the exhaust shop Monday, in the rain of course. While I'm waiting the expander on his bender breaks. I'm about to leave but he says he can still do it with the other end of the expander just not as fast. So we get it up on the rack an I air it out.





Zero room to run all the way out the back we go over a few different options an I decide to y it into one on the passenger side an dump it at the edge of the wheel well.





All in all he did good work, it allows the truck to lay out an it still would not scrape on anything. Not what I wanted but I'll take it until I make more room for something better.

Money shots





I spent today putting the interior back together an cleaning. I have a week to shake it down before leaving for Run to the Sun.

[68basket]

i like everything i see.
Curious what grommets you used for your air lines through the frame. Also do you have an afforadable source for the woven covering you used on the lines as well?

[bluex]

Originally Posted by 68basket

i like everything i see.
Curious what grommets you used for your air lines through the frame. Also do you have an afforadable source for the woven covering you used on the lines as well?

Thank you sir!

The grommets are just rubber body plugs I had laying around. I ususally grab them when I'm at the pick your part, they come in handy for lots of things.

The covering I used was from ebay. It wasnt exactly what I wanted as its more of a plastic than fiber but it will work well I think. I used 3/8" on the bag lines and some of the wiring and then 1/2" on the rest of the wiring and the gauge lines I was able to bundle together and fit into the 1/2" as well. I got 100' of the 3/8 and 50' of the 1/2 and still have quite a bit left.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALL-SIZES-1-...PjLlj3OHeEVxkQ

[bluex]

Well I put about 100 miles on it before I left for the show at myrtle beach an it rode an drove great. I just got back home now an had no issues with it over the whole trip. Had a great time an met quite a few new people. The truck didn't get much attention but the people that did look at it seemed to like it. Didn't matter to me though, I still had a great weekend an I'm ready to go back next year.

[dec010974]

Hello Bluex. Your truck looks great. I'm trying to figure why was it necessary to convert your leaf spring suspension, to a trailing arm suspension, for air ride? Is this the norm? I had an 1971 C10, with air ride and I thought the ride was a lil harsh, compared to the leaf spring suspension? Then again, I didn't have all PB components either. It was basically, a garage built vehicle. My reason for asking is that I have the same truck you have and I may go the air ride route again, but with all PB stuff. I gotta pony up the coins first. Thanks in advance. Any information is greatly appreciated. Clark.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by dec010974

Hello Bluex. Your truck looks great. I'm trying to figure why was it necessary to convert your leaf spring suspension, to a trailing arm suspension, for air ride? Is this the norm? I had an 1971 C10, with air ride and I thought the ride was a lil harsh, compared to the leaf spring suspension? Then again, I didn't have all PB components either. It was basically, a garage built vehicle. My reason for asking is that I have the same truck you have and I may go the air ride route again, but with all PB stuff. I gotta pony up the coins first. Thanks in advance. Any information is greatly appreciated. Clark.

Truck arm set-ups (bag or coil) offer better ride quality vs factory leaf set-ups. I've had both years of trucks @ the same time (a 68 & a 74). They were dropped similarly & there was NO comparison. The 68 was much better.

[bluex]

Originally Posted by dec010974

Hello Bluex. Your truck looks great. I'm trying to figure why was it necessary to convert your leaf spring suspension, to a trailing arm suspension, for air ride? Is this the norm? I had an 1971 C10, with air ride and I thought the ride was a lil harsh, compared to the leaf spring suspension? Then again, I didn't have all PB components either. It was basically, a garage built vehicle. My reason for asking is that I have the same truck you have and I may go the air ride route again, but with all PB stuff. I gotta pony up the coins first. Thanks in advance. Any information is greatly appreciated. Clark.

Thanks! The trailing arms are just the route I chose and mainly because it isnt the "norm" for a square body. It wasnt "necessary" for the air ride but just simply what I wanted to use to get the truck on air. You can go several routes on a square, air over leaf, 2, 3 or 4 link etc.

As far as the ride quality goes, it rides just as good as it did on the static drop with between 60-75 psi front and 30 rear. A friend of mine has a 72 also on air with the stock trailing arm setup just notched and air bags in place of springs and I think the trucks ride very compareable to each other at the same pressures.

[bluex]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Truck arm set-ups (bag or coil) offer better ride quality vs factory leaf set-ups. I've had both years of trucks @ the same time (a 68 & a 74). They were dropped similarly & there was NO comparison. The 68 was much better.

Here is what I notice is worlds better than leaf springs. The rear axle doesnt "float" around under cornering. The truck sticks and tracks fairly well and feels much more planted when thrown aggressively into a corner than it did before. I added a locker as well and now if I floor it, the truck squats down and goes, and it goes straight. Theres no shimmy, no shake, no wheel hop it.. just.. goes... With the 295s I havent gotten it to break loose yet either. I guess thats good or bad depending on how you look at it.

Honestly crusing down the highway at 75 it doesnt seem to ride that much different. I am about 3/4" lower at ride height now than I was on the static drop though and it still rides just as good as it did. Large dips in the road dont seem to unsettle it as bad as they did. They are horrible here in SC at every bridge there will be a dip going on and off of it.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by bluex

Here is what I notice is worlds better than leaf springs. The rear axle doesnt "float" around under cornering. The truck sticks and tracks fairly well and feels much more planted when thrown aggressively into a corner than it did before. I added a locker as well and now if I floor it, the truck squats down and goes, and it goes straight. Theres no shimmy, no shake, no wheel hop it.. just.. goes... With the 295s I havent gotten it to break loose yet either. I guess thats good or bad depending on how you look at it.

Honestly crusing down the highway at 75 it doesnt seem to ride that much different. I am about 3/4" lower at ride height now than I was on the static drop though and it still rides just as good as it did. Large dips in the road dont seem to unsettle it as bad as they did. They are horrible here in SC at every bridge there will be a dip going on and off of it.

True.... My 74 was ok too until irregularities, dips, or bumps @ speed. It sucked on local roads w/uneven asphalt, concrete, or just about anything other than a smooth road surface. The 68 was more enjoyable 'all around'.

[bluex]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

True.... My 74 was ok too until irregularities, dips, or bumps @ speed. It sucked on local roads w/uneven asphalt, concrete, or just about anything other than a smooth road surface. The 68 was more enjoyable 'all around'.

That's a good way to put it, it does ride better around town for sure. I'm loving it so far, I'm glad I got it all on there finally. Ya you can probably go lower for the same amount of money but overall I'm very happy with how it turned out. I put at least 600 miles on it last weekend, with no troubles an got about 16 mpg out of it to.

[bluex]

Just another quick update after some more time has passed. My local club took a cruise up through the mountians last weekend. We did almost 150 miles round trip and it was a blast. With the manual trans and this suspension I was really able to drive the truck pretty hard and it took everything I could throw at it. It stuck to the road better than I could stay put in the seat. Very happy with how its all working out and I had a blast.

There are two things I would do differently if I had to do this again.

1. Gauge mounting: The gauges are pretty much impossible to see from the driver seat. You have to lean over to read them properly without any parallax error. Annoying to say the least.

2. That Spartan Locker: When Im going slow mainly coasting in a parking lot and turn sharp into a parking spot, it is really loud and shakes/rocks the entire truck when it unlocks. It sounds almost like something is breaking. It is so loud it causes the driveshaft to ring like a bell. I have checked everything I can short of removing the cover to check the locker itself so I'm fairly certian this is where the noise is coming from. It didnt do this before I swapped the suspension so it has to be that or something from this axle itself. I need to do some more investigating I suppose. I could hear the locker racheting at speed this past weekend and it was just barely audible, but I was also going like 40 mph or more. I just cant figure out what these pops are and its very random on when it does it to. It will just do one loud/violent pop and then its good again for a while.....

[nlped]

Thanks for this write up as I'm about to delve into a 'version' of this and it's good to see someone has been down this road. I hope I can ask you some questions in the future?