widening front S10 width. Anyone do this?

[chincha805]

i got this from another forum, i think i might try it?

"Widening the front track

I was talking with a guy who told me how to widen the front track width on an S10 without spacers etc. I want to bring the front wheels out so they don't look lost under my '47 fenders, but don't like the idea of 3" spacers.

He said to use Ford Crown Vic lower control arms (direct bolt in believe it or not) from the old square body Crown Vic, with Whale body Caprice spindles and stock S10 upper control arms. All of this widens the front a total of 4 inches overall without any geometry problems. This also gives you 12 inch rotors and if you use 1LE rotors you still have a 4.75 bolt circle.




Anyone ever heard of this? I'm going to give it a try once I source the parts, so I'll keep you updated.

[Chance48]

I'm interested, thx for sharing. No never heard of it.

[Clay54]

Very interested in how this really works. Thanks for sharing. Clay

[chincha805]

sounds like it's do able, but i'm just not getting how the stock s10 upper arm will make it, seem's like the camber will be off, i'm not a suspension specialist by any means at all, it would be nice if this all worked as they say.

[joedoh]

sounds promising except as you said:

the stock s10 upper control arms will not be any wider, and if the bottom is wider and the top is not, it will have just horrible negative camber because the uppers mount on the BACK side of the frame bracket. you can only add negative camber, not add positive camber.

[chincha805]

i agree about the camber being off, but i think it has some thing to do with the 95-04 caprice spindle making up for the camber being off, i have been trying to find the forum and post where i read it from so i can get more info.

[mr48chev]

Interesting but there are a lot of things to look into besides camber adjustment and that includes proper matching bolt sizes where the lower control arms bolt to the frame, proper taper on the ball joint studs so the studs fit tight in the spindles. The good thing is that the parts shouldn't cost any more than a high quality set of spacers if you shop around a bit.

[lolife99]

Michigan Metal Works makes a direct bolt on set of wider a-arms for this exact application using the S10 frame under the 47-55 AD trucks.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=644657

[MARTINSR]

It's interesting how much work is saved with these "Frame swaps." LOL

Brian

[chincha805]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

It's interesting how much work is saved with these "Frame swaps." LOL

Brian

I know ha. I started this swap before i read anything on thus forum. After starting it and reading all the info ob them , i would never do it again. The swap is way overrated. There is no instruction manual. You only have 100 different people doing the same thing 100 difrent ways . No two are exact. I have in to far to quit now . I hate it, but i allways finish my projects though.
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[MARTINSR]

Pass the word, scream it from the mountain tops!

Brian

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by chincha805

I know ha. I started this swap before i read anything on thus forum. After starting it and reading all the info ob them , i would never do it again. The swap is way overrated. There is no instruction manual. You only have 100 different people doing the same thing 100 difrent ways . No two are exact. I have in to far to quit now . I hate it, but i allways finish my projects though.
Posted via Mobile Device

a lot of people have a hard time because their first thought is "I can do this cheaper". several companies make bolt on swap kits but people eschew them as too expensive, just the same way some companies make bolt on IFS and others will still cut and weld in a camaro/aspen/whatever IFS. several companies make extended control arms, hundreds more make wheel spacers, and some people will still say "I can do it cheaper". If cheap is your goal, you may find it hard to meet.

follow skymangs s10 swap how to in the stickies, it is hands down the best way to do the swap successfully start to finish. or buy a swap kit. if you dont like the track width, buy extended arms or spacers. you cant help the hopeless that complain about the impossibility of a swap that hundreds have done before, I would actually bet there are as many or more s10 swaps on the road than clipped or MII trucks. that doesnt sound overrated. I am not calling you out, please dont misunderstand. just gently chiding that your difficulties may be unique to your willingness to do the work or pay the costs. If you want a really difficult time, combine different manufacturers front and rear setups with random bits of drivetrain from multiple donors. the s10 swap is encapsulate, and still some guys have difficulty.

My 47 S10 swap was done start to finish inside of 4 months, we didnt buy a kit we followed skymangs instructions and made all the other parts we needed. for track width, we ordered wheels with less backspace and they looked great, no control arms or spacers needed. It drove, rode, and stopped like a thoroughly modern truck, without a glovebox list of parts to buy at the auto parts store when something wears out or breaks. "I need a 79 grenada rotor and a 80s fullsize chevy tie rod for my non power mustang rack", nope, just say 82-03 s10. I would do it again, and am.

[chincha805]

Merry Christmas

[chincha805]

first of all, i would like to thank all the members here on this forum for all the help and advice especially Skymangs. He has help me a lot in my build. i came to this forum for all of that, and will continue to do so in the future. i know there is a lot of info to be found and different ways to do things,rather it is right or wrong but i would never scold anyone for doing so. i was only trying to share information back to the forum.
no worries, i'm not offended at all, and have no regrets at all either.

[joedoh]

I agree there are a lot of ways to do it, and plenty of hardships when things arent spelled out in a detailed how-to. I see half done swaps on craigslist far too often. I think that is why skymangs started his how-to, so guys who were running into difficulty could get ideas of not only how to do it but what it should look like when you are doing it. hopefully it starts to go easier for you.

back on the spindles, most unequal length a-arm setups have the offset you are talking about, where the upper balljoint is offset inward from the lower. S10s have it on their spindle too. The advantage to the big car spindle I think would be the height of the spindle, it will keep the camber change over short travel to a minimum. Guys who bag mustang II clips know the problem with short spindles, the camber change is drastic with an unequal length setup.

anyway, the upper balljoint offset might be more on the big car spindle but I dont think it will take up the 2 inches the lower is longer.

I did a quick search for the crown vic lower swap, if there is a way to extend track width on a metric gm front end, the g body guys will have done it 10 different ways. I didnt see anything about crown vic swaps though.

I bought some secondhand extended upper arms for my 49, and I will extend the lowers to match in a month or so, with a how to on my project forum. I did this to my 65 also, first with welded extended arms and then with custom ordered. The difference in track width on that truck was about 10 inches total, too much to just order spacers for.

the extended arms gave a nice place to mount shocks with a bag setup too, as an aside.

Merry Christmas to you too.

[Coupeguy2001]

Just so you know,
G body front end is the same as the S-10 front end, only half inch wider on the control arms. So if you use G body control arms, the tire track is an inch wider.
Don't know how that helps much but with the right wheels, it might help a lot.
I was told by a friend that the ford control arms work, and he has a "racecar" that he has tried to build with those control arms on it.
I will have to ask him some more questions about how he made it work.

If his answers are bogus, just remember I asked and did not post if goofy answer.
Everything fits.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by Coupeguy2001

Just so you know,
G body front end is the same as the S-10 front end, only half inch wider on the control arms. So if you use G body control arms, the tire track is an inch wider.

interchange parts lists the same upper control arm for gbody and s10? moog 620250

the width difference of a gbody is between the rails, they are a couple inches further apart than an s10. There is a member on here that made his whole frame wider by adding to the centers of all the crossmembers. he used truck spindles and brakes too if I remember.