disc brake conversion on a5lug

[70orangeboy]

Has anyone out there performed a disc brake conversion on a 67-70 chev truck. mine is a 70, and it is a five lug pattern, but i do not know of a company that makes a conversion kit for the 5 lug. maybe i haven't looked hard enough. i have also researched taking the brakes from a later model chev but i would rather not get used parts if i can help it. thanks for any hellp.

[krue]

You have a 70 with 5 lug? It should have six lug wheels. The vendors on the home page should have kits to convert you to disc brakes for 5 or 6 lug wheels. Check them out on the left side of the home page. www.67-72chevytrucks.com

[neonlarry]

Well seeing that 70 came with six lug yours are not stock. I would find out what you have first if in fact you do not have front discs already. Also I don't know where you are looking but most conversions are five lug you have to really look around to find six lug conversion.

[70orangeboy]

thanks guys, and yes it is a 70 with 5 lug and it does not already have disc on front or rear. I am very proud of my truck and like to think it is one of a kind. I don't see the paint job on it very often elsewhere, and i've never heard of another 454 truck of this year that could also run on natural gas. I hope to one day be able to have it a s a garage baby and do everything right, but for now it is a daily driver.

[71Chev]

71 was the first year for 5 lug and also disc brakes. Maybe it's a 71-72 rebuilt as a 70? Maybe redrilled for 5lug wheels, I don't know. A 454 was never installed in a 67-72 truck from the factory, not an option.

I think someone has pulled your leg. Over the last 30 yrs someone has swaped in the 454 and put a dual propane set up on it so it can switch from gas to propane, for fuel economy.

[Tx Firefighter]

please show me a picture of a 5 lug front end that is drum brake.

I'm going out on a limb here and am going to say, you either have a 6 lug front end or if it is indeed 5 lug, it has disc brakes.

It would be news to me to see a 5 lug drum brake front end, and I've been goofing with Chevy trucks my whole life.

[70orangeboy]

it's not propane man, it's natural gas, big dif. natural gas don't stink and it burns clean. I know that the engine was swapped. i'm not sure about the wheel setup, because it is 5 lug, and title says 70, but i'm really not so sure on the wheel setup. I don't like to keep it factory, I'm not really high on the whole resto thing. although they do look nice. I wouldn't mind putting a few little touches of modern tech on my baby.

[70orangeboy]

I;ll work on getting that pic for you but its 5 lug and its drum brakes.

[71Chev]

I want to see the pic of the 5 lug drums also.

Where do you take the truck to fill up on natural gas?

[64fleetside]

No such animal, Chevy never made a 5 lug drum brake on a pickup. Also, neither propane or natural gas have any odor, the odor is added so leakage can be detected. You most likely have a 71. Brian

[neonlarry]

If he has drums and true five lug, not redrilled, who knows what front end he might have. Thats why I said he better find out what is on there first before looking for a conversion kit. Might be better off putting a whole disc brake front x-member in there.

[raggedjim]

Show me...

[70orangeboy]

sorry guys, had my info from another family project mixed, my truck is a six lug, sorry for the mix up. It's nice to see that plenty of guys really know what they are talking about. it is drum brakes. I have to drive about 5-10 minutes to get to a gas station that has a compressor/pump for natural gas. Propane cars do stink in my experience, but i have yet smell anything from my natural gas. (on my truck anyway, immature giggles welcome.) But i am not very experienced with mechanics. I am taking courses this year through my high school, and i want to learn so any help is appreciated. I absoulutely love the 67-72 chevs. My dad started to restore mine when i was like 12 or so, and i always wanted it. He wouldn't sell because it has a 454 and plenty of pick up, but the brakes aren't too great to stop all that power. so i bought a 77 and later he agreed to sell it to me. I now planto fully restore it over the next few years.

[ChevLoRay]

It has already been suggested that you check the list of vendors on the left side of the home page, to find one that has conversions to disc brakes. You'll also find that a number of us have already done the conversion, using 71-72 stuff, or swapping in later model cross members and front end assemblies to gain disc brakes. Others have used aftermarket stuff. I used Early Classic Enterprises components. There's a variety of stuff to do it with. It all comes down to the thickness of your wallet, or how much of an allowance you might be getting. At my age (nearly 57) I have no allowance. My wife gets all my money, and gives me enough to buy a sausage biscuit and coffee (senior) at Mickey D's.....once a week.

One question to ask before doing the conversion, is do you want to lower the front end, or not? If not, the options are varied. If so, they are, but you will have to go to a vendor to get the components to drop it. Do you want to use modified control arms, or modified spindles? Some vendors kits will require you to use one-off tie rod ends, while other vendors components will let you use stock tie rod ends.

There's a ton of info out there, readily available. Check the vendors, and truck magazines like Classic Truck, Truck Builder, Truckin', Sport Truck, Custom Classic Trucks, etc. Check eBay for parts, and literature.

You're still young. You have time to make it like you want it, then you can drive it like it's a rental....or, like you stole it.

[70orangeboy]

Thanks alot Chevloray, my truck is already as low as it's gonna go, but it wasn't a very good job, it's just a bit bumpy of a ride. Not too bad, but eventually i want to redo the whole suspension system, thanks for all the references and info. and by the way, it's not allowance. I pay for everything, but i did get the truck for a very sweet deal from my dad. He is a mechanic, and I am getting into it too, maybe not career, but at least a hobby. I want to be able to restore classics, not replace little stuff repeatedly on newer models.