ECE front disk brake/drop kit = wider front end!

[short-t]

Had a buddy over the other night after installing the ECE disk brakes / drop spindles on my 68 C10. He was looking at it and said the front looks wider than the back. So I get out the tape measure and check the front and back width. The front is now about 3.5” wider than the back! So after doing a search I found this thread: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ighlight=width


The only thing I can see doing now is changing the wheels and the offset to get them the same? I was really hoping to reuse the 6 lug wheels that I have, didn’t budget for a new set of wheels, tires, and axels. (5lug)

Does anyone have any suggestions for me??

[CG]

Adding disks like you did widens the front around 3 inches. I believe stock the front is a little wider to begin with. CPP makes drop spindles that move the track in an inch and an eighth. Although its a pain, you may want to sell your ECE's and get CPP's. Not much else you can do. Im having the same difficulties with a truck Im putting together.

[short-t]

Originally Posted by CG

Adding disks like you did widens the front around 3 inches. I believe stock the front is a little wider to begin with. CPP makes drop spindles that move the track in an inch and an eighth. Although its a pain, you may want to sell your ECE's and get CPP's. Not much else you can do. Im having the same difficulties with a truck Im putting together.

I sure wished ECE would have disclosed that their kit would widen the front end! Does the CPP spindles use the 1968 ball joints/tie rod ends?

[CG]

You're going to have to give them a call and get the exact specs.

ECE is a super reputable company, so Im not sure why it doesnt say that somewhere in the specs of their products.

Its not just their (ECE) drop spindle disk kit...its everyones. Even CPP's normal one does that. CPP just recently came out with the one that brings it back in a little over an inch.

[short-t]

Originally Posted by CG

You're going to have to give them a call and get the exact specs.

ECE is a super reputable company, so Im not sure why it doesnt say that somewhere in the specs of their products.

Its not just their (ECE) drop spindle disk kit...its everyones. Even CPP's normal one does that. CPP just recently came out with the one that brings it back in a little over an inch.

I was over at ECE site reading in the tech articles/drop spindles and found this sentence, Early Classic Drop Spindles are engineered to lower your truck 2½", allowing the maximum amount of front wheel backspacing on the market.

So does this mean that they push out the spindle so you can move the offset of the wheel out? I don't have the front clip back on the truck right now, how bad do you think it would look if I left it this way and used my 6 lug wheels?

[CG]

Im not really the expert on this stuff. You may want to just put the truck together and see how it all looks before you make a decision.

Its late right now so not a lot of guys on the board. By tomorrow you will have a bunch of comments that will help you out Im sure.

[short-t]

Originally Posted by CG

Im not really the expert on this stuff. You may want to just put the truck together and see how it all looks before you make a decision.

Its late right now so not a lot of guys on the board. By tomorrow you will have a bunch of comments that will help you out Im sure.

Ya your right. It just seems like you do all of the research to avoid little problems like this and then murphy strikes!

Thanks for taking the time to help,
Greg

[jbristo67]

Originally Posted by short-t

I sure wished ECE would have disclosed that their kit would widen the front end! Does the CPP spindles use the 1968 ball joints/tie rod ends?

McGauphys does and didnt widen my front end at all as far as i can tell but then again i am running a 72 rear

[jbristo67]

Originally Posted by short-t

I was over at ECE site reading in the tech articles/drop spindles and found this sentence, Early Classic Drop Spindles are engineered to lower your truck 2½", allowing the maximum amount of front wheel backspacing on the market.

So does this mean that they push out the spindle so you can move the offset of the wheel out? I don't have the front clip back on the truck right now, how bad do you think it would look if I left it this way and used my 6 lug wheels?

Prob a little rough. I know GM widened the rears to match the widths of the front ends.

[short-t]

Originally Posted by jbristo67

McGauphys does and didnt widen my front end at all as far as i can tell but then again i am running a 72 rear

The 72 rear is wider? I did not know that, maybe I could swap out the rear end with a later model one? How wide is the 72 rear?

[jbristo67]

Dont know for sure. Its like 1 3/4 or 2 wider than the 67-mid 70

[Tx Firefighter]

I've put on ten or twelve sets of ECE spindles in my time.

They widen the front track 3/4 of an inch per side. That's it. I don't know where you arrived at the 3 inch dimension, but I think if you will assemble the truck and remeasure, you will indeed find 3/4 of an inch per side wider for a total of 1.5 inches.

This is common procedure. If you put a set of stock GM spindles for disc brakes on your truck, they would widen it by, you guessed it, 3/4 of an inch per side. All factory disc brake trucks were 1.5 inches wider track. I've installed BellTech, Western, ECE, Chassis Tech, and Ground Force spindles and they all do this.

In late 70, in preparation for the disc brake update in 1971, GM widened the rear axles 1.5 inches to compensate for the wider front track.

Personally, I usually run a 235 or 245 front tire and a 275 rear tire. The wide rear tire visually masks the difference and you can't tell.

[OARNGESI]

You can ;ways ust adapters or spacers to move the rear wheels out

[70c10]

Tx Firefighter explained it right on! Run a narrower tire OR a 7" rim and you'll be fine.

[my67chevytruck]

^^^^ I agree.. Kevin explained it well!!!

[DrtyJack75]

Originally Posted by short-t

I was over at ECE site reading in the tech articles/drop spindles and found this sentence, Early Classic Drop Spindles are engineered to lower your truck 2½", allowing the maximum amount of front wheel backspacing on the market.

So does this mean that they push out the spindle so you can move the offset of the wheel out? I don't have the front clip back on the truck right now, how bad do you think it would look if I left it this way and used my 6 lug wheels?

There's a considerable difference in the width (kind of hard to tell in a picture, tried to find pictures at same angle)....I was thinking the same thing but it's easily fixed with backspacing (if you plan to get new wheels) Here's a picture of my truck Pre-ECE Lowering and After...Im very happy with mine!





So much as my buddy saying that wasnt the original rearend for this truck and it had to of been changed my previous owner....lol....Hopefully this helps a bit...

[willyCJ]

I heard a few years back that a wider front axle vs. rear axle makes a vehicle stable. The solutions mentioned above are all sound imo.

[short-t]

I took the measurement from the inside lip of the rim to the other and repeated the same for the rear, I came up with 3.5. I guess to really measure it correctly I need to remove all of the wheels and take the measurement from the wheel mounting face of the rotors and drums?


The wheels that I was hoping to reuse are American Racing ATX Moab. They are 17X10 with 4.5” back spacing all around in 6 lug. The tire is a 255/60 R17, if I remember correctly the tire manufactures don’t seem to offer many different sizes in 17”.







So my options would be to,

1) find a Moab wheel that is narrower, say 7" to 8" wide
2) get a spacer for the rear wheels
3) convert to 5 lug and get some nice wheels with the proper back spacing

What should I do?

Thanks for the replies,
Greg

[N2TRUX]

Personally what I think you should do is sell the truck to me and end your frustrations. Since your probably not going to do that, the most simple solution is to get a spacer for the rear wheels...

[short-t]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I've put on ten or twelve sets of ECE spindles in my time.

They widen the front track 3/4 of an inch per side. That's it. I don't know where you arrived at the 3 inch dimension, but I think if you will assemble the truck and remeasure, you will indeed find 3/4 of an inch per side wider for a total of 1.5 inches.

This is common procedure. If you put a set of stock GM spindles for disc brakes on your truck, they would widen it by, you guessed it, 3/4 of an inch per side. All factory disc brake trucks were 1.5 inches wider track. I've installed BellTech, Western, ECE, Chassis Tech, and Ground Force spindles and they all do this.

In late 70, in preparation for the disc brake update in 1971, GM widened the rear axles 1.5 inches to compensate for the wider front track.

Personally, I usually run a 235 or 245 front tire and a 275 rear tire. The wide rear tire visually masks the difference and you can't tell.

I just finished talking with Jeff over at ECE. He said that going from drums to disk widens the truck 1.5" total or 3/4" each side. He then told me that the drop spindles do take it out a bit more. (he couldn't remember the exact amount) Also Jeff did say that he would exchange the 6 lug rotors for the 5 lugs minus the shipping if I wanted to go that route.

If I were to try and find another AR Moab wheel for the front what would I need to get it inline?

Thanks,
Greg

[John Fabris]

Ditto on what TX Firefighter says. 67-70 all had drum, and updating to disc (whether aftermarket or OEM) will widen the front 1/5 to 2 inches. The guys at Early Classic even told me this way back when I was building my 67. In 71, disc were used, and due to being wider, they used wider rear ends as well.

Good Looking Truck by the way!!

[short-t]

I managed to get the truck together to measure it up for some new Billet Specialties wheels. As it turns out the truck doesn't look half bad, I thought the front wheels would have been out past the fenders! For now I am going to put a set of wheel spacers on the back and run what I got.

Here are a few pictures of how it looks with the wheels and the new 3.5/5 ECE drop. Let me know what you think, I think it looks pretty good!

[CG]

Your truck looks great. Glad it really wasnt three inch increase (I only know what I read on the board lol) Make sure you post lots of pics when its completely finished.

[Boog]

[For now I am going to put a set of wheel spacers on the back and run what I got]

That sounds like the best idea for now. Like you I thought the tires would stick out further on the front than they do but the position of the tire in the fender looks good.

[BossHogg69]

Looks good to me, but if you just can't stand it, maybe a 3/8" or 1/2" spacer??? Don't know how much wheel stud you have to allow for the spacer.