Ball joints used with Disc conversion

[Locutus]

The previous owner did a front disc conversion on my truck. He apparantly was to cheap to buy new ball joints as the current ones are torn. What I need to know is which year do I need to get ball joints from? Are the 69 ones the same as the disc brake years or do I need to get ones from a different year. This is a pressing issue cause I have heard the rumors of ball joints failing on these trucks if they aren't properly cared for. I also need to get some new springs in the front so I have some suspension that works.


Mike

[crazy longhorn]

Thats a tough guess.....but here is a little info . The disc pcs (ball joints, tierods ,ect ) are different than the drum pcs. On the 1/2 tons, 71-71 are the same parts, & will have steel bushings in the a arms. The 73 up pcs will also fit, but the top ball joint & outer tierod end aredifferent than the 71-72. the 73 up arms also have rubber bushings. The 3/4 ton trucks had the same balljoints & tierods from 71-86 or87, & the arms kept the steel bushings that the earlier trucks had......at least all through the 70's(somewhere i beleive the 3/4 tons went to the rubber bushings, but im not sure what yr)...crazyL

[Locutus]

My truck is a 1/2 ton 5 lugs if that helps any. The guy I bought from said it was a direct bolt on from 71-72 trucks. I do no think he did conversion though because he said he didn't do much to it the guy he got it from was making it into a race vehicle and hence the problem I have now, things that were done half assed or completely wrong. Aftermarket doors that were never lined up correctly, one rocker that was welded on but they didn't line it up flush when they welded it, the other rocker has urethane foam in it what little of the rocker is left. They also hacked the dash for gauges where the radio goes, and stuffed aluminum foal in the spot it rusted thru under the dash. Its going to be a long road, but I am planning on a running resto a little at a time. The first things are of course to get it street legal and safe to drive. So hence my current problem of determining what ball joints I need. If someone can tell me what I need to look for I will get the needed information but I have to get this fixed

[crazy longhorn]

On the 1/2 tons , 71-72 have the same ball joints & tierod assys. The 73-87 spindles will also fit, but the upper balljoint, & outer tierod ends are different than the 71-72 pcs. The 67-70 drum susp pcs are different than the disc pcs. There are also some bolt on spindles for the 67-70 trucks(aftermarket), that fit the 67-70 balljoints. To identify the spindles, you may be looking for casting numbers, & somebody with a Hollander manual. Good luck, crazyL

[Blue68]

Dude, the money and time it's going to take you to fix some of that stuff it's worth considering another truck. There are lots of beat up LOOKING trucks in texas that once you take to the car wash an knock off the dirt aren't half bad. Yes, we have the required rust around rockers and kick panels, but wear and tear isn't the same as abuse and neglect.

[Locutus]

I thought about finding another truck but the pickings are pretty slim in this area(in fact there is only one in all the salvage yards in victoria) There are some definate problems but ball joints, springs, rust and an assortment of other problems are going to be pretty much the same on any 30 year old truck. The body panels, the bed, the engine, tranny and alot of other stuff are all very solid. I am going to have to invest time and money in any truck I get and in Texas most trucks have a high resell value because trucks are very popular. All I have to pay for is parts my labor is free.

Mike

[PICKMUP]

Get you old parts off and take them with you to the parts store. There are only a couple ball joints & tie rods for these trucks. When you try to fit them, it will be easy to see if you/they have the right ones. You can sort this out with out too much trouble...now the rockers are another story.

[ChevLoRay]

My Early Classic Enterprises conversion uses stock ball joints....and stock tie-rod ends.

[68_c10_on20s]

hey locutus good to see another texas member,i had a similar problem with my front end when i got the truck it already had the disk brake conversion(my yr came with drum) so when i lowered it i ran into a big mess i bought 73-87 drop spindles thinking no prob but i was wrong like, always i also ended up replacing lower and upper ball joints what i did was take my old ones out then went to the local parts store and told em gimmie 68,72,85 ball joints got the ones that matched then ran into another book of worms with tie rods ended up converting whiole thing to 73-87 even had to get a new centerlink from 87 sub anyways hope this helps you out in anyways just wanted to let you know theres many diffrent kinds of ways to convert it over.....Steve

[PanelDeland]

One word of advice on matching.Go to a real parts guy.The chains are usually staffed by some high school kid who knows computers instead of a parts guy with some knowledge of vehicles and looking up parts in a book.If you have a NAPA or an old time independent parts store they will probably have someone who has been in the bussiness for a while and can fix you up.