C20 8 lug to C10 5 lug conversion

[fullbore]

I'm trying to find the best and cheapest way to convert my C20 8 lug bolt pattern to a 5 lug . I was thinking that 1/2 ton spindles mite fit in the a-arms. If the spindles from the 80s C10's will fit that would solve my drum to disk breaks problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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[lolife99]

C10 spindles will fit if you change the lower a-arms.
(the ball joint hole is bigger on the C20 trucks)

You will need to change to C10 balljoints and outer tie rod ends.

The better choice is to use ECE "conversion" C20-to-C10 spindles, and not change anything.
Contact ECE at www.earlyclasssic.com.

[fullbore]

Ok thanks. But if I was to ream out the C10 spindle so I could use the C20 ball joints. Do you think the mid to late 80s spindles are the same?
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[fullbore]

As the 69 spindles?
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[lolife99]

All the tapers on the newer spindles are bigger already.

[montoya22]

Originally Posted by fullbore

I'm trying to find the best and cheapest way to convert my C20 8 lug bolt pattern to a 5 lug . I was thinking that 1/2 ton spindles mite fit in the a-arms. If the spindles from the 80s C10's will fit that would solve my drum to disk breaks problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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lolife99 knows his stuff also he helped answer a few questions i had, thanks to him and this website i got it done

just got done doing my swap today. i got a whole front clip off a 73. all i used tho was the lower arm, spindle and tie rods. some may say tht you need to swap everything form the crossmember, but thts too much work. however i would highly sugest using parts form a 73-78.

1. take off your old drums and spindles.
2. remove tie-rods.
3. remove lower A-arms (ONLY THE LOWER A-ARMS!!!!)
4. replace lower A-arms with a 67-70 or 73-78 Lower A-arm, make sure they are off a c10, the reason you want to replace the lowers is because the hole in which the ball joint sets is too big for the 73-78 ball joints.
5. replace upper and lower ball joints with 73-78 ball joints (with your new lower a-arms, all the ball joints well fit nicely)
6. replace your original tie-rods with the 73-78 tie-rods.
7. put on your new 73-78 spindle
now after following these steps you well notice everything should fit nicely. keep mind when you drop your lower A-arm you have to take it off from the U-bolts that are on the crossmember. also a problem i ran into, because i used the 73-78 lower A-arms, they are wider than the 67-70 A-arms. so i had to knotch out about an inch from the driver side A-arm so it wouldnt hit my long tube headers. you may or may not have to do this too, depending on how your headers are set up. if you need pictures of the knotch let me know.

one last thing. you well also need new brake hoses. the hoses,Brake Caliper,brake pads and ball joints new form o'rileys should run you less than $100

the lower A-arms, tie-rods and spindles from your local junk yard should run you around $100 also.

you cant get cheaper than that bud.

[Big E65]

Originally Posted by montoya22

lolife99 knows his stuff also he helped answer a few questions i had, thanks to him and this website i got it done

just got done doing my swap today. i got a whole front clip off a 73. all i used tho was the lower arm, spindle and tie rods. some may say tht you need to swap everything form the crossmember, but thts too much work. however i would highly sugest using parts form a 73-78.

1. take off your old drums and spindles.
2. remove tie-rods.
3. remove lower A-arms (ONLY THE LOWER A-ARMS!!!!)
4. replace lower A-arms with a 67-70 or 73-78 Lower A-arm, make sure they are off a c10, the reason you want to replace the lowers is because the hole in which the ball joint sets is too big for the 73-78 ball joints.
5. replace upper and lower ball joints with 73-78 ball joints (with your new lower a-arms, all the ball joints well fit nicely)
6. replace your original tie-rods with the 73-78 tie-rods.
7. put on your new 73-78 spindle
now after following these steps you well notice everything should fit nicely. keep mind when you drop your lower A-arm you have to take it off from the U-bolts that are on the crossmember. also a problem i ran into, because i used the 73-78 lower A-arms, they are wider than the 67-70 A-arms. so i had to knotch out about an inch from the driver side A-arm so it wouldnt hit my long tube headers. you may or may not have to do this too, depending on how your headers are set up. if you need pictures of the knotch let me know.

one last thing. you well also need new brake hoses. the hoses,Brake Caliper,brake pads and ball joints new form o'rileys should run you less than $100

the lower A-arms, tie-rods and spindles from your local junk yard should run you around $100 also.

you cant get cheaper than that bud.

I'm trying to do the same thing I have a 65 gmc 3/4,one quick question might be a stupid one but from your information it says to only replace the lower a arm and replace upper and lower ball joints with 73-78 ball joints
Wouldn't the upper a arms have to be replaced as well because of the diameter on the ball joints?
Thank you for your info and reply it's a big help I really didn't want to go the other route
Just wanted to do straight bolt on

[montoya22]

its not stupid at all, infact its good one. the truck I did it on was a 69 3/4ton.(what I found out was that the hole on the upper control arm was a perfect fit for the 73 ball joints. however the lower control arm hole was too big for the 73 ball joint. so what your going to have to do is

1. so to your local parts store
2. ask to look at 65 3/4 ton ball joints upper and lowers
3. ask to also look at the 73 1/2 ton ball joints, uppers and lowers.
4. compare the diameter sizes of the 65 3/4ton and the 73 1/2ton ball joint cases. (not the ball joint cone, but the casing that fits into the control arms)
5. what you should notice is the 2 years share the upper ball joint casing size.
6. the 65 3/4ton lower ball jointing casing should be larger than the 73 1/2 ton.
7. if the 65 3/4 ton lower ball joint casing is larger, ask to see 65 1/2ton lower ball joints, if the 65 1/2ton casing is the same size as the 73 1/2ton then you could just go to the junk yard and pick up a set of 60-66 1/2 lower control arms. if not then 67-78 lower control arms well.

[jadedbird]

Cool

[thefalconer_88]

I was lurking on this thread awhile back and I bought the ECE spindles for my 63 c20. I'm kind of wishing I went the extra mile and swapped the cross-member instead due to the availability/prices of inner tie rods, ball joints, etc... I think I'm going to just clean mine up and re-use the inners and chance the rest of the stuff with rockauto finds...

[thefalconer_88]

oops looks like lmc has them...

[joseph1967]

Can I put 71 disc brakes on my 67. Cause I got the hole cross member off a 71 will this bolt up to my frame