Front end coversion and something went wrong

[FoMoCoGuy]

Hey guys, I did a power steering, power disc conversion on a 64 c10 a while back. When it was taken to get aligned, the camber is WAAY out. Lots of positive camber. with all the spacers taken out it still has too much.

Here are the parts we used

- stock upper control arm
-88-98 3/4 ton spindle
-81 lower control arm
- stock wheels

Where did i go wrong?

[Greg63]

Can't say for sure, but it might have something to do with your username.;o)

Sorry - I couldn't resist.

I am sure someone will know what you are up against.
Greg.

[padresag]

1 the name fomocoguy which means failure to understand. sorry, couldn't pass that one up.
when you mix up a lot of different pieces that is what you can end up with. it would have been a lot simpler to incorporate a complete front assembly
you could have bought a disc brake spindle to incorporate your orig wheels.
The capt is the one to ask about this
ron

[FoMoCoGuy]

Lol I figured it would be easy pick'ns for you guys. I'll explain a little of my username. I've built jeeps, a toyota supra, Volkswagens and BMW's. Growing up my dad had a 1971 F100 that i inherated. I grew up in a 67-72 ford, and still have one today. I also work for Ford as a Diesel Tech, been there for 5 years. My flareside ford is a pretty much frame off resto-mod. See my sig.

To use the factory wheels we just shaved down the calipers a little. as for the rest of it, I have no idea what went wrong. I'm thinking we may have mis understood the parts lists. sometimes a wealth of different information on the same subject can get cloudy. Just looking for someone to clarify what we did or didn't do.

[4x4toy]

we need pictures to see what is wrong. Take some of upper control arms from top. Lowers from front.
I think your problem may be the 3/4 spindle with 1/2 ton arms. Also the mismatch of years. I think you should have used all same year control arms WITH cross member.

[padresag]

you may find your answer in this link. there is some sort of combination that works, but it is Captfab that has the insight on most of this stuff
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=367260
ron

[luvbowties]

Originally Posted by FoMoCoGuy

Hey guys, I did a power steering, power disc conversion on a 64 c10 a while back. When it was taken to get aligned, the camber is WAAY out. Lots of positive camber. with all the spacers taken out it still has too much.

Here are the parts we used

- stock upper control arm
-88-98 3/4 ton spindle
-81 lower control arm
- stock wheels

Where did i go wrong?

I'm assuming the "ears" on the orig c/a are hitting the frame, right? Can the "ears" be ground enough to set proper camber w/o excessive weakening of c/arm?

Now, getting away from the M-Mouse suggestion above(which still might work!?): If it were me and I had no access to this forum, I'd try FIRST swapping upper stock control arm to the '81 to match the '81 lower you already have. (1)Why did you use the '81 on the lower position in the first place? (2)And why did you choose the '88-'98 spindle? (3)What did your 88-98 3/4 ton spindle come from?

Sam

[A.T. RockDriller]

Sometimes I think I understand....
Maybe I'm mistaken, but doesn't ride height effect camber..?
I'm assuming it's stock coil.....and if it is, do the springs like the mismatch on upper & lower arms, or ..?

I'm a K series guy so I have to hit something pretty hard to change my camber.

[Captainfab]

I haven't done this conversion myself yet, but it is supposed to work.

I assume you are using the light duty C2500 spindles? And the LCA is from a '81 C20? The only difference I am seeing is that most guys are using the '67-'72 C20 LCA's. I wouldn't think that the '73+ C20 LCA's would be a different length, but they might be. I will have to do some checking.

[FoMoCoGuy]

luvbowties - not sure what "ears" your talking about, but both upper and lower control arms are fully seated and tight against thier mounting points.

A.T.rockdriller - Ride height can have an effect on camber, but we did not lift the truck (typically, lowering causes negative, lifting causes positive camber on an Independant suspension vehicle). The springs are fully seated and not tweaked at all.

Capt. - The LD C2500 spindles were used, i checked the disc brake referance thread and it says 81 spindles should work. From my understanding the spindles from 88-98 are the same with minor defferances, nothing that should affect camber.

[Captainfab]

I looked thru the original thread that I found on this conversion, and found one member that mentioned that he was having camber/caster issues, but no follow up.

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...ad.php?t=35042

I did physically measure a '69 C20 LCA and a '80 C20 LCA, and even though I could not get a precise measurement, I did not see that there was any difference in the measurement from the center of the shaft to the center of the balljoint. As far as I know the UCA's are the same from '73-'72, but I suppose that would be the next part to look into.

[FoMoCoGuy]

That's how it always goes, someone has a similar problem, resolves it, and no one knows how or what happened.

Well we picked up a set of spindles from a 71 or 72, so we'll see if that gets us anywhere.

[Snailed]

Have you compared the two LCAs actually involved in your swap? You never know what parts have already been swapped on a donor/project vehicle.

Take a measurement like Captainfab did from the shaft center to balljoint center on both of them before swapping parts around again. If they measure the same, the spindle is where the change came from.

[Captainfab]

The '88-'98 6 lug rotors should physically fit the '71-'72 spindles, but I believe the caliper will not line up with the rotor. At least that is how it is with the '73-'87 spindles.

Originally Posted by FoMoCoGuy

That's how it always goes, someone has a similar problem, resolves it, and no one knows how or what happened.

Well we picked up a set of spindles from a 71 or 72, so we'll see if that gets us anywhere.

[ChiefRocka]

Hmmm ...

I have as yet to finish my conversion on the 62 Burban.

Two things that I have done differently.

I used 1/2 ton LCA's (because I wanted rubber bushings) and I had machined rings made to convert the lower arms to 88-98 1/2 ton LCA bushings.

Then I used the stock spindles off of my buddy's 94 1/ton.

Visually, it doesn't seem that it will have excessive camber, however I have not confirmed this as of yet.



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[A.T. RockDriller]

As usual, John....your Okie fab-work tops any out there....
Very interesting...

[ChiefRocka]

Originally Posted by A.T. RockDriller

As usual, John....your Okie fab-work tops any out there....

Not sure if i should take that as a compliment or insult .....

[A.T. RockDriller]

We all know better'n that...
You and your Son set the bar.

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by FoMoCoGuy

Hey guys, I did a power steering, power disc conversion on a 64 c10 a while back. When it was taken to get aligned, the camber is WAAY out. Lots of positive camber. with all the spacers taken out it still has too much.

Here are the parts we used

- stock upper control arm
-88-98 3/4 ton spindle
-81 lower control arm
- stock wheels

Where did i go wrong?

What was the original goal using all these parts?
Just a stock height disc brake conversion?
What did you do for tie rods?

You are all over the place.
Now switching to 71-72 spindles,... which are different ball joints, C10 lower a-arms and different tie rods.
Just trying to understand.

Me personally,... I'm not a fan of the 88-98 light duty 2500 spindle swap.
I see no savings and have no info saying the spindle has the correct geometry.

Bolt on your original '64 parts.
Then add a 63-70 conversion spindle. ($229)
Add parts store rotors, bearings and calipers for a cheap 5-lug swap.
CPP has aftermarket 6-lug rotors cheap to get an EASY 6-lug disc brake front end.

[lolife99]

If you want a lowered ride height,... add 63-70 conversion DROP SPINDLES,... for the same price. ($229)

[TypeSL2]

Whatever came of this? I just swapped on a set of 88-98 spindles yesterday and forgot about swapping the LCAs. What was the purpose of swapping those? I must have missed something somewhere.

James