Front suspension swap

[Straight six]

Well I'm looking to redo my front suspension. I have a 78 c15 heavy half ton. Are there any kits that come complete with control arms shocks springs ect that I can just bolt in. I'd rather not change piece by piece if I don't have too.

[Tx Firefighter]

Stay away from replacing the control arms. Rebuild your originals. The aftermarket arms that come all assembled are low quality.

Suspension work isn't easy and quick to do. Shop for only the highest quality components so you don't have to redo it in a few years. Assemble your own kit with top of the line brands. It's not hard. You could sit down with the Internet and shop and choose all of your components, order them, and complete the process within an hour. Then its a matter of doing the work when your parts arrive.

Few places consistently offer better prices on quality parts than Rockauto does.

[Straight six]

Great thanks for the much needed help. Since it's a heavy half can I use standard 1/2 ton parts or 3/4 ton parts?

[Tx Firefighter]

Front suspension parts will be half ton. Five lug wheels.

Try Rockauto. Click on the interactive catalog and make your way down to your vehicle in the listings. Then look for ball joints, control arm bushings, inner and outer tie rod ends, idler arm, pitman arm, coil springs, and shocks. That will cover your front end rebuild in a "shotgun" manner, that is everything. Pay close attention to any details when your reviewing the parts options. Things like "GVW xxxx" and "with heavy duty susp" are often there to differentiate between similar parts. When I feel sketchy about which part I need, I open a second tab to O Reilly Auto Parts and look up my stuff there too. Then make sure the part numbers match between the two places.

[old Rusty C10]

I beg to disagree with TX firefighter.. Front end work is no harder than any other work on our trucks IF you have the right equipment to do it. On the ground is the hardest way to do any repair but if you can find a lift to work on your truck, it is actually pretty easy and a lot quicker..
I do agree tho Moog parts are probably the best to use Ive never had any problem with those

[Tx Firefighter]

Bob, I've always been hesitant to push folks into digging into suspension work themselves. Like you, it's pretty easy for me also, but I'd say its always been my favorite phase of any truck project. Some folks who aren't familiar with it struggle mightily with getting through the job. For an experienced guy, popping a ball joint loose is a 15 second deal. For a beginner who has never done it, it might take two or three trips to this board, reading, back outside, back in to read, and finally success with getting it separated.

[Straight six]

I know it was said not to replace my upper and lower control arms because of the low quality or repos but mine are really shot since I'm replacing everything else suspension related I want those done to. Are ones like ac delco or rebestos ok?

[cory d]

are the control arms themselves toasted or just the bearings? if it was me, i was go with energy suspension polyurethane bushings (i run those on my truck), choose the springs you want from moog (i like the 6454 but trimmed a little) and good, quality ball joints. as for shocks, just choose which ones you like

[Straight six]

Yea the control arms are shot

[cory d]

i would find some in a bone yard, just make sure you can do it safely. they dont always allow allot of stuff you may need

[Straight six]

Why can't I buy new ones are all of them that horrible? Why would I want to get used ones got to find a place to sand blast them then paint then then press balljoints, bushings. I wouldn't mind doing that but the sell new ones like raybestos, ac delco and dorman so the advice I'm getting is all if those for example are trash and won't work. So go to the bone yard and find some 30 year old parts and refurbish those..... Off to the bone yard here on the east coast to find some rusted gems great...

[mrolds88]

I believe what they are trying to say is that those new aftermarket control arms are not the quality of the old OEM parts. They may vary dimensionally resulting in ball joints or bushings not fitting, or not being able to get truck aligned properly. Or the quality of the material they are made of. I know up in the NE you guys are handicapped by salt and such. You may have to find some to the south and ship them in. Remember it is safety first.

[Straight six]

Ok I got just so were clear every brand of reproduction control arms are junk and will or might not work because of different dimensions and safety wise they suck.. Well that blows I guess it's not good to buy anything that's not oem think I'm gonna put this project on a hold for now not fun anymore....

[bdiamond]

Originally Posted by Straight six

I'm gonna put this project on a hold for now not fun anymore....

Rebuilding your first front end I wouldn't call fun anyway. Character building, vocabulary increasing and a few other things, but not fun. Don't give up so easy... If you need a good set of builder arms I'm sure there is a set for sale on here. I bet if you asked nice one of our members that isn't in the rust belt could hook you up fairly cheaply. Builder arms are all over the place here. Rust free and shipping is cheap....

[Straight six]

Ok thanks. Yea just a little frustrating I know there's some kinda light at the end of the tunnel.

[Pyrotechnic]

Go over to the for sale section of this forum and post a "want to buy" add for a complete set of control arms if yours are rusted out or bent. In the southern states without rust problems, there are probably tons of good OEM control arms on old truck carcasses that get sent to the crusher...just because in most cases we never need to replace them around here. I'm willing to bet you could find someone parting out a truck that could make you a deal on some that they would have otherwise sold for scrap metal.

What exactly is wrong with the ones you have now?

[Straight six]

Mine are rusted out very bad pitting left lower little bent. I was buying everything else new so I kinda wanted to keep with that but now I know it's either oem or south,west control arms which is I guess is fine if I can find some.. I will definitely post in the want ads to see what I come up with thanks...

[SCOTI]

Porterbuilt sells aftermarkettubular C10 a-arms that can work w/coil springs if you just want better than china-made repop arms. CPP also offers some but I like PB's (better bushing material & better geometry).

[KrazyRay]

Take the advice from Tx Firefighter. I did when I did my 87 GMC and I smile when going down a 2 lane road knowing that my truck isn't going swerve into oncoming traffic. The main tool you need is a ball joint press for the lower ball joints or you can hire a shop to press them in. If you are interested, I have OEM control arms with no rust that I can sell you a set of 4 for $80 plus shipping. Then go get some Moog parts and you should be under $300 for the control arms R and R.

[nekkidhillbilly]

dont like global west and a few other places make performance control arms? just a thought i know it would cost more but would make a awesome truck.

[KrazyRay]

Here's the control arms:

[Straight six]

I'm so excited!!!!!

[Straight six]

Stupid question?? When I remove old control arms and replace them do I reuse all the shims or not? I have heard when doing all new suspension and steering parts I don't add any shims just start from a clean slate and add as needed..

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Straight six

Stupid question?? When I remove old control arms and replace them do I reuse all the shims or not? I have heard when doing all new suspension and steering parts I don't add any shims just start from a clean slate and add as needed..

If just swapping parts, I always add the shims back as they were. If changing height while swapping parts, I'll do the same but remove equal amounts of shims from each corner to ballpark the camber settings until proper alignment.

[Straight six]

Great thanks... I'm also lowering the front 4.5 inches so I'll be adding the shims back to their original locations...