Control Arms Worth The Swap?

[Jimbo0076]

Factory '66 C10 frame and suspension

I'm building a simple budget driver and wondering if swapping the control arms to the 73-87 rubber bushings are actually worth it. I don't have the 73-87s so would have to track some down but other than being sorta easier to service is it a worthwhile upgrade?

[bhap]

It's also a good way to get front disc brakes, so if you were considering a brake upgrade, might make the decision easier. Search for "front cross member swap" - I think on the 63-66's you can swap either the complete front cross member or just the control arms and get the rubber bushings and disc brakes. There are a few threads on how to do this.. good luck!

[theastronaut]

73-87 arms are a downgrade, the rubber bushings go bad over time and allow deflection since they're rubber so they won't hold an alignment over bumps as well as the 63-72 threaded solid bushing design. I have a '66 with 150k miles that I took apart to redo all of the suspension and the threads on the control arm shafts/bushings looked like new and had zero play. My '74 C10 only has 43k miles and the rubber bushings are falling apart. There's a reason GM kept the 63-72 solid design on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks, they hold up better. The 63-72 bushings aren't hard to service, you just thread them apart. The 63-72 threaded design is better than aftermarket delrin/poly bushings; there is less friction so the suspension can move more freely and there is zero deflection.

You can add 73-87 balljoints to the stock arms if you want to use squarebody disc brakes.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

73-87 arms are a downgrade, the rubber bushings go bad over time and allow deflection since they're rubber so they won't hold an alignment over bumps as well as the 63-72 threaded solid bushing design. I have a '66 with 150k miles that i took apart to redo all of the suspension and the threads on the control arm shafts/bushings looked like new and had zero play. My '74 c10 only has 43k miles and the rubber bushings are falling apart. There's a reason gm kept the 63-72 solid design on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks, they hold up better. The 63-72 bushings aren't hard to service, you just thread them apart. The 63-72 threaded design is better than aftermarket delrin/poly bushings; there is less friction so the suspension can move more freely and there is zero deflection.

You can add 73-87 balljoints to the stock arms if you want to use squarebody disc brakes.

^^this^^

[Jimbo0076]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

73-87 arms are a downgrade, the rubber bushings go bad over time and allow deflection since they're rubber so they won't hold an alignment over bumps as well as the 63-72 threaded solid bushing design. I have a '66 with 150k miles that I took apart to redo all of the suspension and the threads on the control arm shafts/bushings looked like new and had zero play. My '74 C10 only has 43k miles and the rubber bushings are falling apart. There's a reason GM kept the 63-72 solid design on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks, they hold up better. The 63-72 bushings aren't hard to service, you just thread them apart. The 63-72 threaded design is better than aftermarket delrin/poly bushings; there is less friction so the suspension can move more freely and there is zero deflection.

You can add 73-87 balljoints to the stock arms if you want to use squarebody disc brakes.

Thank you bud! Thats honestly what I was thinking the more I looked at the older design. I've got my 73-87 drop spindles & disc brakes ready to go.

[cwcarpenter98]

I 100% agree with Theastronaut.

I'm even thinking about switching my 81 over to the 63-72 control arms

[Chevy Fleetside]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=727826 did this using only the late model spindles.

[SCOTI]

All of my earlier trucks kept the threaded bushing a-arms if they were useable. The simple BJ swap allowed the disc brake improvement.

I did get one of the early/1st batch Ride Tech tubular arms when they first were released. They came w/the fatter car style 73-87 rubber bushings but by then there were Delrin style bushings out so that was my plan (stronger tubular construction w/the bind free Delrin bushings). Those arms got bolted onto a chassis that sat forever. I've had the dang things for prob almost 20yrs & they have zero miles .