bought me a new truck, and now i have tons of questions lol

[Adam4pt6]

so 1st things 1st, im pretty new to the forum, and have spend the last couple of weeks just reading countless threads and learning what i can. a little back ground on me, i went to college for automotive work, and spent about 5 or 6 years working in a typical mom and pop shop, aswell as doing cyl heads at a machine shop. I decided that this is a much more enjoyable hobby then career, so now i just work on things on my own time. most of what ive messed with, besides typical maintenance work, has been mustangs and camaros, always geared towards the 1/4 mile, and newer trucks and jeeps for the off road environment. This is my first "classic" truck.

I picked up a 1969 c20, its a 4 speed with the straight six. body is fine, minimal rust(none that needs to be dealt with any time soon), and starts/drives/runs great. the goal here is to have a truck i can drive on a regular basis, but also a weekend project. so far it seems like it will fit the bill perfectly.

now on to my questions. and yes i have searched, and am continuing to search for these answers aswell.
1. who are you guys using for insurance? i put in for a quote with haggarty, they were recommended by my regular insurance company.
2. is it possible to swap this rear to a 5 lug set up? i believe i have the eaton rear.
3. do they make 8 lug front disc conversions? or are there trucks i should look to buy parts for that will work? also, on this note, say i pick up a conversion kit from one of the big companies, what do i do about swapping pads later in life? do they tell you what make/model to buy pads for? do i have to go through them?
4. power breaks... worth it? what do you guys think? and aside from trying to find a kit of some sort what parts do i need? just the bracket, brake booster and master cyl and a new prop valve? this one is still a new topic to me, so im still doing some research.
5. power steering? whats your guys' take on it? is it worth it? my manual steering box has a ton of play in it and will need to be replaced asap... would it just make more sense to switch to power steering? and again, are there kits out there? or a certain truck i should look to source parts from?
6. the plan is to drop the truck quite a bit... right now im thinking either 4/6 or 5/7. its a coil set up in the rear, and ive done a good bit of looking into this, so i dont really have many questions pertaining to the suspension itself, but what i am wondering is what size wheel/tire should i look at? i hate the wheels on it and want to switch them out pretty soon. but back spacing, diameter, etc etc etc im not sure what fits correctly on these trucks.

so theres my entire novel for yall to read, if youve made it this far thank you for taking the time to read all of this and thanks for any of your advice!

im getting an error what i try to upload pictures, if anyone wants to give me the run down on how to get pictures up ill post some of the truck

[Adam4pt6]

[Bigdav160]

I think the slammed truck thing is overdone but that's me. Save the auxillery spring setup it has some value.

Yes, square body truck disc brakes and power steering should swap pretty easily. And yes again, with disc brakes you'll want power assist.

[Adam4pt6]

cool man, thanks for the input... ill start looking into the square body parts then.

[El Dorado Jim]

really nice clean truck.....welcome to the forum

[Ken B]

Love the truck, she looks to be real straight! I'll be following along... I can relate to your story about the automotive field.. I worked at a Chevy dealer for 12 yrs. and another 5 at a small mom and pop shop. What I soon found out was that like you, I also enjoyed the automotive field much more as a hobby, but I was stuck... I'm an old school type and all the new technology just doesn't interest me. I got out 15 yrs. ago but every night and weekend you can find me out in my home shop doing what I enjoy... Wrenchin on the oldies...

[70 shorty]

Looks like you've got yourself a very solid start! Sorry I can't help with your questions.

[Katrina/10]

Your truck has a really nice body on it. The wheels look like some later model Dodge truck, not quite right for that one. But, they get the job done. The disc brakes and power steering are well worth the trouble, find a 73-87 half ton or 3/4 ton donor and swap the front and rear ends would probably be your best bet.

[LockDoc]

-
Nice truck!

For now I would just check out all of the safety equipment and drive it while you collect the parts and info you need to do the upgrades. One other upgrade you might consider is the headlight relay upgrade. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=293913 The reason there are deleted posts in the thread is to get rid of the posts that are not relevant to the instructions.

You will be amazed how well the original paint will buff out. I do mine by hand with Turtle Wax White Polishing Compound, then give it a coat of any good automotive wax. You can do it with a machine but you will have to be very careful or you will burn through the paint. Once it is gone you cant get it back.

LockDoc

[57larry]

looks like a nice solid truck, good luck, enjoy it

[Adam4pt6]

thanks for the kind words guys. and agreed, these wheels have got to go! i want to switch to a steel wheel with the chrome rings and what not, i just havent done must looking yet. and thank for the link about the head light relay, im looking into it right now

[custom10nut]

Originally Posted by Adam4pt6

so 1st things 1st, im pretty new to the forum, and have spend the last couple of weeks just reading countless threads and learning what i can. a little back ground on me, i went to college for automotive work, and spent about 5 or 6 years working in a typical mom and pop shop, aswell as doing cyl heads at a machine shop. I decided that this is a much more enjoyable hobby then career, so now i just work on things on my own time. most of what ive messed with, besides typical maintenance work, has been mustangs and camaros, always geared towards the 1/4 mile, and newer trucks and jeeps for the off road environment. This is my first "classic" truck.

I picked up a 1969 c20, its a 4 speed with the straight six. body is fine, minimal rust(none that needs to be dealt with any time soon), and starts/drives/runs great. the goal here is to have a truck i can drive on a regular basis, but also a weekend project. so far it seems like it will fit the bill perfectly.

now on to my questions. and yes i have searched, and am continuing to search for these answers aswell.
1. who are you guys using for insurance? i put in for a quote with haggarty, they were recommended by my regular insurance company.
2. is it possible to swap this rear to a 5 lug set up? i believe i have the eaton rear.
3. do they make 8 lug front disc conversions? or are there trucks i should look to buy parts for that will work? also, on this note, say i pick up a conversion kit from one of the big companies, what do i do about swapping pads later in life? do they tell you what make/model to buy pads for? do i have to go through them?
4. power breaks... worth it? what do you guys think? and aside from trying to find a kit of some sort what parts do i need? just the bracket, brake booster and master cyl and a new prop valve? this one is still a new topic to me, so im still doing some research.
5. power steering? whats your guys' take on it? is it worth it? my manual steering box has a ton of play in it and will need to be replaced asap... would it just make more sense to switch to power steering? and again, are there kits out there? or a certain truck i should look to source parts from?
6. the plan is to drop the truck quite a bit... right now im thinking either 4/6 or 5/7. its a coil set up in the rear, and ive done a good bit of looking into this, so i dont really have many questions pertaining to the suspension itself, but what i am wondering is what size wheel/tire should i look at? i hate the wheels on it and want to switch them out pretty soon. but back spacing, diameter, etc etc etc im not sure what fits correctly on these trucks.



so theres my entire novel for yall to read, if youve made it this far thank you for taking the time to read all of this and thanks for any of your advice!

im getting an error what i try to upload pictures, if anyone wants to give me the run down on how to get pictures up ill post some of the truck

I'll try to answer your questions in order.
1. I have mine through my regular ins company because they're fair on the valuation.
2. You can swap out the rear axle for a 1/2 ton five bolt pattern, from a 71-72, then while you're at it get the front disc setup from the same truck. Replace all the ball joints and refurbish the brakes.
3/4. Power brakes are absolutely worth it, especially if you like to stop, in less than a 1/4 mile.
5. Power Steering is another great thing to have. Unless you like to get a Full upper body workout every time you park in a paved parking lot.
6. My truck is at Stock ride height, so I'm not the one to comment on the dropping of a LWB truck, but it's your truck, do what you like.
Hope this helps, and Welcome to the Board.

[Jose's 69]

Welcome. This forum has helped me a lot. have a 69 c20 also. I dropped mine 3.5 in front and 5.5 in the back. I think the pumpkin is close to hitting the bed now. There's not a whole lot of wheel selection for 8 lugs unless you like the off-road looking wheels. I have 16 inch steelies on mine. I also did the disc brake conversion in front. I used a kit from performance online. Came with everything I needed except brake lines. The pads and suspension parts are the same as a 73 I think. I definitely noticed a difference in adding power brakes. More comfortable drive.

[biketopia]

First you gotta decide the direction you want to go. Do you want to keep the 8 lug stuff and drop it in the weeds or go to half ton stuff, and drop it in the weeds. Makes a difference in what you need to buy. Either way you can get stuff from a square body truck to convert to front disc. There is obviously a ton more out there as far as wheel choice and already built and engineered suspension drops for half ton suspensions, I've seen a few trucks on here and in person that were dropped and still 8 luggers, they looked really good, but I'm a huge fan of the lowered look. As far as power steering and brakes, again depends on your intended use of the truck. If you're going to have big heavy fat front wheels and tires, I'd suggest getting PS, I have manual disc brakes in my 71, thats the truck I learned to drive on...just takes a little more pedal effort, nothing I'm not affraid off, besides I think the firewall looks A LOT cleaner without the booster hanging off it. Power steering, you can go stock or depending on how you drop it, if you get into drop members and such they have set up ups for rack and pinion to bolt right in.

[Adam4pt6]

Man, yall are a helpful group of people lol. So I think i want to stick with the 8 lug and just run some steel wheels. But I'm trying to look into each route to make sure whatever I end up doing is cost effective and meets the end state I'm going for. I've pretty much decided power brakes are a definite. Power steering I'm still 50/50 on. It'll depend on what I can find at the salvage yard as far as mounting brackets for the pump and all.

My understanding is I can just get an 8 lug disc conversion kit for the front? Would it work to grab parts from a newer square body for the front from the salvage yard? I see that's a common idea for the c10 guys, but besides the lug pattern what front end differences am I looking at between my truck and a c10?

The rear swap is tempting, but if I went that route is there a bolt in option? I have the coil spring set up, so I'm assuming my only real option is a 67-72 c10 rear? Any Ones in particular to look for or stay away from?

[davepl]

If you stay 8-bolt you can get the front brake setup (everything but the crossmember) from a 71-72 truck. That's what I did.

I then stuck H2 wheels on it - that's the downside, you don't have the range of wheel selection that you would. But there's still decent selection in truck-style wheels.

[Adam4pt6]

I'm looking to go that routw. Can't I grab front end parts off of a 73-87 also?

And I'd like to just run steel wheels with center caps and the outer rings...hopefully that won't be too hard to find

[71threequarterton]

There are a couple guys on here with some nice looking dropped 8 luggers but as people have already mentioned, availability of parts and wheels is relatively limited and it can be a real challenge to achieve the look you're going for. I opted to leave mine with the stock height/stance for a leaf sprung C20. I replaced the 16.5" aluminum wheels that came on the truck with black powder coated steel wheels. I'm happy with the look but it is still a challenge to find hub caps, or center caps mainly because i have a Dana 60 rear end with huge hubs that some hub caps and center caps won't clear. I can't comment on rings as I have not tried them.

[Jose's 69]

Here's how mine sits currently. Has a slight take. I probably could have saved a couple hundred bucks by putting parts off a 73 but I went with a kit.

[Adam4pt6]

Originally Posted by Jose's 69

Here's how mine sits currently. Has a slight take. I probably could have saved a couple hundred bucks by putting parts off a 73 but I went with a kit.

Man this is almost exactly what I want mine to look like... pretty damn close. Do you have any other pictures? And just general info about it? How much of a drop is that, what wheels, etc... not looking to straight up copy your ride or anything but it's damn close to my goals lol

[Jose's 69]

Lol. No problem, I don't mind. Just plan it out. The kit I bought came with 2.5" drop spindles, rotors, calipers, pads, booster, prop valve, master cylinder and pretty much everything to rebuild the suspension. Everything was original on the truck so there was a lot of pounding and heating and profanity. Lol. I also put on 1 inch drop springs in front for a total of 3.5 drop in front. In back I put on 4 inch drop springs and shock relocators. After I finished I wanted it a little lower in back so I added a 1.5 inch drop block for a total of 5.5. Wheels are standard steel wheels off a 90s suburban 16x 6 I think. Painted them red and added beauty rings. I've never done suspension work but with the help of a knowledgeable friend and this forum it went smooth. I'll try to post pics later. It won't let me right now and I'm at work.

[Adam4pt6]

Ok cool... that's less drop then I expected, it looks pretty low in the picture. Luckily I'm pretty mechanically inclined, so anything I do won't be a 1st for me, but this is my 1st one of these trucks. I'm in the process of looking up parts and all now. It makes sense to do the disc conversion and drop all at the same time. Also thanks for the tip on the wheels, those should be pretty easy to get ahold of. If you don't mind, when you can, throwing some more pictures up that would be awesome.

[Jose's 69]

The pics included are how it sat when I bought it. Front lowered, rear lowered before I put on drop blocks I think and the power brake setup.

[chevy72blu]

My '72 has a 73-87 front end (5 lug conversion). If I had to do it over again, I would have kept the 8 lugs as things like header fitment (and a myriad of other issues) have made life difficult. There are also a ton of 8 lug wheel choices now... not so 15 years ago.

That being said, I already had front disks and you do not. On a drum/drum truck I think it makes sense (and you get the benefit of wider wheel selection). The 73-87 front ends are very easy to come by as well.