Mix & Match Front End

[panhandler62]

OK.. so I have a 68 C-20. I am going to be removing the spindles and everything attached to them and replacing them with the spindles from an 83 3/4 ton.

At some point in this process I will be replacing all the bushings and the ball joints. Herein lies my problem --

If I stroll into an Advanced Auto and tell the dude behind the counter that I need ball joints for a 68 C-20 with a 350 and 83 spindles he's either going to argue with me, sell me some pine freshner or have an aneurism.

Obviously; in order to protect his health and my sanity I will have to fudge some data. Soooo.....

What ball joints do I need for this setup? My best guess is to get the 83 parts and tweak the a-arms as needed but I would apreciate input from someone who has been there.

[nightmare]

i think that with the 2wd's, the a-arms and ball joints are completely different for those years. what you may want to do is pull the a-arms from the '83, and bolt them onto the front of the '68. then all you have to do is tell them that you need the ball joints from the '83

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by nightmare

i think that with the 2wd's, the a-arms and ball joints are completely different for those years. what you may want to do is pull the a-arms from the '83, and bolt them onto the front of the '68. then all you have to do is tell them that you need the ball joints from the '83

????


I know 71-72 used different ball joints than 67-69, but the 71-72 ball joints will fit in the 67-69 a arms (I've done this, I know it works ) I think the uppers were the same, but the lower ones were longer or fatter, or something like that.

I'm venturing a guess that you'll have to have 83 ball joints. Bring the a-arms with you to see if the ball joints will press (lower) and bolt (upper) into the 68 A-arms. Isn't your truck also a 3/4 ton? That may complicate it more

Best of luck to you. Let us know what works.

[dave2953]

I think the '83 arms will bolt up to the crossmember in your truck. I used arms from an '89 burb on my 68 c-10. I know the arms are different between the 1/2 and 3/4, but I believe they bolt up to the crossmember the same.

[rlm316]

Upper and lower control arms are the same exept for the steering stop on the lower. The shaft part numbers are the same for both generations. When you buy your parts, buy for the donor truck, ie '83. Just did the same thing on a '70. I changed the complete crossmember though. If you are doing this for the addition of disc brakes the brake lines are routed differently for a drum than for a disc set-up. Make sure that the lines don't pinch or pull as you turn the wheel, that will cause major fatigue on the lines. PM me if you want more info. Lane

[panhandler62]

I renegotiated the deal and am getting the control arms now also.