Can i convert 1/2 ton 5 lug front to 8 lug?

[Mtrhd329]

I recently put a 14 bolt 8 lug in my rear and the guy gave me the LCA's, spindles and rotors from the donor vehicle. Can i just put those parts on to make the front 8 lug to match the rear?

[Mtrhd329]

Sorry my truck is a 79 1/2 ton disc front and drum rear. Donor is a 81 3/4 or 1 ton he wasnt sure disc front drum rear.

[csa daddy]

yes it should all bolt right up

[Mtrhd329]

Will the 1/2 ton calipers bolt up as well? Also can i swap in a one of those plastic brake booster resivor deals?

[csa daddy]

i know on a fourwheel drive that you can run the same front caliper it was tight but it worked an as long as your front cliper mounts the same as the 3/4 ton it should work. but i know the ton trucks have a allen screw in the cliper mount an a metal sleeve that slide in between the caliper an the mount. but it think the half an 3/4 are the same. an as far as the reservoiur i dont see why you could switch to te newer master cylinder might have to use the newer booster also an ya dont want to get to new cause it will have electronics on it.i think its something to do with maybe warning levels on fluid or abs not sure

[westofb]

I converted my 3/4 to 1/2 ton, if your 1/2 ton has 1.25" thick rotors, the brake calipers will fit the 8 lug wheels. You will have to use the 3/4 ton lca's, put some 3/4 ton upper ball joints in the 1/2 ton upper control arms. The outer tie rod ends will fit the 3/4 ton spindles. I would acquire a set of 3/4 ton coils to make the swap, they are the same size as the half ton, but the coils themselves are much thicker. That should be everything you need to do to make it a 3/4 ton!

Your old master cylinder should be okay, too! I would guess the plastic master cylinder would have metric treads on the brake lines, not sure though, you may just to try to see if will fit.

[Mtrhd329]

Ya i keep seeing the plastic resivors on the 81-87 trucks and wondered how they did it. Mine is all nasty looking and rusted and i was thinking i might have to upgrade anyways when i convert the rear to disc.

[Colesnsty68]

dont mean to hijack but for the 14 bolt swap did you just change drive shafts? and probaly added 3/4 springs?

[csa daddy]

for the 14 bolt install you can get a bastard joint to connect from the ten bolt drive shaft to a 3/4 ton yoke. the one i had the ten bolt u joint was actually bigger than the 14 bolt u joint

[Colesnsty68]

and where would you get said adapter u joint lol

[westofb]

Originally Posted by Colesnsty68

and where would you get said adapter u joint lol

Any parts store should have them or be able to get them in a day or two. I kept the 3/4 ton drive shaft and got the u joint to fit it to the 10 bolt rear end....should be the same one you need I believe the part number was 338, I could be remeberi g wrong though, parts store should be able to look it up by the yar of your truck and the year of the donor truck that you got the rear end out of.

[Mtrhd329]

I used the same 1/2 ton leaf springs. The driveshaft was good but it needs to be shortened due to the 5.3l swap. The ujoint i got from napa right of the shelf i just told the guy i need a 1310 to 1350 conversion u joint and he went back and pulled one out for me.

[LostMy65]

I honestly have been searching.

I don't like to just start a new thread when there is already a similar one.

I know for the 60 chevys we switch out the whole crossmember to get discs on the front.
What does one need from a 73-87 that has front drums to switch to front discs?

[1985-GMC]

73-87's never had drums in the front, 70 was the last year for them in the front.

[LostMy65]

Sorry, I didn't mean to crosspost.

Here's the thread I meant to post in:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...33#post4287033

Originally Posted by LostMy65

Actually,
I'm finding many 3/4 tons from 1973 to 1978 have front drums.
Yes, it's very random, but the surely have drums.
My father-in-law's 73 GMC 3/4 ton came new with drums in the front.

So I'm curious how easy it would be to switch it to discs in the front.

Thanks