front drums to disks on front of 6 lug '64-'66 Chevy C10 truck

[LILRED66]

I have a customer that wants to convert the front drums on his '64-'66 Chevy C10 with factory six lug hubs to disks. Besides the new kits offered by CPP and the likes, are there any front cross member donors that are available from a donor truck? He is very budget conscious, so a donor with six lugs and disks is the major criteria. He also has six lug steelies he is keeping, so six lug is a must.

I attempted a search, to no avail. Thanks in advance for your input.

[N2TRUX]

I don't know of any 6 lug disc donors. Everything that is an econo swap is 5 lug. The cheapest solution I know of are the 6 lug drum to disc conversions.

[lolife99]

The cheapest way to get 6-lug discs is to you any donor truck from 73-87 that is 5-lug.
Then all you need is a set of aftermarket 6-lug rotors from companies like ECE, CPP, Brothers, etc.

[72BlckButy]

One other thing to consider Tony is that if/when you swap over to disc brakes up front the trac-width will be 1.5" wider overall. Depending on the size of the steelies, they might stick way out up front when compared to the rear, or they might not be able to clear the caliper.

[aggie91]

There is a way with factory parts to do a 6 lug swap. I am not 100% sure but here is the parts you would need. There is also a thread in the 60-66 forum that has this info buried in it...

Lower control arms from a 67-70 3/4 ton truck
Upper & lower ball joints from a 88-98 chevy C-2500 light duty
Spindles from a 88-98 C-2500 light duty
Rotors from a 88-98 c-2500 light duty (they are 6 lug factory)
Caliper and hoses from a 88-98 c-2500 light duty
outer tie rods from a 88-98 c-2500 light duty

you will also need an adjuster sleeve to adapt the tie rods to the stock inner tie rods, I think you can get them from Fatman Fab...

Hope this helps.

[chevy_mike]

Originally Posted by aggie91

There is a way with factory parts to do a 6 lug swap. I am not 100% sure but here is the parts you would need. There is also a thread in the 60-66 forum that has this info buried in it...

Lower control arms from a 67-70 3/4 ton truck
Upper & lower ball joints from a 88-98 chevy C-2500 light duty
Spindles from a 88-98 C-2500 light duty
Rotors from a 88-98 c-2500 light duty (they are 6 lug factory)
Caliper and hoses from a 88-98 c-2500 light duty
outer tie rods from a 88-98 c-2500 light duty

you will also need an adjuster sleeve to adapt the tie rods to the stock inner tie rods, I think you can get them from Fatman Fab...

Hope this helps.

x2 to above. I was just going to post this info. This is the only way to get factory 6 lugs on early trucks. Nice thing is, you can just change the rotor to a '91-'98 1/2 ton and get 5 lugs without changing anything else.

Oh, and starting in '92 or '93 (Can't recall) the 1/2 ton and light duty 3/4 ton use the same spindles, hence why you can swap rotors for a lug pattern change.

[GVizzle]

I have all the parts off a 72 that you would need. They just came off my 72 C10 project and I don't want to store all this extra stuff.

All redone (bearings, pads, rotors, drum cylinders, etc) with less than 500 miles on 5 lug disk brakes and rear 5 lug drum brakes.

Parts on westcoast.

PM me if interested.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by chevy_mike

x2 to above. I was just going to post this info. This is the only way to get factory 6 lugs on early trucks. Nice thing is, you can just change the rotor to a '91-'98 1/2 ton and get 5 lugs without changing anything else.

Oh, and starting in '92 or '93 (Can't recall) the 1/2 ton and light duty 3/4 ton use the same spindles, hence why you can swap rotors for a lug pattern change.

What about going a slightly different route and doing something similar to the 65 to 82 Vette that used slip on rotors over a drum brake bearing hub? I know my 2003 Tahoe uses 6-lug slip-on rotors front & rear and they might just fit onto the stock older truck 6-lug drum brake bearing hubs. The fronts are 12" x 1.14" thick and the rear are 13" x 1.19" thick with drum in hub parking brakes.

The offset on the front rotors may not be enough to work with rear wheel drive offset wheels but the rear are much more offset (1.13 to 1.47" more depending on rotor design) and could just do the trick. It might even be enough to run 15" wheels.

Combine these with some generic caliper brackets from DIY4x4 or anybody else and a set of 1.25" rotor truck calipers plus fabricate an adapter bracket to connect the caliper bracket to the spindle mount points and you are in business.

The Tahoe rotors are $40 to $56 each vs. $69 each for the C2500 LD rotors so combined with not having to change out your ball joints & source good spindles this could be a less expensive way to get 6-lug front disc.

You could also use the Tahoe dual piston calipers too.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by aggie91

There is a way with factory parts to do a 6 lug swap. I am not 100% sure but here is the parts you would need. There is also a thread in the 60-66 forum that has this info buried in it...

Lower control arms from a 67-70 3/4 ton truck
Upper & lower ball joints from a 88-98 chevy C-2500 light duty
Spindles from a 88-98 C-2500 light duty
Rotors from a 88-98 c-2500 light duty (they are 6 lug factory)
Caliper and hoses from a 88-98 c-2500 light duty
outer tie rods from a 88-98 c-2500 light duty

you will also need an adjuster sleeve to adapt the tie rods to the stock inner tie rods, I think you can get them from Fatman Fab...

Hope this helps.

I decided to go this route yesterday when I scored a setup off of a 93 C2500 light duty truck for $60. They even clear my 15" Cragar Soft-8 wheels too.

Somebody found that if you use Moog part number ES2020R/L inner tie rods with the adjusters and outer tie rods from the C2500 and shorten them about 3/4" that it will bolt up to the older center link and allow proper alignment.

Supposedly the lower A-arms from 67 to 87 3/4-tons will work with the lower ball joints of the C2500. The 1/2-ton C-10 lower A-arms use a smaller OD lower ball joint so they will not work.

[DKN]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

I decided to go this route yesterday when I scored a setup off of a 93 C2500 light duty truck for $60. They even clear my 15" Cragar Soft-8 wheels too.

Somebody found that if you use Moog part number ES2020R/L inner tie rods with the adjusters and outer tie rods from the C2500 and shorten them about 3/4" that it will bolt up to the older center link and allow proper alignment.

Supposedly the lower A-arms from 67 to 87 3/4-tons will work.

This might work. The 88-98 spindle should make the camber positive by about 3.5 degrees. If you are using drop springs the extra positive camber could benefit you.

Danny Nix
CPP