front suspension swap

[dastuck]

I have a 72 c10. I also have a buddy with a 77 3/4 ton burb. I need a new front crossmember due to rust. Can i swap the crossmember? What parts can i use from my c10 and what parts do i need from the burb? The burb is 8 lug and i need the 5 lug front. Im trying to make this as painless and cheap as possible.

[jamis]

Painless it won’t be. It’s going to take a lot of mods and not worth it IMHO.
If you just need the cross member you should be able to find them for $100.

What part is rusted?

[dastuck]

the crossmember itself where the upper a-arm bracket meets the crossmember. I can see daylight through the crossmember so its worthless. Can i just use the burb crossmember and use transfer the rest of my c10 components over to it?

[jamis]

I think they are two totally different animals with no interchangeable parts.
I think I remember someone doing it in an earlier model truck, but I can’t remember who.
The easiest way would be just to do a complete wheel to wheel swap with a 71-72.
You can also use a 67-70 as well but you have to change all your disc brake stuff over.

Give it some time, I'm sure some one with more experience then me with the 73 and later models will chime in and give you better advice. Did you try to measure frame width to see if its the same?

[gringoloco]

You can use the late crossmember with all of your suspension pieces. It will bolt right up minus having to enlarge two holes.

[dastuck]

Even if its coming off a 3/4 ton? Great.

[jamis]

I always thought after 73 they went to rubber bushings and where the lower a arm met the crossmember was diffrent. Up to what year are they compatible?

hmmmm or was the frame changed in 88 to a wider format?

[Project SIKty-5]

Does anybody know, if a '85 SWB frame is comparable to a '65 SWB frame? I have an oppertunity to pick up a frame for an 85. I'm wondering how much it'll take to make mounting 65 sheetmetal on a 85 frame??

[lolife99]

Project SIKt-5,... It would be easier to swap the front crossmember from the '85 to your '65 frame. The rearend could be swapped,... but that would require removing all the leaf spring brackets and adding trailing arm brackets. (ECE sells them) That still doesn't address the panhard mount. A super track bar fom ECE would fix that. The best, would be to use your rearend with new 5 lug axles,... or find a '71-72 rearend. Get the whole '85 frame. All the steering linkage and master cylinder can be used.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by jamis

I always thought after 73 they went to rubber bushings and where the lower a arm met the crossmember was diffrent. Up to what year are they compatible?

hmmmm or was the frame changed in 88 to a wider format?

Correct- except that the arms bolt on the same way, just with bigger u-bolts.