I have a stock 65 c10 with the 230 engine. It's close to 100% original but parts are starting to wear out. These old trucks are always going to have rough rides but mine is especially rough and all over the place. I hit a pothole and almost took out a telephone pole. My question is what suspension parts would you guys recommend for replacement and should I ask my mechanic to do it or an alignment shop that works on old vehicles? I don't want to replace all the suspension if I don't have too. Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for the feedback.
Probably only need shocks and bushings tie rod ends and ball joints Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Brakes, steering and suspension are important safety issues and I wouldn't skimp on any of them. You need it to steer, drive and stop. Replace anything worn out as stated above and for peace of mind check everything else whilst at it; wheel /axle bearings, brakes, mounts, universal joints, tyres etc.
Your C10 has a decent ball-joint IFS and a coil-sprung rear axle with a Panhard bar and trailing links. Truck buyers at the time complained that this setup was too soft and carlike. Your best bet is to rebuild what you have. New shocks, bushings, tie rod ends, springs, everything. You'll find that the ride will be a lot smoother. A disc brake upgrade and swaybar would be a good addition at this time as well. You can probably do all this yourself with cheap Harbor Freight tools, and you'll have learned something. https://www.cl***icindustries.com/s...rts/suspension/suspension-kits/lowering-kits/
Nope.. They are one sweet pickup ch***is. The 60-62 with torsion bar front and boxed frames were also impressive in ride and handling. Nascar even used the 60-72 rear trailing arms and they hit corners at over 200mph. I spent almost 10 years modifying 60-66 for customers, and drove a 63 Suburban myself then. most every single one got the newer PS box from late 60s to 80 GM pickups. Also rear end swaps to get better highway gear ratios, added a small PB booster with the stock drum brakes rebuilt, and most got the 70-72 GM 1/2 ton pickup front sway bar, (3/4 ton bar is beefier if needed). All of these trucks surprised the owners on delivery. They rode mint, handled great, and the PB drums will put you through the windshield if you hit the pedal like you did with the old manual brakes. If the truck "switches lanes on you" also check the rear panhard bar bushings, and the big bushings at the fronts of rear trailing arms...these are both rubber bushing type. Also on higher mile trucks, most manual steering boxes are worn out with too much free play, worn idler arm bushings, loose tie rod ends as well as ball joints.
I put the rear trailing arm suspension under a 40 ford used a 9 inch and even used the chevy truck springs rides great and they are awesome traction bars too .i did make a longer pan hard bar though goes from frame on left to end of housing on right Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I had a early eighties truck that I bough real cheap as a work truck. It was so bad that no one in the parking lot would park next to me because they though anyone drives a truck that was that beat up wouldn't care if the opened their doors in on them. All I did was put oil and gas in it and drive it. Out on the freeway if I hit a big bump, it would change lanes on me and was real scary driving in the rain. One day I decided to check the air in the tires and noticed I had three radials and one bias belt tire on it. The bias belt was in the front. I replaced the bias belt with a radial and it drove like a dream after that.
Go to a salvage yard and get the entire front suspension from a 1973-1987 C10. It unbolts. You can bolt it right on to your truck, after drilling two holes. Rebuild THAT suspension. Change your master cylinder to a disc/drum one. You can get 6-lug rotors, so you can even keep your wheels. Bonus, you can get power steering, and the aforementioned larger anti-sway bar, just grab them from the donor.
There are some ball joint interchange issues depending on year and whether light duty/heavy duty brakes and spindles (later models), as well as tie rod end differences. Late model xmembers are plentiful, and it is a 2 hour swap to slide the whole thing in as a single unit, with no mystery mix and match issues. Busting loose stubborn ball joints might take you that long. As @gimpyshotrods says, you just have to drill a couple of holes where they moved bolts in the late model xmembers and you're gold. I have done this swap at least a dozen times over the years. Easy peasey. Make sure you grab the booster and master cylinder, as well as the proportioning valve. The prop valve is different than what you have on the drum/drum setup (which looks like a prop valve, but is merely a pressure switch for the brake lights).
Yup. I always do the whole thing. That way, there are no weird interchange issues. For customers, I even stamped the 19** C10 on both sides of the frame, so whomever did future service work could see clearly what the parts were from. And yeah, grab the master, booster, and combo valve, too! I forgot that, but it is imperative. If you can manage a drill, you can do this job!
Also, all of the ready-made 6-lug rotors for C10 spindles that I have seen are 1-1/4" thick. Make sure that your donor has the correct thickness rotors. Then, your wheels will bolt right back on. If you have any interest in lowering the truck, you can get 2" lowering spindles, and some blocks for the rear, and bring it on down, all with wrenches!
I have done a few old trucks, from a C10 to a C30. The control arm bushings made a world of difference on how it rode. If they were shot, the truck was all over the place. IIRC the lower balljoints are press-in type. I got a new LMC catalog and they have loads of parts for the C10, you can rebuild the stock suspension or drop it a little or a lot. I'm looking at a '69-ish C10 panel truck that is in good shape.
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