Below is a message I wrote in response to another persons questions about this swap. Oh, and by the way, 70-72 axles with 5 bolt rear will swap into the 60-72 rear ends. THey are all the same - if you look under the truck, they all have a swingarm/coil suspension. But be careful, a leaf spring option was available during these years. The axles might swap, but the rear ends won't without fabrication....


A:
Well, strictly speaking you don't even need the lower control arm. You see, the upper and lower control are the same on the 60-66, 67-72, and the 73-79 (and up until 87, only they used metric fasteners from 80 - on). If you get the ball joints from a 73-79, they will press right in to the 60-66. How do I know this? - I did it on my 66. Unfortunately, the mistake I made was to not change the crossmember. The holes drilled on the 73-79 crossmember locate the lower control arm further in towards the centerline of the truck. When I went to have it aligned, they told me that they had maxed out the camber/caster adjustment, trying to get it to stock setting. Since it is only a degree or so off of the stock settings (and since I've been exceptionally busy with my job), I haven't done anything about it, especially since it hasn't increased tire wear at all. This really comes from other people that have done the swap - they tell me that it is essential to get the lower control arm, but not the upper. If I was changeing the entire mounting point (ie. crossmember) for the front suspension, I would get all of the hardware attached to it, just in case something didn't fit. If I had know this before I did the swap, I would have gotten the upper and lower arms. As it was, I found out the hard way.

I wouldn't worry to much about it adding to the cost of your swap. It seems that the more stuff I get at one time from the junkyard, the lower overall price I end up paying. Be sure to get everything you think you will need to do this swap at one time. Oh, and by the way - if you are planning to get the springs also to freshen up your front end, only go with six cylinder springs - I got the ones out of a V8 smallblock truck, and they are a little too strong for my truck - even though they did fit. Also, you will need to redrill the frame to mount the idler arm. The new one doesn't have the same angle or mounting point as the old one. Be sure to mock up the pitman arm and drag link, level it, make suer that the steering box is centered - then drill the hole for the arm. Don't be too concerned if the drag link is pretty close to the crossmember. Just cycle the drag link from steering lock to steering lock, and make sure it doesn't hit anywhere.

When I was doing this, I bought a complete suspension rebuild kit from Performance Suspension Technologies. You'll only need a kit for a 73-79, if you get the upper and lower control arms with the crossmember. If you order from them (there are a couple others, like Just Suspension). When I ordered, itold them what I was trying to do and ordered everything for a 73-79 truck, with the upper and lower control arm bushings from a 60-66. They immediately hemmed and hawed, telling me they weren't sure this would work. I asked them what would work? They said they weren't sure, becasue they had never dealt with this before - BUT, they DID have a disk brake swap kit for my truck, which they KNEW would work. I asked them how much it was, and then promptly fell down on the floor laughing. I told them to send out the kit the way I specified, and they informed me that there would be no return policy on a "jumbled" kit. I had them send it anyway. I told you this story in case they try to sell you "their" disk brake kit.

It's been almost two years since I did the swap, and I have used and abused the truck in many situations. I've never have a problem with it, even with the alignment being slightly off. It's for sure that it's a LOT safe in city traffic. I can even use it to haul a car trailer now (no electric brakes), before that it was almost too scary to comtemplate.
Q:
"Are you getting the crossmember from the 75 so that you can add disc brakes?
If you use that crossmember, then all you need are the lower control arms, the spindles,
calipers discs, pitman and idler arm plus the cross shaft and the tie rods.
That will pretty much set you up. I've done that swap and it made a world of difference."
--------------

Hey "Vaughn",
Question ... you don't need the Upper Control Arm as well ?
I'm planning this change for next Spring on my '62. ( using Drop Spindles )