The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 60-66 front end question

Hello all:
As I am still learning this is what I know so far----
The front end on 60-62 was a torsion bar front-end suspension and 63-66 was a coil spring front end. In general if I were looking for a basic every day driver type of truck which of the two front-end configurations would I find more comfortable/pleasant? Is it true that the later front-end configuration stayed the same until 87 ???

Your opinions are appreciated.
Thank you

Either one would be fine as a driver, both have their advantages and sisadvantages, though. The tortion bar suspension is easily adjustable for ride jight and spring rate by simply turning the adjuster bolts, and will give a smooth ride. But many of the susspension components, namely the balljoints, are either non-existant, hard to find, or if you do find them, very expensive. There's also virtually no upgrades for them, such as disk brakes.
The coil spring suspension also gives a smooth ride, but in order to get either a softer ride or higher spring rate for heavier loads, you have to disassemble the suspension and replace springs, or for ride hight alone, the spindles. However, there is much better parts availability as most of the parts are the same up to the '70 model year. Upgrades such as disk brakes are easier, too. There's several kits that either use the original spindl e or replaces it with one for both a brake and lowering upgrade, or you can swap in later spindles from a '73-'87 simply be swapping to the later style balljoints. Then there's even one other option, and that's to use the entire '73-'87 front suspension crossmember, which will get you power steering, too. It only requires drilling 4 holes to install.
To answere the last question, well, yes and no. The basic layout is the same, but there are some components differences, primarily in the balljoints ans spindles. This has more to do with the braking system that the actual suspension, though. And those parts can be adapted by simply swapping to the later balljoints, as they can be interchanged.

I LOVE the comfortable ride of my '62 Suburban's torsion bar front end.
However, if I had to do it over again and was specifically targeting a vehicle purchase, I'd go with '63 for the wrap-around windshield and the coil sprung front end.
Rebuilding the torsion bar front end is very expensive. I have found a single company that makes a front disc brake kit, and it's expensive (But I gotta do it, so...) The front end very badly needs a sway bar, and I haven't found anybody that offers one specifically for the T-bar's lower control arms so I'll have to adapt and modify. That doesn't intimidate me, but might put off most casual enthusiasts.
I did find a set of lower ball joints on Ebay for $75...and the company keeps listing them, so they've got more. Otherwise, most of the "normal" places I looked were between $100-$150 EACH. Uppers are cheaper, tie rod ends and the rest aren't as horrible either, but still usually a little more than the later bits.
And I'm sure that torsion bars eventually wear out just like a coil spring. I don't know where to get those.

All that being said, I'm gonna spend the long dollar on rebuilding the stock front end and upgrading to disc brakes and power steering; I put about 15,000 miles on the tub last year as my daily driver, and don't see that changing. For that kind of mileage, I really want to keep that comfortable torsion bar front suspension!

-Brad

If one of those torsion bars breaks it usually causes a wreck. The front end drops suddenly. It,s very rare on the small trucks but was a problem on the larger ones. That is the reason GM dropped that design after 3 years.

My 62 has the wrap/around but went to the coil from the 74, then ditched the springs for air bags. easy change.

I have had no trouble with the torsion bars in my 61. It rides like a skateboard, but such is life in old trucks. I like the way the 60-61's look, and that was my deciding factor. I got the wrap windshield, cooler "knee knocker" doors, and 4 headlight front end. I don't think that any of the other 60-66's are as nice looking as the 60-61. That is just my personal opinion.

Back to your question. The coil sprung trucks are going to be easier to work on and make alterations to, but it shouldn't be too hard to swap out torsion bars either.

I say go with the look you like and then sort out the details because in the end the little things matter less than how much you like to stand and stare at the truck of your dreams!

Good Luck!

Kyle

thank you for your information.
paul