The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Torsion Bar Trucks?

As a TF owner I don't run into stuff like this but a young fella I know would like to know what year/s had torsion bar suspension. Who can tell me so I can tell him and look like less of a dummy?

Thanks in advance and best wishes,

Les

60-62 there maybe more details coming.

Larry

I got this information from Jolly's Site.

1960-62:
Torsion Bar Front, Most all Models
Coil Spring Trailing Arm Rear - 1000, 1500
Leaf Spring Rear - 2500 & Larger

1963-66:
Coil Spring Front, 1000, 1500 & 2500
I-Beam Front Axle - 3500 & Larger
Leaf Spring Rear - All Models
Some Larger Trucks had Air Ride Springs

Modelman, not trying to contradict but........63-66 didn't have leaf rears unless they were 4WD. They had coil springs up to '70, and '71 went to leafs and 5 lugs.

..........who is Jolly, and what is the link to their site?

Mike - Jolly is the 60-66 GMC guy, isn't seen here much anymore but lotsa good info there ... and note it's GMC, which did have leafs - also Chev's could be ordered with them, I had a 64 2x that had'em

Bill

Bill's right. I recently had to do a LOT of investigation to replace the rear end in my '62 Suburban.

For the original poster, the '60-'62 Chevy trucks had a torsion bar front suspension, with a crossmember near the trans that the end of the torsion bars attaches to. The frames on these trucks had an X-shape to them, and the exhaust pipes route under it (there's a raised area to clear the pipes. They bend in to go through this area, then bend back out--much like the '58-'64 Chevy passenger cars, and exactly like modern X-pipe performance exhausts--in fact, that's what i put in mine). Because of this torsion bar cross member and the exhaust pipes, the transmissions can not be lowered down from under the vehicle--they have to come out through the floor--the trans tunnel unbolts. At least that's what I found with mine. On a lift, it might be possible to wiggle it out, but only if you drop the exhaust pipes.
The trans doesn't have a mount--it bolts to the bellhousing, and the bellhousing bolts to mounts on the frame.
They have hydraulic clutches, with the master cylinder on the firewall, and the slave cylinder on the passenger side. The firewall master has two chambers side-by-side: one brake, one clutch. Converting to a dual reservoir is a must, but it's also expensive because of that clutch master. People do convert to mechanical linkage, ('63-up), but it'll require all the parts, including the bellhousing, and to my knowledge nobody sells them new so used parts need to be scrounged.

For the rear:
The GMC came with coil springs or leaf springs on '60-'62. In '63, the GMC went to leaf springs standard, with coil springs as the heavy duty option, while Chevy used coils standard, and could order leaf springs as the heavy duty option. I don't remember what they did for the '60-'62 GMC, but the Chevy DID come standard with coils. I think they GMC came standard with coils too.

The Chevy used a drop-out carrier rear end, that has a big round cover on the back. The GMC came standard with a Dana 44. They could both be ordered with limited slip differentials. The Chevy could be ordered with the Dana 44 as a heavy duty axle option. The '60-'62 Dana 44 had 30-spline axles, which is odd because everything else that used a Dana 44 used 19-spline axles (and the Dana 44 was used in a LOT of vehicles--Studebaker, Hudson, Willys, Checker cabs and Jeeps. In the '70s, most switched to 30-spline axles, though some applications still seem to have the 19-spline. They're still found under Ford Explorers, etc. An ebay search will show the wide range of modern applications. Gears are still available through DanaSpicer, and are better quality than aftermarket).
In '63, they all went to the Truck 12-bolt, which is NOT the same as the passenger car 12-bolt.
The mounting points for the rear end housing are unique for the '60-'62 trucks as well. The track bar mount is the same for '63, but I believe they moved the trailing arm perches.

My '62 Suburban uses a 1pc driveshaft. Im not sure when they made the switch to the 2-piece.

And now you know!

-Brad

Bill, I stand corrected on the GMC.........I've been researching for a tech tip on the swapping of the crossmembers of the 63-66 trucks for later series 71-87 Chevys. I have run across a few 70-71 GMC's, and the rears were coils, just like the Chevys.....I haven't run across a 63-66 Chevy 1/2 ton with leafs yet.....I just assumed that since the 70's GMCs I saw were coils, that they were the same as they chevys of the same year. I couldn't see them going from coils to leafs to coils then back to leafs again, but evidently they did......but you know what they say about assuming........!

Thanks Bill and Brad for the clarification.

Brad54,

Great reply and very educational. Pulling the tranny through the floorboards....

John

We just pulled the whole front clip out of a donor truck so I can rebuild the cross member and all the suspension, and then just swap it into my truck. I like doing projects like that--easier to keep the truck on the road during big conversions.

There were 10 bolts on the cross member, the steering box bolts, the drag link bolts, and unscrew the torsion bar bolts at the back. We pulled the engine for the guy too.

Sounds easier than it was... took us about 5 hours.

-Brad

I would like to know how you are supposed to get that big hevey 4 speed trans out throught the floor. I have a 62 never hsd to take it out yet.