The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts rebuild or replace front end?

So Grigg built a new front end for his truck to get modern driving capability and Corpo is rebuilding an existing front end with some updated components. Is one method "better" if you want to drive at highway speeds? This is pretty theoretical at this point but dreaming about driving is pretty close to actually doing it.

Hey Bob, I replied to you in my thread but i will add a few things here.. I don't consider myself an expert but here are a few thoughts

One of the reasons for me to rebuild the front end is to be able to run old style tall skinny tires that fit on the old style rims. This is the look I want for my truck, I actually am planning on running big white walls. I am also the kind of guy who likes to reuse as much of an old thing that i can, rather then sending it off to the scrap yard. Part of me just likes to see if I can pull it off.

The way Grigg did his truck makes the most sense to me honestly (if you dont have your mind set on the wheel tire combo I want) Buying one of these donor trucks like Grigg did give you an updated front and rear end. Like i said in my reply to you on my brake thread, if you dont do something to the rear end you wont have to worry about getting to highway speeds. Ill see if I can did up my thread on the rear end modifications I did so you can see that too.

Just my thoughts..

Thanks for the thought. I have been looking for your rear-end post but haven't been able to find it. If you could even give me the key words I could hunt it up.

I guess I'm trying to make the best decisions that will make my old Maple Leaf road ready, so more info is always better.

Thanks

I bumped it back to the top... its a few threads down

I was just looking at Griggs conversion and I realize just how narrow my truck is. He had to cut out 10 inches to get to 69". I've got to get to 62.5". He also recommends using the original steering setup if possible.

Yep.. im sure your axle is similar to mine.. i know there are some slight differences between the Maple leafs and the US trucks.. but my front end is around 60" wide dont know exactly. just looked at your picture.. i would be pretty confident that the axle is the same width..

Got any extra grills haha... i would love to have one of those inserts.. those sure are cool..