The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks 3/4 to 1/2-ton conversion on my '65 C20

Due to the difficulty in finding control arm bushings and the limited selection of wheels in the style that I want for the truck eventually, what are my options for converting my C20 down to 1/2-ton specs?

I've seen the conversion spindles that Early Classic makes, but that doesn't help me solve the control arm bushing issue. Mine are in pretty bad shape and I can't seem to find a full set anywhere. Will a C10 front end bolt onto my frame? I'm not too concerned about the rear end, that should be easy enough. Are there other differences other than the tie rods and springs?

Aaron

Have you looked at the replacement parts CPP has to offer? They have both upper and lower. Look about a third of the way down the page.

http://www.classicperform.com/6092chevtrk.htm#13

Yeah, you can bolt on the whole front crossmember from a C10. If you search here and/or elsewhere, you can find plenty of info on this. You might even be able to find a junked out C10 for free or next to nothing.

Thanks for the info guys, looks like I have some options anyway!

Aaron

Have you gone to a parts store? My CarQuest still has listings for my 54 2 ton and they could get all the parts I ever needed for my 64 pick-up too. A lot of those parts were the same for decades and still easy to get without going to a specialty vendor,
Scott

Moog part numbers if you want to try to get them locally, Upper control arm shaft kit K6135 or K2556 (Problem Solver with offset shaft for extra camber adjustment), Upper balljoint K680, lower balljoint K6025. My catalog shows no listing for a '65 C20 for a lower control arm bushing kit, but it does list K6147 for the '67-'91. Also of note, if you use upper balljoint K6122 and lower balljoint K6129, you can use the '71-'86 C20 and '87-'91 R20 steering knuckles to get a disk brake upgrade using factory parts. You will also need to use the outer tie rods and I beleive the adjuster sleeves for the later style truck.
There's really no need to "downgrade" your 3/4 ton to 1/2 ton specs to keep it on the road, as it has very good interchangeability with the later model '70s and '80s trucks.

I haven't tried just recently, but I have tried my local parts stores as well as all the usual vendors and I forget whether it's the upper or lower control arm bushings just don't seem to be available. Going by the post above it's probably the lowers. Thanks for the part numbers Bill, I'll keep that for reference depending on what I do.

I know it seems silly to downgrade it to a 1/2 ton, but for the type of build I'm going for it makes sense to me if it isn't too much hassle. Sure, it would be easier to start with a 1/2 ton, but this was the first vehicle I owned and I intend to keep it around

Who knows, maybe I'll keep it just the way it is. At least I lucked out and got one with 4.11 gears in the rearend instead of 4.56, so I don't really have to ditch the stock rearend.

It's always nice to have too much truck than not enough....
Scott