69-72 Chevy truck questions?

[dand38s]

I have a friend that has a 71 Chevy truck. He side swiped a telephone pole. The whole left side needs to be replaced including the cab and bed. I found a donor truck that is a 69 or 70 GMC. I am debatting if it would be easier to swap parts or to just put his drivetrain in the donor truck. My main problems is the donor is a 6 lug, his truck is a 5 lug. Can you just swap the front spindle and brakes? Also do the axles interchange or would the entire rear diff have to be changed out?

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: 69-72 Chevy truck questions?

I think the 3/4 ton is a different frame

[Lobucrod]

Re: 69-72 Chevy truck questions?

How about unbolting the whole front end and putting it under the earlier frame. Take out about 6 bolts on each side and the whole crossmember and suspension will drop out. Swap the rear end too and your done. The axles wont interchange. The 5 lug axles are a little longer.

[dand38s]

Re: 69-72 Chevy truck questions?

I was hoping the axles would swap since the donor truck was a rear leaf spring frame instead of the trailing arms coil spring suspension that he currently has.

[JoeyG]

Re: 69-72 Chevy truck questions?

Swap the upper and possibbly the lower ball joints then spindles onto the older truck. At least thats what I use to do for the 5 lug conversions. Don't forget the master cylinder and proportioning valve also. The rearend will have to be swapped out as the earlier axles are 3/4" shorter than the 71-72 units. Other than that its just swapping parts.

[trans am]

Re: 69-72 Chevy truck questions?

FYI, my '69 3/4 ton has 8 lug wheels, not 6. According to my service manual, 6 lugs were on C-10 (1/2 ton), 8 lugs on C-20/30 (3/4 and 1 ton). Year One catalog offers 5 and 6 lug setups for 1/2 ton, but I don't think the factory ever offered 5 lug setups.

[dand38s]

Re: 69-72 Chevy truck questions?

I had a 71 1/2 ton 2wd that came with 5 lugs. His 71 also has 5 lugs. I guess I either get to transfer the bed and cab or find a different rear diff. since I do not believe that his will bolt up.

[VTJUNK]

Re: 69-72 Chevy truck questions?

71-72 C-10 came factory stock with 5 lug wheels. They changed to 5 lug at the same time as they went to disc brakes. Aftermarket companies offer 6 lug disc brake conversions so you can use your original wheels. I use the 6 lug Wheel Vintiques rallye wheel on my 70 C10, and will still use them if I convert to discs.