 |
Now that we’re starting the reassembly process, we&8217re opting to use all-new stainless steel hardware from Totally Stainless. The prices at Totally Stainless are reasonable, especially considering the time you save not having to clean and detail the original nuts and bolts. The complete package comes bagged and labeled for each assembly (door hinges, dash cluster, sill plates, and so on), which makes reassembly as easy as possible. |
We began our front-end rebuild by reinstalling the front crossmember. We used the new stainless steel hardware and torqued the fasteners to the factory-specified 70 lb-ft. |
Before we started installing the front suspension components, we laid everything out to check that we had all the necessary parts and hardware to complete the job. |
Clark started by installing the lower ball joints. Before pressing them in, it&8217s a good idea to smear grease around the outside of the joints to ease reinstallation. |
A trick we used to prevent the newly painted control arms from being damaged while we pressed in the new ball joint was to cut a piece of vacuum hose and slip it over the cup that pushes against the top of the control arm. The pressure eventually cut through the hose, but not before it prevented any severe damage. |
We used a C-clamp ball joint press and an impact wrench to install the lower ball joints without trouble. After the ball joint was in, we installed the rubber grease boot. |
The upper ball joints bolt into the upper control arm with the supplied hardware from Performance Suspension Technology. |
Slip the ball joint through the top of the arm, place the rubber grease boot on from the bottom, and tighten the bolts. |
Once the ball joints were in, Clark installed new rubber bumpers from Early Classic Enterprises in the upper and lower control arms. |
Carefully thread the new grease fittings into the ball joints. Do this slowly and with as little force as possible; we broke one of ours. |
The control arm cross-shaft bushing cups thread into the control arms and the cross-shaft. To guarantee that they threaded in properly, we had to clean out some powder paint that got onto the threads. This area should have been masked before it was painted. |
Install the cross-shaft into the control arm, being sure to thread it evenly into both bushing cups. Put the control arm in a vise, with the cross-shaft held in place, and tighten the bushing cups. They’re hard to turn, and to prevent preload they shouldn&8217t be tightened all the way until the suspension is fully assembled and all the weight is back on the front end, at which time they should be torqued to 160 lb-ft for the uppers and 280 lb-ft for the lowers. The grease fittings were then installed in the bushing cups; the lower rear cups need 90-degree fittings, and all the others use straight ones. |
Clark used new U-bolts and nuts from the local Chevy dealer to install the completed lower arm, and he torqued them down to 40 lb-ft. The lower control arm cross-shafts have a drilled locator that keeps them from rotating or sliding back and forth. They need to be installed with this locator in the top front of the arm to contact the pin in the front of the crossmember. Also make sure the control arm is mounted with the shock mount to the rear. |
The pressed-in upper control arm studs were cleaned and reinstalled into the crossmember by pulling them tight with an impact wrench. The upper control arm was then installed with the flat side facing forward, and the nuts were torqued to 80 lb-ft. |
The Early Classic Enterprises 2-inch-dropped big-block coil springs were installed next. |
We made sure that the spring end was up against the stop (arrow) in the lower control arm spring bucket. |
Clark then installed the Early Classic Enterprises 2-1/2-inch-dropped spindles by carefully raising the lower control arm and placing the spindle onto the lower ball joint and then lowering the upper arm until the ball joint was through the top of the spindle. The upper ball joint castle nut was installed and torqued to 50 lb-ft, and the lower nut was torqued to 90 lb-ft. Once the castle nuts were tightened, the supplied cotter pins were installed. |
The vibration ring gasket was placed over the spindle shaft. |
Then the supplied hardware was used to install the dust shield. |
The spindle shaft was liberally coated with high-temp grease. |
The wheel bearings were thoroughly packed with high-temp grease before they were installed. Special bearing packing tools are available, but doing it by hand is still one of the best, albeit messy, methods. |
The inner wheel bearing was placed into the new drilled rotor, and with some gentle hammer taps on the bearing punch, the inner grease seal was installed. |
The rotor was carefully slipped over the spindle shaft, and the greased outer wheel bearing was installed. |
Once the slotted washer and spindle castle nut were installed, the nut was torqued to 15 lb-ft. The cotter pin and dust cap were then installed. |
We used the supplied hardware to install the new brake calipers and torqued them to 35 lb-ft. A couple of drops of Loctite on these bolts will ensure they don&8217t back out. |
A new idler arm was installed and torqued to 20 lb-ft. |
We also installed new tie-rods ends and adjusted them so that they were equally threaded into the adjuster. |
Our truck wasn&8217t originally equipped with power steering, but one call to Mullins Steering Gears quickly rectified the situation. Mullins supplied everything necessary for us to convert from manual to power steering, including the pump, bracket, pitman arm, and rebuilt quick-ratio steering box. |
The steering box was cleaned and detailed with Eastwood’s Spray Gray paint, which will keep it looking like new cast iron. The box was then installed. We used new stainless steel bolts from Totally Stainless and torqued them to 65 lb-ft. The steering box cover also received new stainless bolts. |
It's no secret that no matter what you're driving, whether it's a slammed or raised truck or a road-scorching Vette, suspension is the key to handling. A truck that has less horsepower but a tight and responsive suspension will be more fun to drive than one with gobs of power and a suspension that's loose and unmanageable.
Of course, the best situation is to have more power than you need and a suspension that can take full advantage of it. That’s what we’re shooting for with our 1968 GMC. To make this a reality, we contacted Dave Clark at Early Classic Enterprises for a set of the company’s dropped spindles and coils. Early Classic manufactures a wide variety of suspension lowering components for 1963-1987 GM trucks as well as disc brake conversion kits. And since we were going to need something to slow down this beast, Early Classic got us a disc brake conversion with cross-drilled rotors.
We ordered the rotors with a 5-on-5 bolt pattern, but Early Classic also has the early GM six-lug bolt pattern for truck owners who don't want to swap their wheels and tires or change the rear-end bolt pattern.
Even the best suspension products won't work well if the bushings and other components are worn-out, so we contacted Performance Suspension Technology for one of its complete suspension rebuild kits. Once we had everything we needed, we headed up to Early Classic Enterprises in Fresno, California, and followed Dave Clark as he got our chassis back on its wheels.