Last month we kicked off the Pickup Fix-up Tour by showing you the Brown Bomber in all its rusted and pieced-together glory. This month, you'll notice that much of the work done to my '73 Chevy C10 occurs somewhat out of order. That's due mostly to logistical issues involved in getting the truck from shop to shop. This was especially important in the beginning of this saga because the truck didn't run. Naturally my first goal was to get the truck running and then lower it. I swapped the worn-out 350ci small-block Chevy and TH400 trans for a GM Performance Parts LS327/327 crate engine and Gearstar-built 4L65E tranny in my buddy Tim's driveway. Once I finished the engine and transmission swap, I loaded the truck onto a trailer and towed it from Anaheim to Sanger, California. Belltech Sport Trucks is located six hours north and it was inside its shop that this truck really started to take shape.
Everything on the C10 was worn out when I bought it. Every bushing, every shock, even the leaf springs didn't want to carry much of a load. New suspension and rolling stock was certainly in order before I could even think about driving the truck safely down the road for any length of time. Keeping with the simple theme of this build, I resisted the urge to add an air suspension, and instead went with a performance-minded static drop kit. The truck needed an alignment badly and I wasn't about to align it at home, drive it to Belltech, drop it, then align it again, so I towed it to Sanger. Belltech offers several different drop kits for Chevy C10s of any vintage. I went with the double throwdown kit that featured front and rear sway bars, a bolt-in C-notch, 3-inch drop spindles, 1-inch coil springs, an axle flip kit, and new shocks for all four-corners. Tag-teaming the install, three of us dropped the truck in 10 hours and I hit the road for home. Next month, we'll focus on replacing the old, worn-out bushings with new performance pieces from Energy Suspension.
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Tearing into the truck at Belltech Sport Trucks, in Sanger, California, we found out this
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Separating the ball joints so that we could disassemble the front suspension was a chore t
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Belltech's cast drop spindles relocate the spud a full three inches higher while placing t
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If you look closely you'll notice that the new Belltech springs are the same length as the
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On went the Belltech drop spindle and new coil springs. The new springs are wound tighter
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Next up, the factory brake rotors were slid onto the new spindles and the outer bearings r
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Belltech's Street Performance shocks are not adjustable, but the engineering team valved t
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Here's a look at the new suspension package installed onto the driver side of the truck.
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One aspect of this kit that I was really excited about were the front and rear sway bars,
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The stock front sway bar mounts are held onto the frame by rivets that had come loose so t
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The end of each bar was attached to the lower control arms with larger hardware that requi
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The new sway bar is covered in a durable gray powdercoat and sits even with the stock cros
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Here is the rear suspension: Note the pink brake drums. The previous owner painted the sto
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This is the axle flip and C-notch kit. The kit includes new U-bolts, hardware, and foam ru
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First, the stock bumpstops were removed from the framerails using an air chisel. That is o
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...drill all of the new holes for the C-notch plates and...
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...where to cut the framerails.
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This part was no fun. We had to drill twelve 1/2-inch-diameter holes into the frame. Care
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Again, Grade 8 hardware was employed and according to Belltech...
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...the wraparound design of this notch actually strengthened the C-channel framerail once
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The stock U-bolt hardware was sprayed with WD-40 and then the leaf springs were unbolted f
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It's time to flip the axle from below the leaf springs to the top of them. Belltech has mo
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Then, the new shocks and rear sway bar were installed. The sway bar was attached to the ax
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At the time these photos were shot, the truck still needed new bushings installed througho
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Time Spent Working: 10 hours
Degree Of Difficulty: Intermediate (cutting the frame and drilling the C-notch holes takes patience)
Tools Needed:
Standard wrenches and sockets, mini-sledge, floor jack and stands, drill and bits, Sawzall
Parts Used:
Belltech 4/6 drop kit with spindles, coils, flip kit BEL-705SPBLT $943.93
Nitto NT450 275/50R17 tires $127.80
Vintage Wheel Works V48 17x9-inch wheels $389.75
TOTAL: $3,014.13
(prices from Stylin.com, rimzoneonline.com, vintagewheelworks.com)