Factory style tubular A Arms

[DamHoodlum]

Got a SBSC 89 chevy, Just wondering if the factory tubular style upper a arm will fit where a full factory style a arm is used, Does it the use the same ball joint and will it keep the proper suspension geometry?

 

[lester622]

If your talking about the 1 ton tubular factory arms, The ball joint taper is bigger on the 1 ton arms then on a 1/2 ton. You can swap out the ball joints for the 1/2 ton ones but you have to weld up 2 of the mounting holes and re-drill new holes for the half ton ball joints.

 

[someotherguy]

^^ What he said, but also just FYI they're not tubular. They're forged. They come on 1 tons and on 8 lug 3/4 tons.

Richard

 

[NEVR2LO]

I just did this mod on my 1999 obs crew cab. It was a 3/4 ton 2 wd truck and I converted it to 1/2 ton 6 lug. I reused the 3/4 ton A-arm, I welded up 2 of the 4 mounting holes and redrilled them to accept the 1/2 ton ball joint. then went with 1/2 ton drop spindles and 2" drop coil with LD c2500 6 lug rotors up front and swapped out the back with a 6 lug disc brake rear end out of a 2002 G.M.C. and incorporated a 6" axcle flip since I had to grind off the axcle saddles anyways. I turned out awesome.

Rob

 

[Texcuda]

Some other guy,

I read somewhere the forged upper arms off a K1500 are a direct swap. Is this true? I'm planning to go with the DJM 2/4 drop (lower control arms) and need to rebuild/replace my upper arms at the same time. Rockauto has brand new upper arms for $33 with bushings and ball joints. This would be a boon if it works.

Thanks

Edit: After more reading it appears the K1500 uses the same upper ball joint as the C1500, so the spindle shouldn't be an issue. I just need to make sure the actual control arm is swappable.

Thanks again.

 

[GaryCCR]

Please report back if the K1500 arms work Texcuda, I'm interested in trying this.

 

[Texcuda]

I've seen pics of trucks with forged arms but it hasn't been made clear what version of the truck the arms are coming from. I know the K series trucks had the forged arms (my 98 Z71 has forged arms). But some posts have led me to believe the arms were also available on certain 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. I want to swap to the forged purely for aesthetics and because I can new loaded arms for CHEAP.

 

[someotherguy]

I've seen pics of trucks with forged arms but it hasn't been made clear what version of the truck the arms are coming from. I know the K series trucks had the forged arms (my 98 Z71 has forged arms). But some posts have led me to believe the arms were also available on certain 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. I want to swap to the forged purely for aesthetics and because I can new loaded arms for CHEAP.

...

^^ What he said, but also just FYI they're not tubular. They're forged. They come on 1 tons and on 8 lug 3/4 tons.

C2500, C3500. Not K series. Ball joint is not the same. This is a C1500 that was in process of being converted to dually suspension using parts pulled from a C3500 - upper arms, spindles, rear axle.

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If you're just looking to do forged uppers and keep all your other C1500 stuff then you'll need to weld up and re-drill two holes in each upper arm for your C1500 style ball joint to fit correctly.

Richard

 

[Texcuda]

Hmmm, Rockauto lists the same upper ball joint for 93 C and K 1500.

Buyer's Guide : MOOG K6292 Ball Joint
CADILLAC ESCALADE 1999-2000
CHEVROLET ASTRO 1990-2005
CHEVROLET BLAZER 1992-1994
CHEVROLET C1500 PICKUP 1988-1999
CHEVROLET C1500 SUBURBAN 1992-1999
CHEVROLET C2500 PICKUP 1988-2000
CHEVROLET EXPRESS 1500 1996-2002
CHEVROLET EXPRESS 2500 1996-2002
CHEVROLET K1500 PICKUP 1988-1999
CHEVROLET K1500 SUBURBAN 1992-1999
CHEVROLET K2500 PICKUP 1988-2000



Edit: just checked my order from Rockauto for my 98 Z71 when I rebuilt the front end 3 years ago. It used the same K6292 upper ball joint that is listed above. So based on the part listing and having replaced the upper ball joints myself the spindle taper, length and balljoint outside diameters are at least the same in the control arm.

 

[ccreddell]

I turned out awesome.

Rob

Thats cool, but how did the truck turn out?