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View Full Version : Newbie Questions on 72 C10



Fstnlud
06-04-2014, 05:52 PM
Hello,

Ive got a 72 C10 and am looking for info, tips, ideas anything related to helping make my truck capable of autocrossing, maybe do sandhills open road challenge or very light track day.

I want to give it better handling abilities as well as boost out put. I have drop spindles up front and drop springs out back. For performance I have a very mildly built a 383 with th350 and 10 bolt rear.

I feel like 5800 for hotchkis kit is a bit pricey and would like to keep a modest buget and would like to know what to expect for cost to get truck set up to do well on track but be streetable? Also would like some help on tips for 383? Anything is helpful.

Thank you

low68
06-04-2014, 09:32 PM
How hands on are you. Are you comfortable cutting/welding or are you wanting bolt on parts to improve handling.

My impression of the Hotchkis setup is that is probably the closest to a true bolt on for these trucks. The biggest draw back in my opinion , other than price, is that it still uses the factory steering box. Of course you can replace that with a new one, but I still don't think you get the same precision as a rack setup. You could also look at the ride tech coil over set up.

If your only goal is to improve handling without making it too uncomfortable on the street, you could probably keep a lot of the stock suspension set up and just make a few modifications. I used to run about a 6.5/8 drop on my truck. I had 2.5 spindles in the front and 4inch Hotchkis spring in front. I had the 6" Hotchkis springs and 2" blocks in back. I had a CPP bolt in c-notch in the back that I welded in. This is nothing more than a standard lowering set up, but in the front, I moved my lower control arm forward about an inch. This gave me more caster. The upper control arms have some concave and convex spacers under the two bolts that can be removed to give you additional negative camber. I was able to get around -1.2 degrees of camber and around 7 degrees caster. I was running a Helwig 1 1/8 rear sway bar on the back and had just put on a Hotchkis 1 7/16 front sway bar on the front. Did it handle as well as some of the high end bolt on suspension set ups? Don't know. I was pretty happy with it for the money that I had in it.

If you are interested in spending more, No Limit makes a "bolt in" kit. I am now going to be running his entire suspension setup. I will have the wideride IFS, the fatbar four link in the rear, and the raised rear rail kit. I chose this kit for several reasons. First I wanted coilovers, it has a rack setup, and most of the fast trucks are running this front suspension. I have had to tweak a few things, but I did not run into anything that I did not know about from researching and helping a friend of mine install one as well. If you price out this whole set up on the No Limit website I think it comes out to around $8,000. I got it cheaper than that. I don't know if that is cause I bought it all at once or if Rob felt bad for me cause I smashed my truck into a concrete wall autocrossing.

If your budget doesn't allow for a whole new suspension, I would say focus on achieving the alignment specs that you want. That is what I had done previously and I was happy with the results.

Last bit of handling advice. If you haven't already, go over to the 67-72 truck board and read the "make it handle" thread that Rob started. It is packed with great info about making a truck handle well.

Fstnlud
06-05-2014, 07:43 PM
How hands on are you. Are you comfortable cutting/welding or are you wanting bolt on parts to improve handling.

My impression of the Hotchkis setup is that is probably the closest to a true bolt on for these trucks. The biggest draw back in my opinion , other than price, is that it still uses the factory steering box. Of course you can replace that with a new one, but I still don't think you get the same precision as a rack setup. You could also look at the ride tech coil over set up.

If your only goal is to improve handling without making it too uncomfortable on the street, you could probably keep a lot of the stock suspension set up and just make a few modifications. I used to run about a 6.5/8 drop on my truck. I had 2.5 spindles in the front and 4inch Hotchkis spring in front. I had the 6" Hotchkis springs and 2" blocks in back. I had a CPP bolt in c-notch in the back that I welded in. This is nothing more than a standard lowering set up, but in the front, I moved my lower control arm forward about an inch. This gave me more caster. The upper control arms have some concave and convex spacers under the two bolts that can be removed to give you additional negative camber. I was able to get around -1.2 degrees of camber and around 7 degrees caster. I was running a Helwig 1 1/8 rear sway bar on the back and had just put on a Hotchkis 1 7/16 front sway bar on the front. Did it handle as well as some of the high end bolt on suspension set ups? Don't know. I was pretty happy with it for the money that I had in it.

If you are interested in spending more, No Limit makes a "bolt in" kit. I am now going to be running his entire suspension setup. I will have the wideride IFS, the fatbar four link in the rear, and the raised rear rail kit. I chose this kit for several reasons. First I wanted coilovers, it has a rack setup, and most of the fast trucks are running this front suspension. I have had to tweak a few things, but I did not run into anything that I did not know about from researching and helping a friend of mine install one as well. If you price out this whole set up on the No Limit website I think it comes out to around $8,000. I got it cheaper than that. I don't know if that is cause I bought it all at once or if Rob felt bad for me cause I smashed my truck into a concrete wall autocrossing.

If your budget doesn't allow for a whole new suspension, I would say focus on achieving the alignment specs that you want. That is what I had done previously and I was happy with the results.

Last bit of handling advice. If you haven't already, go over to the 67-72 truck board and read the "make it handle" thread that Rob started. It is packed with great info about making a truck handle well.


I think im going to follow you lead on just tuning setup for now. Would qa1 adjustables be good for shock? Also would tubular A arms be worth a buy? Last with coil rear is rear sway worth it or not with pan hard? Im comfortable with alot knowledgeable with welding equipment us another thing lol. I would like to do quicker box but usure if its necessary. Going off what you said just think id ve better saving my pwnnies till I can go all out instead of half *ssing it. Thanks alot of info but appreciate it all. Was most helpful I have got yet.

low68
06-05-2014, 11:04 PM
I wanted to do tubular arms before I started messing with mine. I just didn't know which ones I wanted to do. I ended up not doing them because they all cost around $1000 for good ones. Some people have bought some off ebay and claim no problems, but I like to drive my cars hard and don't want to have to slow down to 2 mph when I see a bump, so I didn't want to buy those. The important thing to keep in mind that I think a lot of people either don't realized or they just get caught up in the "cool" factor of tubular arms is that the shape of the arms makes no difference as far as performance is concerned. If you take a tubular arm that has all the same pivot points and ball joint location as the factory arm, you will probably never notice a difference. That is assuming your factory one is in good condition. I would look your arms over well for cracks or anything else that would require replacement. If they don't need to be replaced, I would just keep your original ones. Plus if you don't have to buy new arms for $1000, that should cover the cost of all new high quality shocks.

I very much liked the way my truck handled when I added the rear sway bar. The back felt more planted and I could definitely feel less body roll on the truck. I had been to the autocross several times before I had the rear sway bar though. It is still fun without one. Plus you can always add one on later when the budget allows.

As for the QA1s. My dad has QA1 coilovers on his 50 pickup. They ride very nice. He has not gotten the sway bars put on his truck yet. So it is difficult to tell how it will handle once those are put on, but the ride is great. I would also look at the ride tech shocks. Those have been getting great reviews as well. That is what is going on mine, but I haven't driven on them yet. My brother's Camaro has them on the front and they seem to ride very well and react well to road imperfections. His car handles very well.

From what you are saying about your goals and the budget you are trying to stay on, I would say keep your control arms. Buy some high quality shocks. Play around with your alignment a little and you should get a decent handling truck for not a whole lot of money. When money allows, get a rear sway bar. When the tires are worn out, buy some sticky tires.

A quicker steering box may be nice, but again, not necessary to start. I had an AGR variable ratio box. I found myself cranking the wheel a lot on the tight goodguys courses. I would probably have bought a 12:1 box if someone made one. The quickest I had found was 14:1 in the truck box.

chevyguy_72
06-06-2014, 05:06 AM
Another thing to mention is the Hotchkis kit can be had for much less than $5800 just fyi...
Also if you happen to be within driving distance of Hotchkis location in California they will also hook you up with a similar price... it just doesn't include shipping... just have to give them a call...

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hss-80390

RobNoLimit
06-06-2014, 10:12 AM
One thing for C10 guys to watch is the ground clearance of the front crossmember. BEFORE you spend any $$ on suspension parts, make an honest descision about the finished ride height you'r after. Once you drop a C10 more than 4 1/2" (2" spring, 2 1/2" spindle), the front crossmember will be a headache, and hit the ground from time to time. Plus, the roll center starts to get really low if you drop 3" or more with a spring. Next, do your homework. Add up the cost of A-arms, spindles, springs, brakes, shocks, sway bars and steering parts. It WILL shock you. Compare this to complete suspension packages. Buy smart, do it once, do it right

theastronaut
06-06-2014, 02:00 PM
One thing for C10 guys to watch is the ground clearance of the front crossmember. BEFORE you spend any $$ on suspension parts, make an honest descision about the finished ride height you'r after. Once you drop a C10 more than 4 1/2" (2" spring, 2 1/2" spindle), the front crossmember will be a headache, and hit the ground from time to time. Plus, the roll center starts to get really low if you drop 3" or more with a spring. Next, do your homework. Add up the cost of A-arms, spindles, springs, brakes, shocks, sway bars and steering parts. It WILL shock you. Compare this to complete suspension packages. Buy smart, do it once, do it right

X2!!! I've raised my crossmember 1.5" to help with ground clearance, had to raise the upper bag mounting pad 2" so the bags aren't compressed too much at ride height, switched to No Limit's rack and pinion, and I'm lowering the upper A-arm pivot .5" for a better camber curve. I'm also making my own A-arms and big brake kit to save money... after all that I still would have been way better off to buy a front suspension kit like No Limit's WideRide.