1979 Big 10 Suspension Upgrade
Continuing our series of build projects, we were able to source a mint 1979 Chevrolet C10 Big 10. We happened upon this truck while a local automotive museum was selling off vehicles, and it was a lucky break to find something this clean in Central Pennsylvania. The C10 is a 40k-mile untouched truck that lived an easy life considering the miles and condition. This truck is believed to have had a couple of areas repainted in the past as the decals don't look to be factory, but it does indeed have the heavy-duty suspension indicative of the Big 10 package.
Before and After
Stage 2.5 Handling Kit
With our clean slate, we worked out a plan for the C10's build. Our goals are to drop the stance and drastically improve the handling of this old square body. Over the past few years, we have put thousands of miles on our 1987 C10 as proof of concept for our C10 Handling Kit packages. We chose our UMI Performance 1973-1987 GM C10 Handling and Lowering Kit, Stage 2.5 for this build, which will lower the truck by 4.5" in the front and 6" in the rear, utilizing UMI's made-in-the-USA parts and Viking's 19 double adjustable shocks.
C10 Handling and lowering, Stage 2.5
Front Suspension Swap
The C10's disassembly is straightforward: remove the factory springs and spindles. We installed the 1963-1987 GM C10 Front Lowering Springs, 2″ drop paired with our freshly powder-coated 1973-1987 GM C10 Lowering Spindle, 2.5″ drop, netting us a 4.5" drop in the front. Handling improves with the use of our 1963-1987 GM C10 Front Sway Bar, 1-3/8″ Tubular mounted on our 1963-1987 GM C10 Front Sway Bar Brackets, Lowered. Our Big 10 didn't have a factory front sway bar, so adding the mounting brackets was necessity. Lastly, we completed the installation with a pair of Viking Performance Shock mounted on our 1963-1987 GM C10 Shock Stud Kit, Front.
Front Suspension Build Video
Rear Suspension Swap
The rear install can be accomplished independently, but an extra pair of hands is welcomed. We started by removing the leaf springs while supporting the rear end. Reinstallation of the rear end is made simple with our 1973-1987 GM C10 Flip Kit. Our kit moves the leaf springs under the rear end, resulting in a 6" drop on the rear of the C10. Next is our 1973-1987 GM C10 Rear Sway Bar, 1″ Adjustable, which helps keep the truck well-planted in the corners and adds a much-needed boost to handling our Big 10. We completed the rear installation with Viking Performance Shock, on our UMI Performance 1973-1987 GM C10 Shock Relocation Kit, Rear and 1973-1987 GM C10 Shock Stud Kit, Rear.
C10 Build Series
Now that the truck is down on the ground and has the stance we are looking for, we need to try something new on the wheels. Opting to follow the lead of many of our customers, we decided to go big. Thanks to our great friends at Detroit Steel Wheel, we added a set of John R's in 22" x 9.5" wrapped in Yokohama Parada Spec-X 285/30R22 tires. Since completion, we have driven the C10 to Carlisle Truck Nationals, Pizza Power Tour in Pittsburgh, and numerous local cruise events. The truck has excellent handling characteristics, and we look forward to continuing with this build series, adding our UMI Performance A-Arms in the future and some prototype products our engineers are working on.
Image Gallery
