60-62 Air Ride Guide

Let's talk 60-62 C10s! I have always loved this year model truck. You can't beat a knee knocker cab with a pig nose hood!! So I began to wonder... "why don't more people build these trucks?" As I began to research this year model, I quickly learned, well... they're... different... We can start this guide there.

What's different about 60-62s compared to 63-66 C10s?

Torsion Bar Front Suspension - The main difference on the 60-62 front suspension is the torsion bars instead of coil springs like on the 63+ C10s. The torsion bar setup needs to be removed in order to install air ride. There are a few ways to accomplish this:

1. I offer a Torsion Bar Delete Kit from Velaworks that allows you to remove the torsion bar, then weld in the needed brackets to install a cup into your lower control arm. The kit comes with the brackets for the ball joint, lower cup, and control arm bracket, and upper bag bracket. In addition to the torsion bar delete kit, you will need to upgrade to disc brakes with drop spindles. I offer a kit specifically for the 60-62 control arms and ball joints! You can purchase that kit here: 60-62 Disc Brake + Drop Spindle Kit

2. Another option is completely removing your front crossmember and upgrading it to a 63-72 or a 73-87 crossmember. This would require some fabrication and a couple holes drilled. I found a great article on the forums explaining this installation here. 

3. The third options (and the option I'm using for my 1960 build "Sonny") is the 60-62 Porterbuilt Front Dropmember. This kit is a direct bolt in replacmemnt that will allow you to fully lay frame on 22s. It includes the drop member, control arms, rack and pinion, and upgraded disc brakes. 

X Frame Rear Suspension - The 60-62s are known for their X frame rear suspension. The mid section of the frame has a large frame stiffener in the middle of the truck that can be hard to deal with while installing air ride. This doesn't cause much of a problem if you're installing air ride following my guide since we are using trailing arms in the rear. If you were trying to lay frame, the middle X hangs slightly below the rest of the frame and would need fabricated. 

1. In our case, the only modification to the center section of the frame is notching the rear upper X area to have clearance for your driveshaft. Similar to a "topeless trailing arm crossmember on the 63-72 trucks, driveshaft clearance is vital. All you need to do is cut out a 6 inch section on the upper rear section of the X frame. Below is an example.