C10 - C20 Differances

[fleetwood]

Hi Y`all

Forgive me for asking a simple question - but I just bought a nice original 68 Chevy C20 with 396. What are the differances in a C10 and aC20?

 

[TCain]

it is the wieght they can carry its like the differance in a 1500 and a 2500 i think the c10 is a half ton while the c20 is a ton

 

[INGRAM1943]

A C-10 is a 1/2 ton truck with the wishbone/coil spring suspension in the rear. A C-20 is a 3/4 ton truck with leaf spring suspension in the rear. I think the 1 ton truck was a C-30??? The difference's are the payload capacities of each vehicle. Some other difference's may be gas tank size, saddle gas tanks, gas filler location(s) frame design & construction, shock absorbers and anything else related to weight bearing capability.

 

[BradChev Duty]

They also had different axles....3/4 ton had 8 lugs and 1/2 ton had 6 lugs

 

[67Cowboy]

C10 Chevy 1/2, C1500 GMC, C20 Chevy 3/4ton C2500 GMC

C20 or C2500 are made a little heavier duty than the 1/2 ton: Heavier ball joints, tie rod ends, springs, and they have greaseable bronze bushings in the A-frame while the 1/2ton use rubber a-frame bushings. Also C20 uses the 1350 heavy u-joints apposed to the 1310 smaller joint in 1/2 ton. The C20 rear axle is the HO72 (Big Pumpkin), like the front it has bigger bearings, shafts, tubes and gears over the little 8.5 10bolt or 8.75 12 bolt in the 1/2ton. All design to be a heavier duty 8 lug truck made to haul quite a bit more weight than the lighter weight 1/2 ton made for economy.
Most of the other differences have to do with the package ; CUSTOM, CUSTOM DELUXE, CHEYENNE, CHEYENNE SUPER, CST, SIERRA, SIERRA GRANDE, CUSTOM CAMPER, SUPER CUSTOM, LONG HORN ETC...

My '67 C20 came factory with coils spring rear suspension but most 3/4ton trucks like my '69 Custom Camper Camper came with leaf springs, and it was the 1/2 tons that came with leaf.

 

[sweet70beast]

Weather it's a 1/2 ton or a 3/4 ton doesn't really matter as far as what springs it came with. It matters how they were ordered and if Chevy or GMC.
On Chevys coil springs were standard and leafs were optional. On GMCs leafs were standard and coils were optional. I have seen 1/2 and 3/4 tons both ways.

 

[capev86]

yeah....the 3/4 tons basically got heavier duty versions of the 1/2 ton parts....especailly at the rear. 1/2 ton rear springs are not rugged enough for hauling loads in my honest opinion. the 3/4 tons with rear coils have thickened trailing arms and the panhard bar is way thicker with bigger ends....a definite plus that i like about my 72 suburban 3/4 ton. the one tons were the only trucks that got leaf springs on the rear exclusively. but you can get 3/4 ton HD option coils for the back that give a 3/4 ton the weight capacity of a 1 ton.....the axles and frames are heavy duty enough. 1/2 tons got the 12 bolt rear end. '72 and older 3/4 ton trucks came standard with the HO52 corporate/eaton rear axle that came with a 4.10 or 4.57 gear (higher ratios also exist. an aftermarket 3.90 gear was available but is no longer produced. the HO52 and its big brother the HO72 (1 ton) had a removable third member like a ford 9 inch and bolt in full floating axles like on the 14 bolt full floater axle that followed. the HO72 had a pinion preload bolt and only was used on leaf springs. you could do a retrofit to a coil spring truck by welding the panhard bar mount and trailing arm perches to axle....but the 52 is plenty stout. there was also a dana 60 on the 3/4 ton trucks with big blocks (3.50-something gears). the corporate axle has a prettier looking diff housing though and is something of a rarety now as many offroaders run the dana axles because they are more modern and parts are more prevalent. you can still get the seals, gaskets,etc new if you do some searching and can live with the fact that most auto parts people out there won't have an clue about the axle you have. the HO52 is often mistaken for an HO72 because they are essentially the same axle. ok....thats already too much rambling......

 

[capev86]

2wd suburbans (like my truck) came standard with the 4.57 geared HO52 and never got the 4.10 gear from the factory, unlike pickups and 4 wheel drive burbs with automatis, so i am switching the third member over from a donor pickup. will be running royal purple synthetic gear oil.....'cause any rear end works better with some tlc.

if your 2wd truck didn't come with a front sway bar, i hear through the grape vine you can swipe one from the next generation truck. 1 tons and camper specials reportedly got 1-1/4 inch sway bars (1-1/8" was standard and even smaller on the 67-72). the front chassis was carried over into the next generation but GM ditched the fancy trailing arm rear end in favor of cheaper/simpler leaf springs. the trailing arm suspension is good but its a good idea to replace the worn out old rubber bushings on the trailing arms and panhard bar with poly to eliminate slop in the rear suspension. remember that 3/4 ton trucks use the same bushings for the trailing arm, but larger bushings on that beefy track bar.....i have them in poly alreadyu installed on my burb but most suppliers only sell the 1/2 ton variety in poly.....as always, research is key.

 

[I_FLY_LOW]

Is there much difference in the outside appearances of the c10 and c20?
Are their parts interchangeable?
Can you easily upgrade a c10 to a c20, or are the chassis' different?

 

[2tons of fun]

chassis are the same for the most part, the steel maybe a bit thicker.

the trailing arms are plated in a 3/4 and not in a 1/2

you could get 1/2 and 3/4 with coils or leafs. you could also get a half leaf helper spring but idk if it was 3/4 only.

a 3/4 would have a ho52 or a d60ff, [rare 1/2s had a d60 sf 6lug]

from the out side the only difference is the lug count and the ff rear hub.

with a bbc the front coils will have some extra load to them too.

there are minor difference like the lower a arm is slightly different as is the spindle/knuckle, but they can be made to inter change.

 

[aggiejon]

Does anyone have a HO72 with a 4.10 gearset they would like to be rid of?

 

[ChevyMitch]

Hay, if anyone can help?
Please look at my over-load "updated" over-load spring thread, as it has more info.
Thanks