Hey guys! We got my 72 c10 here.
This was the development truck for QA1 suspension. Let's check it out.
Hey guys! Dave Kass here with QA1 checking out my 72 c10. This was the development truck for our 63
to 72 c10 suspension let's walk you through that development and the truck and its configuration
today. So the truck itself I acquired this truck years ago. I found it locally actually
I was looking for a c10 for many years and just didn't find anything up in the area up here in
Minnesota that wasn't a complete rust bucket. This truck though when I got it it was rough around the
edges it still is rough around the edges but that's something that I like. But I fixed all
the major rust that I found around the rockers the cab corners and stuff like that and now this
truck is just something that I feel comfortable driving anywhere anytime and do anything with.
So we sought off to build a suspension system for these trucks years ago
and our goal was just that. Something that is very versatile something that could be used in
any type of event drive across the country do things like the Power Tour and everything in
between and this was the platform that we used and went through several different iterations of
designing testing validation with the build and now you see it in its form that it is today.
So let's talk about the suspension that's on these c10s so they come factory with an independent
front suspension but the ride height is fixed and one of the biggest things that we wanted to do was
we wanted to give you an opportunity to get the perfect stance for your truck.
We all know that the wheel and tire configurations you might choose could be a big 20-inch wheel like
this or might be more of a traditional 15 that you might put on there and getting that ride
height perfect and that stance perfect for your liking can only be done through a coil-over. So
we developed a bolt-in system with upper and lower control arms that adapts right back to
the factory mounting locations so that you don't have to do any major modification to the truck.
Easy installation you could do it on your garage floor just like I did.
For the rear these are truck arm style rear suspension. One of the things that's really neat
about that is we're able to adapt a full-length truck arm that's tubular that QA1 offers
but one of the unique features is it gives you adjustable pinion angle so that when you get
the trucks down lower you can tune the pinion angle and get that corrected so that you're
not wearing out u-joints and having driveline misalignment angles later on with the build.
The coil-over suspension back there same deal it's a direct bolt-in you pound out a
few rivets you cut a c-notch so you can get down to a nice level stance that you want.
Super easy install panhard bar system this truck handles and drives amazing.
I have probably had this truck in a couple dozen different states over the years it's very very
very rarely seen a trailer. So let's talk about the truck in its current configuration it's a
six-inch drop front six-inch drop rear. The diameter of the wheel and tire is a 29 inch
tall tire so it is pretty tall uh if you're on an 18 inch wheel which these are 20s trucks are
actually going to sit quite a bit lower you'll gain about another inch worth of ride height drop.
But the suspension does have room to go up from here so if you're looking for more of
that traditional look you do have that option get that perfect stance that you're looking for.
The configuration on the wheels and tires it's a Rocket Racing Wheel it's a
20x8 1/2 front 20x10 rear. I do have room to go larger in the front or wider rather and I
do plan on doing that. I could easily fit a 285 in the front and I actually just installed a set
of Slosh Tubz which is a wider inner wheel tub that looks factory that allows me to go
significantly wider. The brakes that are on this truck it's a Wilwood all way around.
Wilwood makes a great product it's a six piston front four piston rear and the setup on it's a 13
inch front and rear. All right so let's check out the combination we have under the hood.
So one of the cool things is this is still a small block Chevy it does not have an LS motor.
It's a 400 cubic inch small block Chevy backed by a gear star 4l60e it's one of their level
four transmissions which means it's bulletproof and that says something for a 4l60e too trust me.
For drivability reasons put on there a Fitech 600 horsepower fuel injection system that's on
there and that pairs nicely with the tank that we have in the rear also which has
EFI in it. One of the things that I spent a lot of time thinking about was reliability
and since this truck goes everywhere it does everything there are a few things that stuck out
to me that I really want to make sure that we had dialed in in a big way. Charging system was one
because with running big fans and different things accessory wise
when you're sitting in traffic it's 100 degrees outside and you're building that ambient
temperature and heat soaking everything I want to make sure I can keep the truck cool.
So it's got a big Be Cool radiator on it a massive trans cooler on it as well. Fans backing that
but I have a OPTIMA battery in here that's backed by a big high output alternator to
make sure I can keep everything charged and everything cool so that was a big thing for
me. But another thing too was simplicity. One of the things that I was thinking through is
you know even things like the brakes you know I'm a big fan of manual brakes I just like the linear
feel that they have on the pedal and it just cleaned up the firewall nicely didn't have
a big booster there and I honestly wasn't sure how much vacuum this engine would be making so
I wanted to make sure I didn't have to rely on engine vacuum for any power assist for the brakes.
But the truck itself otherwise just super reliable. And as I work my way back QA1 carbon
fiber driveshaft which in these trucks you have a two-piece at least in the long beds and going
to a one-piece carbon fiber driveshaft the NVH reduction that we got out of that was significant.
Literally just a couple days into the first Power Tour that we did with a two-piece driveshaft
I was calling back at the shop saying it's time to put a carbon fiber driveshaft in. Quick
Performance 9-inch which is an interesting thing with this truck is they come stock with a 12-bolt
right from the factory. This does have a 9-inch but it works perfect with the QA1 kit so it bolts
right back into the factory location no cutting no welding none of that was needed the guys over at
Quick Performance they can put all the c10 stuff back on your rear end and I'm really happy with
going with that decision. While I do still have a fuel cap here actually I do have a bed mount
fuel system so I did move my tank to the back and why that's important is we thought really
carefully about the packaging of our panhard bar system to make sure that for a rear mounted fuel
tank you're not going to have any issues with the packaging of your panhard bars hitting that tank.
Otherwise I mean the truck is pretty simple the interior of the truck is still a simple bench seat
that we have in there it's through TMI. And then the gauges they look stock from a kind
of unassuming eye but it's a Dakota Digital RTX gauge and gives me all the digital readouts that
I need to know for different things that the truck is doing but it looks stock and I wanted
that I didn't want something that looked not in place. So there you have it there's my c10.
I love this truck I love it because it's got a lot of power you can take it anywhere do anything with
it it's rough around the edges so if it gets a rock chip it doesn't hurt my feelings. But you'll
see this truck around the country doing different events whether it be events like Power Tour
a QA1 #goDRIVEit cruise or anything in between. If you see it stop by check it
out. And I guess speaking of #goDRIVEit I'm gonna go drive right now. Take care guys.