A body - B body spindle swap

[tnts72]

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/chassis-suspension/mopp-0503-swapping-a-and-b-disc-brake-spindles/

Anyone here running B or E body spindles on a 72 or earlier A body? I would like to put the 11.75 disk setup on the front of this 72 once I find some big ball joint upper control arms... Plenty of these B bodies, one 72/73 satellite in particular, in the local yard I could get the spindles / steering arm and lower ball joint off of easily... Sure the calipers and hoses would be junk, but may work as cores or trot line weights! Just figured there would be some pros on here that could weigh in. There are also a couple F body Aspen Volares in this yard, would there be pros / cons one over the other?

 

[autoxcuda]

I run 73-74 E-body and 73-76 A-body spindles (same part number) with 11.75 disk.

The 70-72 E or B body spindles will not accept the larger inner bearing of a 11.75 disk.

A 73 and up B-body will have the bigger inner bearing. It's a slightly taller spindle. IIRC, it's the same spindle as the F-body Aspens. IMHO, nothing wrong with slightly taller spindle. As shown in the article you linked to.

 

[Revhendo]

Done it. Running it. Works fine. Drive on.

 

[tnts72]

So basically I'm hunting for any B / M / F body spindle. The hard part will be finding reasonably priced big ball joint upper control arms. The Dr. Diff spacers could fill in until the big ball joint arms come along or I decide to buy aftermarket

 

[Revhendo]

The arms are out there. I think I've even seen some in the for sale ads recently. Aftermarket arms aren't a bad deal either.

 

[autoxcuda]

So basically I'm hunting for any B / M / F body spindle. The hard part will be finding reasonably priced big ball joint upper control arms. The Dr. Diff spacers could fill in until the big ball joint arms come along or I decide to buy aftermarket

Must be 1973 or newer.

 

[tnts72]

Here is the old wreck I planned to pull the front brakes off of... Looks like a 73 or 74, but I think it had 11 - 72 on the door jamb sticker(was very faint and hard to read)... What is the difference between the B body parts pre vs post 72?

 

[autoxcuda]

11-72 is a 1973 Model year car.

The taller spindle with large bearings is found on cars with Isolated K-members. Meaning the K-member has rubber bushings between it and the unibody frame.

Looks like this. See the rubber biscuit and front and back of K-member?

 

[dennday67]

I have an extra set of arms with new bushings and good ball joints. Cleaned, painted and ready to go. Bought them to do the same swap but came across a full disc brake setup.

 

[mguner]

The taller spindle will also allow you more travel in the front suspension. The nose can come up more before it tries to lift the tires. This can be a bonus for weight transfer and control in a drag car.

 

[tnts72]

Yessir I do autoxcuda, looks like what I saw when I took a look at that satellite. Should be good to go. Dennday67 you have a PM.

 

[tnts72]

Next task is figuring out which master cylinder to put on this thing. Seem like there are about 50 options / adapters etc... 131323M shows for a 70 340 duster disc / drum setup, bore size of 15/16" may be a bit undersize for the 11" brakes all around...

 

[jos51700]

You want spindles from fmj cars, and brake calipers and brackets from cars with vin starting with r, w, x, s.

User owhetzel has a set of reasonably priced fmj spindles for sale.

Edit:some say fmj spindles are not appropriate. I'll advocate e and 73-up a body spindles, with fmj at your own risk.

 

[dennday67]

Im running an adapter and an aluminum body 5th ave master cylinder. Glad I upgraded to disc brakes since some lady pulled out in front of me without looking in a mini van today while I was cruising at 45 mph. First time since the cars been redone that I've locked them up.

 

[72bluNblu]

Any of the 73+ F/M/J/B/R body spindles will work. They are all the same. The B/R cars had the option for the larger brakes, so they might have the 11.75" caliper brackets. All of the F/M/J cars would have the 10.98" rotors and smaller brackets.

The F/M/J/B/R spindles not working/causing problems is complete BUNK. I run them on all of my cars. They're fine. If Ehrenberg had actually bothered to check the geometry instead of just saying they're different and therefore won't work, this wouldn't be a problem. You can see the actual geometry analyzed here. Real numbers, actual geometry.

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/chassis-suspension/mopp-0503-swapping-a-and-b-disc-brake-spindles/

If anything, running the later spindles is BETTER for cars with wider, modern compound tires.

As for the master cylinder- manual disk A-bodies ran 1-1/32" bore m/c's, power disk A-body's ran 15/16". Using a 15/16" bore m/c with a manual disk set up will result in an increased pedal effort, but also a higher line pressure. The 1-1/32" bore with manual disks will have a softer pedal effort, so it will be easier to push, but the line pressure generated is lower too.

I run my Challenger with F/M/J spindles and 11.75" B/R rotors with a stock power m/c (for now), and my Duster with F/M/J spindles and Dr. Diff's 13" cobra kit with a lightweight 15/16" manual m/c, also from Dr. Diff. The EL5 GT is getting set up with F/M/J's and 11.75 rotors as well. It will probably also get a 15/16" bore manual m/c.

Also, you CAN use the earlier, 70-72 B/E-body disk spindles. Dr. Diff makes a sleeve that allows you to run the later inner wheel bearings. Not my first choice, but it can be done...

http://www.doctordiff.com/70-72-b-e-body-disc-brake-spindle-sleeves.html

 

[tnts72]

I will be running either the B or the M spindles on this duster. Already have the set off the satellite, plan to pull another set off a Diplomat and sell one or the other. The diplomat has the sliding calipers and I would prefer to use the pin on variety like off of the satellite. Are the M body spindles just a little lighter weight than the B spindles or is there any difference at all? Should be able to swap the caliper brackets, both are 10.98". Will have to keep looking for a set of the 11" caliper brackets.

 

[hemi71x]

Will have to keep looking for a set of the 11" caliper brackets.

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=320909

Right here in the For Sale section of the forum.

 

[tnts72]

Thank you Hemi71x, but I would am planning to run the pin type calipers. I have actually already ordered the 10.98" replacement rotors and calipers. Sure it will be a real improvement over the 9" drums. Will keep looking for the 11" version though for a potential swap down the road.

 

[tnts72]

11.75" inch version caliper brackets that is! Think I have a lead on a set once it dries up a bit. Not sure that I will swap right away or if at all. The 10.98" version stop the Duster fine at the moment.

 

[hemi71x]

once I find some big ball joint upper control arms

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=345087

Right here in the for sale section section of the forum.
Have 2 pairs now in stock, since i previously replied to your posting.
Jim V.

 

[tnts72]

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=345087

Right here in the for sale section section of the forum.
Have 2 pairs now in stock, since i previously replied to your posting.
Jim V.

You always seem to have a handful of the hard to find parts! I already picked up a set of big ball joint arms on here back when I did my swap.

The caliper brackets from a B / R body car to go to the 11.75" rotors using my existing pin on calipers and F body spindles is what I am after like 72blueNblu pointed out. Will have to do a little more research, on what specific cars to target, B/R bodies aren't the easiest to spot for me. Have to hit the local yard and do some browsing, picking out the big boat cars and checking them out on a case by case basis.

Cordoba, New Yorker, Newport, Magnum, Monaco, St Regis, Fury list goes on etc...