Front End Problems

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The myth about the taller spindle causing problems has been debunked by virtually everyone. There's only ONE well-known person who continues to insist it won't work properly. Thousands of taller spindles have been used in various Mopars without incident.
 
I have a 3 day weekend. Does anyone in the NJ area know of any good Mopar Junk Yards? When I was searching for parts last Saturday and here are pix of the Barracuda front drum brake and sway bar (same lower control arm sway position as my Dart). The others are the 74 Dart 318 with disc brakes, but pretty weathered. Knuckles, upper, lower control arms maybe useable. Looking for better. Thanks.

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Right now what I have is not working. I'll work on it in my spart time. Or I'll take it to a shop where someone knows what they are doing. I'm trying to get this car in a movie and I have less than a month to get the front end fixed and working. I feel it will be a really fun car to drive when I get these bugs worked out. Thanks for the help.
 
looks like the spindles are reversed to me. the calliper should be in front.
 
I threw away a gold color cuda hood just like that one omce. The skin was nice, the understructure was crumbling like a saltine cracker.
Sandblasting can make the parts look decent again. The problem is getting them off. You would need a torch. Good luck
 
They swaybar tabs were probably moved inboard to try and make the '72-down K-member and swaybar work w/'73-up discs. Or they just swapped the spindle/disc/upper control arm onto the early lower control arms. Same problem will occur- the caliper smacks into the tabs and/or bar. The least aggravating solution is to swap the K-member, suspension, and braking system from a single donor car, preferably a '73 up V-8 w/ the dropped center link. Rebuild it using Moog parts; offset bushings in the upper arms (set them up so the forward bushing's hole is to the ball joint, the rear bushing is placed w/ the hole away from the ball joint- this lets the steering react to the stronger bite of today's radials) and the 'improved design' strut rod bushings. Grab a set of '74 C-body tie rod ends, weld the adjuster's open edge closed, and get it aligned w/less understeer by a good alignment shop. If you want to really go nuts, gusset the steering mounts, fully weld the perimeter and the suspension mounting points, and maybe a 1-1 1/2" skid plate on the K-member.
 
If the height ajuster is rubbing the frame,the lower controll arm bushings are out.
At least thats what my '66 did...
 
My car has dic brake steering knuckles, not sure which ones. They appear to be left/right reversed, which causes the brakes to be mounted to the rear rather than the front as a factory installation. Good or bad? Is there any offset? One thing is for sure it helps clear some sway bar interference issues and reduces the travel for the brake flex line, which is toward the back anyway. Not many early cars were optioned with disc brakes and sway bars, and drums did not provide as much interference. I dont' know which knuckles I have yet, A, B, C, or E body, which is noted to change the front end geometry, some say bad, some say makes no difference. Same is true for the upper and lower control arms, although my lower control arms have brackets at the lower outer end for a sway bar much like a 67-69 Barracuda I saw. The lower control arm bushings will be investigated as to causing my torsion bar adjusters to rub the inside of the frame rails, possibly causing the front end to raise and lower while driving, during acceleration and braking and staying there. It's up on jack stands again. Thank you for the help guys.

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i have the same kinda issue with my 75 scamp. the pass side wheel was like \ i believe thats camber and out at the top so positive i believe. we thought it was fixed when we fixed the frame but its not yet so i think it is just a front end rebuild i need maby that is part of your issue to. i know my upper ball joint looks like yours and i always thought they look collapsed never seen a new one tho.
 
The upper ball joint looks bad in the pics above because there is no bump stop under the upper arm. That arm is not supposed to put that much angle on the joint. I dont know if its hurting anything to go there or not.
 
Sloppy parts? I have 73 discs on a 70, in the rear. Ok I think your ball joints, bushings, etc, are worn out. Explain the rub; that will lead you to worn parts problem.
 
You said the lca's were from a barracuda. What year? What is the stamp on them? Does it have a VL RF and VL LF stamped on the front? Also, your t-bars need to indexed to the next lower hex on the lca. That may be why they are hiiting the frame.
 
are those upper arms off a 5th av? i tryd that once bolted up but had maaaaaaaaajor driving issues dump steer off a beer can may try find the part#and see
 
Those lower arms are pre 1972, sway bar tabs(outer style) are factory.You can run calipers front or rear with no issues.Sounds like bad ball joints. Have you tried unloading the t-bars then reseting them?
 
I tried to read the part numbers off of my spindles/steering knuckles. If your lucky you can read 3 digits maybe 340_ _ _ _ from the forgings. I believe an an A & E body disc brake spindle would be 3402628 for '73 to '76, which is shorter height wise than a B body disc spindle 3402640 by at least 7/16". The spindles on my 67 Dart were the taller B body spindles. So, I searched for a set of later A/E body type spindles and now have them. In checking my lower control arms, the drivers side control arm seems bent back. See photos. So, I bought a set of E body lower control arms with a different position sway bar tab. They were mounted inboard more so the disc can be mounted to the front of the rotor. Mine (presently) is toward the outer arm and has the tabs at the bottom end of the control arm. So, with the Jersey monsoon season in full swing, it's been difficult to get work done on the car outside. At least my car has gone green, with all the rain and not using the car. And I'm saving so much money on gas (now $ 2.03) up $.25 from last week, but spending 10 times as much on new (old) parts.

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I'm also having a tough time separating the ball joints. Upper and lower and tie rods. I am planning to replace all the bushings and ball joints, not to mention the upper control arms, lower control arms, and spindles. Again thanks for everyone's input.
 
Ball joints can be a real b*tch to remove. I`ve used a 14" pipe wrench with a 4 foot pole on the end to bust them loose. The tie rod ends can often be removed by a sharp blow with a large hammer to the side of the drag link where the tie rod ends goes through it.
 
the caliper probably should be at the front but they often get installed to the rear when theres a swaybar interfearance. There isn't any angle built into the spindle so it dont or wouldn't make a difference in alignment. Only the upper arms on wrong sides would make as much difference as the pictures suggest but notice the bump stops. The upper arms are on correct sides. The odd caster angle suggested by the pics must surely be lower ball joints worn completely out.


It doesn't make a difference if caliper is in the rear. Mine have been they way for 14+ years and aligns fine.

DO NOT put E-body LCA's on your A-body. They will not allow proper alignment. They are actually a 1/2" too short. The k-member studs are different and won't fit your K-member (although you could swap A-body studs in there).

That LCA 66-72 sway bar mount looks sort of weird. I'm pretty sure someone made those and welded them on. It's not a problem with the issue you have now.

The picture looks like a odd caster angle because the suspension is in full drop on jackstands. The is because there is and angle (anti dive angle) built into the upper control arm of every production car with upper and lower control arms.

And the negitive caster is suggested by this photo as well. It's somewhat amplified by the difference between spindle angle and shock angle in viewing but it's really not so exteme. Rear wheel drive cars require some negitive caster.

No they don't.

Heavy old cars with manual steering driven by someones grandma that needs a low effort easy to steer car requires some negative caster. The factory manual does not call for negative caster on power steering cars.
 
... Also, your t-bars need to indexed to the next lower hex on the lca. That may be why they are hiiting the frame.

Yes, I agree that's the most likely the issue with them hitting the frame.

Also, has the frame been repaired above that adjuster arm.???

A month ago I saw a high dollar 70 hemi cuda vert clone that had that same T-bar adjuster to frame hitting. The T-bars were installed on the wrong index and the frame had a bunch of horrible rust repair plates added. Also there is supposed to be a reinforcement for the lower control arm bumper on the frame that was missing in this totally miserable repair job.
 
I tried to read the part numbers off of my spindles/steering knuckles. If your lucky you can read 3 digits maybe 340_ _ _ _ from the forgings. I believe an an A & E body disc brake spindle would be 3402628 for '73 to '76, which is shorter height wise than a B body disc spindle 3402640 by at least 7/16". The spindles on my 67 Dart were the taller B body spindles. So, I searched for a set of later A/E body type spindles and now have them. In checking my lower control arms, the drivers side control arm seems bent back. See photos. So, I bought a set of E body lower control arms with a different position sway bar tab. They were mounted inboard more so the disc can be mounted to the front of the rotor. Mine (presently) is toward the outer arm and has the tabs at the bottom end of the control arm. So, with the Jersey monsoon season in full swing, it's been difficult to get work done on the car outside. At least my car has gone green, with all the rain and not using the car. And I'm saving so much money on gas (now $ 2.03) up $.25 from last week, but spending 10 times as much on new (old) parts.

That is were they tend to bend. It might still align. But at this point you should get both front sway bar LCA and sway bar off that junk car.

That will give you the right sway bar tabs, a unbent LCA, and a front sway bar.

LEAVE the calipers in the rear. There is nothing wrong with that !!

Do not put that E-body lower control arm on your A-body.
 
This is what I found. The lower control arm bushings were shot and the pins were now way off center. That probably is what caused the torsion bar adjusters to rub the frame and hang up on it, as it was suggested. The driver's side lower control arm ball joint knuckle was bent back. Both struts had a small bend in them. And the spindle AKA steering knuckle was a B body part not an A body part (from a previous disc brake/big bolt pattern hub conversion). The upper control arm bushings were not great either. I replaced everything, all the bushings, all the ball joints, both lower control arms, heavier torsion bars, both upper control arms, and put in A body spindles. I don't know, but I've been told that the disc brakes should be to the front of the spindle. Mine were in the back. I think all you have to do is reverse the spindles L-R side and R-L side. How does that affect the alignment? Positive or negative, caster or camber? When the drum brakes were there the sway bars at the ends of the lower control arms did not interfere on turns, but the larger disc calipers would hit, so they were relocated to the back? I've seen sway bars mounts on the LCAs in at least 4 different locations for A bodies. And A and E body LCAs are not interchangeable. One is shorter and has a different shock location among other things. With the disc in the back, it's closer to the brake line/flex line fitting. Anyway, all my new bushings are rubber and not eurethane. Am I having fun yet. The easiest way to separate the ball joints was to thread the castle nuts back on the ball joints and hammer them with the biggest MF hammer I have. Pressing in the lower control arm bushings was a test in enginuity and finding the biggest MF vise and sockets in the land. Now, I didn't mention taking all the parts out and unbolting the right side headers to get the right side lower control arm out. Everything got cleaned, painted (POR-15), and greased when reassembled and greased again. I eye balled the caster/camber and toe in and toe out enough to make it driveable. The caster/camber were marginal since the car is raised in the front to give more ground clearance for the headers and oil pan. Hey, I even got to rebuild my creeper wheels, I've spent so much time under that car. And, I've added a 6 foot piece of thick wall pipe to my tool collection (breaker bar extension), and several bushing tools, and a couple of torsion bar tools, too. I'll add pictures as soon as I can shrink them down, size wise. Thank you A body guys for all the advice and help. No one can say I don't love my car with all the weekends and evenings I've spent on her. I think I'll name her "JENNAY". Thank you Forrest.
 
With the 72 and earlier K member and a sway bar, the disk calipers will hit the sway bar if they are mounted in the front. Can mount in front with 73 and up. Been there, done that. The brake hose from a Cordoba will let you attach back to the stock hard line. We don't have a proportioning valve on the 68 FB cuda but the rear wheel cylinders were changed out to the smaller piston diameter ones from a pickup. Gives great brake bias balance.
 
I don't know, but I've been told that the disc brakes should be to the front of the spindle. Mine were in the back. I think all you have to do is reverse the spindles L-R side and R-L side. How does that affect the alignment?

stock the 73-up brakes came witht he caliber in front. but the spindles can be switched side to side to put the caliber in the rear with no affects on alignment. just be sure to use the proper brake hoses.
 
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