Scarebird, is it safe?

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Valiantsignet20

Valiantsignet20

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I am thinking of going the scarebird route on my 75. The question I have is, are the LCA balls strong enough and will the spindles take the stress of daily driving? It's a 75 Dart Sport with a /6 w/ drums but, I don't remember if the ball joints are bigger or, if it only applied to the disc cars. And isn't the larger balljoints because of the extra stress of disc braking?
 
The larger ball joints on '73 up A bodies was more a function of parts standardization than anything else. One ball joint serviced two car lines (A and B bodies) with just a minor mod. In over 40 years I have only seen 1 lower ball joint failure on an A body ('71 Dart), and I doubt it would have failed if the idiot driver had not hit a median curb head on at 60 MPH. He also bent the K member, trashed the oil pan, and cracked the transmission case. The Scarebird kit is a great idea, seems well made, and gets the job done for not a lot of money. If it used Mopar parts it would be on my Valiant. I don't trust anything produced by GM enough to put it on my car. Personal quirk.
 
i agree with grump. theres plenty stories about these /6 cars goin 250k 500k and more. none of those cars could have put that many miles on with weak spindles.
i have scarebird adapter plates and all the stuff to change my brakes, just looking for a reasonable machinist to whittle my hubs. lol
unless you're goin to run baja or pikes peak, i wouldn't worry to much about your spindles. and you should stop reading so many magazine articles. lol

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It's not just magazine articles. I've had respected people on this site tell me that the 9" spindles on my Dart are death traps, and that they would only use them to move the car around the shop.

I'll be the first to admit they're not the strongest, but my car used to have a big block in it, driven by an 18 year old on old country roads. I think they're strong enough for me to drive around town.

Sorry, just realized I was hijacking the thread during my rant!
 
There is very little difference between your drum brake spindles, hubs,
and the ones used in Kelsey Hayes disc brake systems.

Pauly v.100 anyone with a brake laythe could turn those hubs for you if they're willing to rearrange the tool post for a hour. I got shop access etc..
and could handle it for you but the postage would kill. :(
Good luck
 
I believe people's issue with the 9" brake spindles is the lower ball joint bolt size. They are tiny.

you should be able to get the 10" drum spindles (that use quite large bolts) for nearly free anyway.
 
The 9" balljoints and spindles are weaker, all the rest are about the same. Not only is the ball joint itself smaller, the bolts attaching the balljoint to the spindle are smaller as well. These bolts carry the entire weight of the front end in shear.
 
i have about 10k on my scarebird brake conversion on the 68 dart with the small bolt partern
 
Any issues with your conversion? What type of caliper, rotors and brake lines did you use. I'm just running a six and only put about 2000 km at most a year if that. Seems like a good idea and I get to keep the rallies.
 
Since you have a 1975 then you have the larger upper ball joints already. Just bolt in some disc brake knuckles from any later model car and you're ready to go. The late model FMJ stuff is still in the wrecking yards and will bolt right in.

Don't throw away those late model drum brake knuckles that you have! They are worth money to anyone who wants to run Viper calipers on the 11.75 rotors. You should be able to get $100 for the pair if the bearing surfaces are in good shape.
 
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