Upper Control Arms, Spindles, etc swap ?

-
C

CO/6

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2007
Messages
63
Reaction score
1
Location
Aurora, Colorado
Will upper control arms, ball joints, spindles, etc from a 76-80 Volare swap over to an A-Body? If they do, anyone know what years?
 
On all Mopars, the swap from drums to discs (or 2-piece rotors to unicast rotors) requires one "key" part: A new steering knuckle (a/k/a "spindle.") The knuckle you need for our primary swap is from any '73-'74 E-body, or, believe it or not, any '73- '76 disc-equipped A-body (Valiant/Dart/Duster). This is a non-wearing part and perfect examples can be had at most junkyards , but if you run into trouble, excellent repros are now available from Master Power Brakes, Inc. Do not succumb to the temptation to use "look-alike" knuckles from later Mopars, such as 73-up B/R-bodies, F/J/M bodies, etc. These parts, while visually very similar, are taller, altering suspension geometry (camber change, bump steer, etc.), and possibly forcing the ball joints beyond their designed range, a/k/a 'over angling'."

- Richard Ehrenberg, SAE (MOPAR MUSCLE or MOPAR ACTION website)
 
There are hundreds if not thousands of A bodies running around with FMJ knuckles on them. I have 3 cars with them. 2 have the A body knuckles.

In fact, one group did a test and the geometry was better in all areas except the extreme ranges. E-booger has some sort of ax to grind and is the only one that forces this particular opinion in print.

As someone else has mentioned...
"You have thousands of real world examples running probably millions of miles with the taller spindles without one documented failure due to the taller spindle."

Booger is off the mark on this one.

As far as the volare stuff, you can't use the upper. You need an upper from an 73-76 A body car. Or you can modify your current arms if you have a welder and a BBJ sleeve.
 
Once Again -crackedback Is Absolutely Correct, Have Seen This Done A Couple 2-3 Times, And Had A Buddy Do It With No Problem....
 
Wow, great information. The article Keith mentioned explained allot. Appreeciate all the input thus far. So, and yes I'm a bit slow, there is no other upper A-Arms that can be used without Mods than those perviously mentioned.
 
You could buy tubular arms, but, they are expensive.

Uppers from a 73-76 A body usually run about 50-100. That is taken off the car and not cleaned up. I don't have any extra sets at the moment.
 
I have an extra set of A Body Uppers, but I was looking at a '77 Volare this weekend at a local junkie and everything looked the same. I had the "One extra set is good, two is even better" thought. Figured I'd ask here to see if the busted kuckles would be worth it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to grab the spindles, rotors and calipers as extras after seeing the technical arguements for and against.
 
the Aspen/Volare upper control arms ARE NOT useable for this swap. While they may look similar in shape they are much wider at the pivot mounts than the A body piece. They will not bolt up, no way no how. As stated above either use a set of 73-76 A body UCA's or modify your 67-72 UCA's to accept the larger ball joint that the F body knuckle requires.
I used the F body pieces for a 72 Demon drum to disc upgrade with no hesitation. :cheers:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top