early abody ball joint differences?

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dave571

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I have noticed in my moog catalog, that the pre 72 A body cars show 2 different lower balljoints.

One for disc brake, and one for drum.

What was the physical difference in these lower ball joints?

Any info appreciated
 
dave571 said:
I have noticed in my moog catalog, that the pre 72 A body cars show 2 different lower balljoints.

One for disc brake, and one for drum.

What was the physical difference in these lower ball joints?

Any info appreciated
Click to expand...
Use a bigger hammer - it will fit :)
 
Call pst or just suspension They can give you the details on which combos work. I had a drum 9" on a early A body and they are all the same for what you are asknig from 63-72. In 73 even B,E bodies share many parts withthe A body. But the A body pre 72 parts will all pretty much go toghter depanding on the spindles disc drum etc. There are some differances. The the pitman arms and idler arms are year specific too and some mount inside or outside the K frame.

You just need to make sure you have the correct ball joint for the controll arm and spindle comdo you are using. There are some that are listed as HD too but they are basicall the same when used in the corect mentioned parts above.

hope this clears it up some?

PS on BigBlock Dart there is more details too.

Dave
 
i'm not sure what the difference is with the pre 72 ball joint are but i do know that when i put a 73 and up disk brake kit on i had to change the lower control arms as well. this has been one of the best upgrades i've done yet.
 
custom100 said:
i'm not sure what the difference is with the pre 72 ball joint are but i do know that when i put a 73 and up disk brake kit on i had to change the lower control arms as well. this has been one of the best upgrades i've done yet.
Click to expand...


Yes you bet 73 up is a diff arm and an entire newer setup. As I mentioned in last post..

thanks!
 
custom100 said:
... but i do know that when i put a 73 and up disk brake kit on i had to change the lower control arms as well....
Click to expand...

I'm surprised by this.

I swapped my 69 dart without swapping the lower A arms..
I'm swapping a 67 dart as we speak, without swapping the lowers...

I've already bolted the lower BJ's from the 73 up into the arm without issue
 
dave571 said:
I'm surprised by this.

I swapped my 69 dart without swapping the lower A arms..
I'm swapping a 67 dart as we speak, without swapping the lowers...

I've already bolted the lower BJ's from the 73 up into the arm without issue
Click to expand...

Any issues with the Uppers!! :cussing: :cussing: :cussing:
 
Not the upper ball joints,
BUT as you well know, the eccentric bolts were seized into the bushings.

Nothing a bunch of swearing, and some time with an airhammer, and my impact, and some penetrating oil, and more swearing and more air hammer.....you get the picture.
 
388dart said:
Any issues with the Uppers!! :cussing: :cussing: :cussing:
Click to expand...

we had no problems with the upper a arms, we used the original ones. as for the lowers i also got a set with sway bar mounts.

the only thing we found was that with the 73 up setup we swiched sides left for right for clearance problems.
 
That doesn't really make any sense, unless your car had some wierd work done to it before you started.

The stock upper BJ on A Small Bolt Pattern car is way smaller than the newer one. There is absolutely no way it will work in the top of the newer style knuckle.
 
I think the 10" drum brake cars use the big ball joint on the upper control arm? I know the disc brake cars do. All the lower control arms are the same with the exception of the sway bar mounts. The 67 - 72 swaybar mounts are on the bottom of the lower control arm and the 73 - 76 are on the top of the lower control arm.
 
9" drum spindles have the scrawny bolts. 10" drums and SBP disks should use the common lower ball joint. Later BBP disks had a larger upper ball joint. After 73 all A-B-E Bodies used this joint.

Beating suspension components into submission with a hammer is to be avoided. You life depends on these parts.
 
On the topic of upper ball joints here...My 69 barracuda had the 10" front drums, I just installed the 73-76 A-body front disc setup (using the correct Upper A-arms and ball joints) when all was said and done, I looked at the stock upper ball joint compared to the 73-76 upper ball joint and they looked the same??....Is it just the actual "stud portion" of the ball joint that differes?? I have them out in my garage now...I will go have a look again and try to post a pic. :thumbup:
 
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