Front end rebuild kit with 73 and Up stuff!

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65dartman

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So, I've got the motor out of my car and figure I might as well get the 74 duster disc brake set up installed. My question is can I just order a front end rebuild kit for the duster and will that have all the correct parts for the items that I am not updating, like the strut rod bushings and lower control arm bushings etc. From the duster I have the upper control arms, spindles, rotors, calipers, master cyl. I am sure a few of you have done this swap, any info would be helpful! Also I would like to run a front sway bar, but my control arms do not have the tabs for a sway bar?

Thanks! :drinkers:
 
Ya, I've done the swap. It depends how you want to do it. I used the newer tire tire rod ends(74 and up), cause they were cheaper than the 64's. Other than that I think the only differece is the upper ball joint. I don't even remeber witch lower ball joint I used off the top of my head, as which year I chose. I pieced my parts to gether at the parts store. I've order for an 88 Fifth Avenue, as the caliper and the roter and I do believe the upper ball joint also is the same on those cars also.

I'm cheap a guess, I even figured out how to put rear disk brakes on my car for $125 dollars or so using rear Grand Cherokee brakes.

Lee
 
Hey Kaleb- I did it on my 66 last year. Just get the ball joints for the 73-76 dart w/discs and the lower control arm bushings for your 65. I have a Moog catalog if you want to borrow it.
Jeff
 
Use the 73 up ball joints, and tie rod ends, 66 idler arm, pitman, center link, tie rod links and strut rods. You can also use the 73 up bushings for the upper and lower control arms. For the sway bar you need to make sure it doesnt interefere with the calipers. Mock it together without torquing everything up for fitment. On my car (66dart) the sway bar just barely touched the calipers with the wheels off the ground and turned to the max right or left, anything less there was no touching. Under normal ride height conditions there was plenty of clearance with max left or right turns, and the only way the bar would ever touch the calipers was when the suspension is at full extension under a max right or left turn. When does that ever happen ?? (never). I believe the sway bar was a heilwig, I have read that the addco bars really have interference issues, could be wrong though. Check out your fitment issues carefully, my best advice. If the calipers do touch really badly, then reverse the steering knuckles side to side, thereby shifting the calipers to a rear mount situation. This complicates things since you now have to get different brake hoses, do-able but will require some research.

Good luck.....
 
I've actually have a sway bar that i took off of a 65 convertable years ago, but I still need the tabs on the lower control arms. Can I just weld a set on or do I need to swap lower control arms? As for the front end kit, It looks like I just need to order the appropriate kit for my car and see if they will substitute the upper ball joints for the newer ones. :thumblef:

Thanks
 
If you have the stock sway bar and k frame brackets you're 95% of the way there. With the front wheels straight ahead wheels on the ground, ride height set, the sway bar centered, the ends of the bar more or less horizontal to the floor, weld or bolt some L brackets on to the LCA's in a position that lines the ends up straight up and down for your end links. I'd check your calipers for interference issues anyway before doing your final weld or drilling for bolts. The other option is to use control arms that have the tabs already on them. I believe, (not 100% sure) that all LCAs on A bodies are interchangable, I thought I read that somewhere. So that might be an option as well. Good luck.
 
I bought my stuff from bill at www.bigblockdart.com he can tell what will work and what will not work. he has a great upper a- arm set up not hard to put on . call him.
 
What's the difference in the lower control arm bushes and tie rod ends?

I've got 73 Duster tie rods and ends on my 63 Dart and the lower control arms looked the same when I stripped the Duster.
 
The lower control arm bushings are the same and you are right about the tie rod links, or tubes and ties rod ends, they're the same as well, at least they were on my 66. I used an amalgamation of parts on the front end, some73 + some 66 original application, it all fit and works fine together.

Thats whats nice about mopars, alot of the stuff didnt change thru the life cycle of the A body. Even mixing parts between A B and some M and C bodies... to some extent are the same on suspension parts, stuff like tie rod ends, steering boxes, etc. I found a diplomat idler arm was the same as either a B body or A body. I also found the pitman arm on a later B body was the same as the 73+ A bodies. Just spares I had laying around from parts cars, and needed a part, compared it to the worn out pieces and they were identical. They fit and worked fine in the application in which I used it.

I am not sure the LCA's are the same. I think I read they were ...someplace.
 
Having personally done two 1973+ disc brake and front/rear suspension swaps on Narrow Body A bodies, I am rather familiar with the pitfalls and good points of such a conversion. :)

Either ask me or PM me...........and, I am over at www.allpar.com/ quite frequently.
 
Hey, if you're rebuilding the suspension anyway, why not swap over to the mid 70's C-body tie rods? They are a hell of a lot beefier, they don't deflect at all and I have never had one fail. (Moog parts of course). I have done this trick on every Mopar I have owned.

Revhendo
 
This swap was so easy, I remember thinking of how cool it was that the parts interchange that easily. It was just as easy to put the Grand Cherokee rear disk brakes on my 64 also.

Lee
 
hi moparlee,
how'd you get the cherokee discs on a
8 3/4 rear? is it a bolt on or welded job?
thanks longarm
 
Well, I had to drill the fifth bottom bolt. The other four were the same. Then I machined a little in the inner circle of the caliper bracket to take the green bearing for the 8 3/4 rear end. Basically that was it. The only thing that I didn't compansate was the how thick the rotor was. So once I was done the hole width of the rearend was like a 1/4 inch wider. Being an 1/8 on each side. I thought that I was taking everything in account when I machined the caliper braket to be as thick as the old back plate for the drums. Which put the axles flanges back where they were, but the rotor is thicker that the drum so that put the wheels an 1/8 out on both sides. I've got pictures, but I haven't got them scanned yet.

Lee
 
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