the 7-1/4 rear end is better then the one i have too right?

And thanks that helps a lot there is this salvage yard i am going to call today and see what they have exactly.

I just saw this from the Ehrenburg article is it true?

If your car now has 9-inch drums, the first step up would be the 10" drums used on all '65-up 8-cyl cars. We frankly wouldn't drive an A-body over 40 mph with the 9-inch drums, for reasons having nothing to do with the brakes. The small ball-joint-to- knuckle bolts, which are loaded in shear, are known to snap, usually at the most inopportune time.

You should have a 7 1/4 rearend in your car right now, but it will be SBP.
I live in a very small town, so I don't do much hi-speed driving. The difference between the 9" spindles and 10" spindles makes me think that they did have problems. 1964 GM A-Bodys had the same problem and switched to larger/beefier spindles half way through the year. There are alot of front suspension upgrades that I will be doing at the same time I do my brakes.(11/16" tie rods, LCA plates<just because I have them off>,all bushings...)

the Ehrenburg article is only a guide, just do your research and don't be afraid to ask questions. (I still have a million of them!)

_________________
1964 Dart GT

Take the advice from Ehrenberg with a grain of salt...about 30 years ago I used to daily drive my mom's '68 valiant that was a 9" drum car...my dad used it to tow his fishing/duck hunting boat...Never had a problem with suspension or knuckles (brakes did fade badly if over used...thank god for downshifting and a manual tranny)...

But now the suspension is 40-50 years old...non-impact items should last, but other items can fail, so this is a good reason to go through the suspension and upgrade things not only for handling but for safety, both in braking/stopping distance, but also so you know that the components aren't band-aid specials and they can take the abuse and still hold up for another 10 years without worrying about what will give next (and can take your future engine upgrades).

-D.idiot

I would challenge Ehrenburg to document the number of times this has happened. Pretty sure I have been playing with Mopars longer then he has been alive, and I have never heard of a first hand experience. I have seen ball joints come apart, in the ball and socket area, due to being worn out, but never a mounting bolt failure.

_________________
Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

There is a 1964 (270 4-door) in the salvage yard here that I have pulled many parts and pieces off of. The driverside of the car is totaled, and the spindle is snapped an inch or so away from the top ball joint. I always wondered if the spindle broke and caused the wreck or if the wreck caused the spindle to break? I'll take a picture next time I am over there.

_________________
1964 Dart GT

I would like to see that and I would like to see a picture of your dart too?

I have been driving my dart as a daily drive all through high school so I don't really think my spindle is going to snap. Especially if it lasted all through my stupid driving in high school. Or its about to snap at any moment haha
Anyway its time for an upgrade to some better brakes and suspension.

this is with 14" rims.

_________________
1964 Dart GT

I have no idea, but my assumption is that many of these occurrences were indeed observations after the fact. Yes, the spindles on the older cars are thinner, but they aren't by any means inherently faulty (like e.g. a Ford Pinto bursting into flames upon rear impact). My family drove their old '60's darts pretty hard, and in pothole country, we never saw a spindle break or anything outright fail in use. My Dad fell asleep once and hit a curb head on, blew out both front tires and ruined the rims, but nothing in the suspension broke loose.

That said, my '67 has the SBP 9" drums all the way around (7 1/4 rearend), and as we speak I am collecting components to upgrade to 10" drum spindles/UCA/LCA's for SBP disc brake conversion in the front and 8 3/4 rearend with SBP 10" drums in the rear (and leafs/sway bars/shocks). I'm not afraid of my smaller spindles suddenly snapping, it's more about braking and handling performance for me. Those 9" drums fade pretty quickly and the suspension is way mushy. I don't need super brakes, but driving on today's roads where most all cars have powered antilock brakes, it really helps to be in the same ballpark on braking (and handling) performance, because one must navigate traffic where everybody else is stopping on a dime and accelerating/decelerating/swerving very quickly (basically driving poorly because today's cars can take up the slack when needed). My other car is a 3.6L direct injected V6 with 300+HP, four wheel antilock (huge) discs and awesome handling package. When I drive it around, I definitely notice how other cars can't perform to it's abilities and how easily I can compensate for them with my car's performance - same is true for my Dart, but the other way around. I want to bring it's performance at least in the same ballpark as today's cars, because often I see others working around my handicapped braking ability.

bg

i went through the swap on my 66 valiant. i went to the stock setup from a '73 scamp. i'll share a few things i learned.

the article i used as a guide claimed i would not need the upper control arms. it turns out this is only correct if your car was a v8 car - if it started as a /6 you will need the uppers.

i had to change rears to match the new front bolt patterns - luckily i scored a like new 8 3/4 out of a barracuda. it was as if the guy had wrecked the car driving off the dealer's lot, there was barely even any surface rust. but the 8 3/4 can be very hard to find for an a-body, a lot of people modify a b-body rear.

i upgraded to the 10" drums on the rear. it only made sense.

i'm still having a bit of an issue with mine. the assist is way too much so i barely have any pedal even though it stops very well. not really sure how to address this, but i'm thinking of looking into changing the master cylinder to one with a larger piston