Today at Spalding I found a 77 Volare station wagon, got the disc brake setup but could not get the spindles, I could get the darned things off. Does any one have any tips? Or better yet, they at Corbodas, New Yorkers, and more of the ones with the right spindles and would like advice on which ones are the easiest to take off. I've read the various sites but don't necessarily know the various parts names and where they're located.

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

Shiva, i HIGHLY recommend that you go out and buy Performance Handling For Classic Mopars by Tom Condran, it is by far the best book on the subject. That book along with a proper FSM will help stop the pain. You'll need the right tools, a 2.5lb cross pien hammer set on kill and a proper pickle fork-- i prefer the craftsman big dog #00947692000.

Keep in mind that replacing your knuckles with the f/m/j/r body units will raise the UBJ pick up 3/8", while this can theoretically improve caster across the arc, you HAVE to tell the alignment tech what's going on in advance.

now go nuts homey!

-JYH
grippin' it and rippin' it eight ways from sunday

Shiva.....go back to that car with two LARGE hammers. Place one on each side of the housing that fits around the ball joint shafts. Now smack it hard, trying to synchronize the strikes of the hammers. Half a dozen good shots should make them drop right apart from each other.

Roger

A pickle fork will make quick work of it if you don't care about the seals. The other choice would be a tierod end / balljoint puller but be careful to leave the nut on the stud end so you don't mushroom the threads and not be able to pull the spindle free.

I use a pickle fork and a 5lb hammer in the wrecking yards. They usually pop right out but sometimes they're tough. The pickle fork usually knocks a couple of grooves into the top of the knuckle so you need to smooth that area down before putting it into its new home or else you'll tear up the ball joint seal.

On my own car in my own garage I use the proper tool recommended in the FSM. That tool presses the upper ball joint out. It is a nice way to go since that doesn't tear anything up but it is a difficult tool to get to work right when you're laying on gravel in 90 degree heat in some wrecking yard!

Ahhh yessss... Miller tool #C-3711
Granted, i could understand using the tool in a shop, where you may want to save the balljoint and the seal, but like you said-- if it's 115* in the shade, you've just drug your tools 1/2 a mile to the furthest part of the yard AND you're out of beer... the BFH is the way to go.
Another trick is to leave the t-bar tight take the UBJ nut off all but a few turns and give the spindle a good downward wack on the upright just below the UBJ. That usually takes care of business in short order too, only it's slightly more dangerous.

BTW Andy, when are we gonna see pix of that kick arse brake setup? Inquiring minds want to know!

reporting from the front lines:

-JYH
64 Dart... could always use bigger lighter brakes...
SoCal

Boy, I love those 115 degree days...


On an A body, I've had the most luck, pulling the T-bars and unbolting the struts and UCA from the k-member, knocking the assembly forward with BFH to get the T-bars to disengage the LCA sockets, then unbolt the UCA from the body and drag the whole thing to the desk...most places when they see what you have in hand will laugh (or have some look of chagrin) and give you the discount for pulling 50+ lbs of suspension to the desk...last set I got from a 1973 A-body that way, pick-a-part let me have for $50 total...

My 'jump bucket', carries a can of liquid wrench, a pickle fork, a 5 lb. hammer, one set of sockets, one set of deep sockets, 1/2" ratchet, 3/8" ratchet, 1/2" breaker bar...among other things....


good luck...junkyard rule: if you thing you might need it, take it now...it won't be there when you think you need it badly....


-D.Idiot

Pulling the whole assembly sounds good, except that I know the UCA and LCA won't work and Spalding charges you for everything(but, they're also the best yard in Spokane... and probably the best all the way to Seattle, they can get away with it). Most stuff is cheap, but I was forced to toss the brakes because I didn't want to pay a dollar per brake pad I don't want to use. When I get the wheels I should probably take a good knife to cut the tires off so I don't have to pay for bald tires. Guess ease of pulling and selection have a price . Either way, I was able to get rotors, brakes, and hardware for $21, making them good cores(I paid $6 per rotor, but core for new brakes is worth $10, I made myself $4).

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

JYH - which brakes do you want a peek at? I've got Viper calipers and rotors on my car, I built a Wilwood on 13 inch Cobra setup for Lou, I've got a complete Porsche 993 twin turbo brake setup hung on A body knuckles sitting on my work bench, etc!

I'm just gonna be greedy! I want it all!
It's all in the name of research...

The viper calipers and rotors are a known unit... i've seen 'em. I wanna know about the porsche units!

BTW, i bought your wilwood caliper adapters a few years ago for my old roached out 69 fastback. MAN! i cannot say enough about the fit, finish, and hardware. You guys made a difficult job down right easy. Now if only i had ground down the dropped spindle for clearance before hand.
Hehhehehe.

-JYH
one can never have too much motor or too much brake!

Driving slow's the biggest brake, but who would wanna do that ?

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

JYH - I don't have pictures of the Porsche stuff on my website yet but if you go over to the moparts.com website and do a search for "Big Red" you'll find a thread on the topic. In that thread I have posted a couple of pictures. It is a very wicked looking setup. Big Red calipers, Baer 13.15 rotors and it all sits inside a 17x8 Mustang Cobra rim. Everything hangs on a 1973 or newer disc brake knuckle. (A/B/FMJ car knuckles all work)

Only bummer about the system is that it costs about $3000 for the fronts only!

BTW - glad you enjoyed the Wilwood kit. We put extra care into those so that guys are happy when they open them up. The ARP bolts and nickel plating all cost extra but I think it pays back in the long run.

I believe this should be the last question, but on the dustboots that cover the ball joints and the steering arm joint I wasn't sure how to measure them. When I pull the assembly off my car I'm going to use the pickle for to take off the arm, it will kill the seals(err... what's left of the hard things) and I wish to replace them, but at the parts store they don't sell by make but rather diameter. Does anyone know if I measure the seals from the top hole or the bottom one? Or does anyone know where I could buy these as a sort of kit(it's about $5.00 per boot so if the kits around $30 thats good). Thanks for all the help.

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

ShivaDart,
I am almost done with the disc swap. I used a BFH to get all that stuff apart. The upper ball-joint was the hardest, but I just unbolted the UCA. Then I took the UCA/ Spindle assembly and set it up on a cinder block and pounded them apart.

As for your last question, I'm not sure. I bought new lower ball joints. They were mounted in a steering arm and came with a new dust boot. They were MOOG parts, cost about $40 a piece, and have a lifetime warranty.

The last dilema for me ( I hope!) is finding the rubber piece that snugs the pushrod into the back of the master cylinder. The new master cylinder didn't come with one, and the parts store can't seem to help me find it.

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'71 Dart Swinger

Jimluw, what was you trick for geting the Upper ball joints into the UCA? A big hammer? As of now that seems to be my best option though I'm trying to use connections to get in touch with a free use of a press since now that I'm going to be going under their I'm thinking I should go through replacing the bushings(I'm starting to get work again so rebuilding the front end is starting to seem like a better idea). So far I have everything required for the swap and new Upper ball joints and am running $300ish(most components I got new/remanufactured), thinking I'm going to run total cost up to about $400 and just replace the lower ball joints($50 a piece at local shops, more expensive that online but no shipping), and replace all the bushings since my car looks as though it's never had any care to it's suspension... especially since it had the original shocks when I got it two years ago.