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Spindle/Rotor/Caliper interchanceability.

RustyRatRod

RustyRatRod

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I am workin on my 49 Dodge truck rat rod. Slowly. lol It is sitting on an 83 D150 chassis. I have a Dana 70 out of a 93 D350 I am going to put under it. It is a bolt in swap. Same leaf spring width (2.5"), same perch width. Although I do plan on doing an axle flip and putting it on top of the springs, instead of under them. I have all the hardware to do that, so that part is figured out. Just the doing is all that's left.

I want to put dually spindles, rotors and calipers on the front, so that I will have matching tires and wheels. So far, through looking, I see that except for the upper ball joints, the 87-93 D350 dually spindles are a direct bolt on. Same lower ball joint, same outer tie rod.

Here is what I am wondering. 87-93 is not a very large window for finding older parts. Do any of yall know for sure if there are Ford and GM spindles assemblies that will bolt on and work? I know a lot of the wheels interchange between the three within some years. I even recently got a set of four Ford dually wheels. Same bolt pattern, same offset and back spacing and same alignment pin location.

So I have to wonder if maybe there are some Ford or GM spindles, rotors and calipers that will interchange. The 94 and up Dodge spindles are different I believe, in that the lower ball joint goes in from the top instead of the bottom, so 93 is the cutoff point for Dodge spindles. Can yall help me here?
 
Last winter I put late 70s-early 80s Ford 1 piece wheels on my '74 D300 dually so that I coul dget rid of the split rims and run tubeless tires. The dish of the Ford wheels is shaped a bit different, but the bolt pattern, center hole and offset is the same. 5 of the wheels had a circle hole for the locating pin on the rear axle that I had to torch out because the pin was in a slightly different position. However, the 6th wheel had a factory oblong hole that didn't require torching out.

As for the front hubs, my '74 has what appears to be an ordinary 8 1/2" stud hub like those used on a 3/4 ton or the single wheel 1 tons. There is a cast iron spacer that bolts to that hub on the inside and has the 8 5/8" studs on the outside that accepts the deeply dished dually wheels. So you may find that 3'4 ton hubs and spindles will work. Somehow, on my '74 I suspect it would be a major chore getting the spacer seperated from the hub without using a cutting torch. After nearly 40 years, two metal pieces seem to dislike parting with their old friend.
 
You can use the suspension from any 75-94 (94 1 ton is a 72-93 truck) one ton single wheel or duallie If you want lower just use the D150 spring

You will need LCA's,spindles with steering arms etc To use the LCA's you have to drill the tabs on the frame from 5/8" to 3/4"
 
According to what I have found, 94 and up are different in that they accept the lower ball joint 180* opposite from the 92 and back. Have I learned that in error?
 
In 1994 the D & W 350 series was carried over due to Chrysler not having a 1 ton platform ready at beginning of production
 
Ok......and I am not arguing here, only asking. Please understand I am in uncharted territory for me, so I need to be DAMN SURE. If that's the case, then why does everyone list 87-93 and then 94 on up? There's a break there for some reason.
 
It's the same as back in the 60s and 70s. When they would retool and come out with a new truck, it would be 1/2 and 3/4 ton only. Then it would take a few years for the 'new' design to carry over to the medium and heavy duty trucks. So a 74 one ton and bigger Dodge was exactly the same as a 71, even though the smaller trucks had changed in 72. Likewise, a 94 D350 is unchanged from a 93, while they got the new 1/2 and 3/4 tons up and going. Once that was taken care of, they could then focus the resources needed to bring the changes to the medium duty trucks. Does that help?
 
Found out today the 94 and up is totally different. It has no strut rods on the LCAs. Also the LCAs have two attachment points to the frame instead of one, like the 93 and back. Also the lower ball joint pressed into the LCA totally backwards from the 93 and back stuff. The 94 and up ball joint stud faces down and the 93 and back faces up. Glad I didn't take this as gospel and spend the money. I sure wish people would talk about something they know.

Does that help?
 
RustyRatRod said:
Found out today the 94 and up is totally different. It has no strut rods on the LCAs. Also the LCAs have two attachment points to the frame instead of one, like the 93 and back. Also the lower ball joint pressed into the LCA totally backwards from the 93 and back stuff. The 94 and up ball joint stud faces down and the 93 and back faces up. Glad I didn't take this as gospel and spend the money. I sure wish people would talk about something they know.

Does that help?
Click to expand...

I'm the one who gave you all the correct bolt sizes & info for something you had no idea of & that was just off the top of my head Do you know why? It's because "This ain't my first time" I done these trucks as a hobby & a living for over 35 years now
I have a cousin who has a 94D350 Dodge Dump truck bought new from Crown Dodge in Pascagoula,MS I went through the same thing when I went to rebuild the brakes on it even show a pic & a copy of the title they just looked it all up for a 93. The VIN said 1994 when decoded

So really all you learned about was a late 94 R3500
 
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By the way, Does that help? Being that you have posted this same question in other forums I bet I've already replied to you a bunch already
 
Just from experience with 1/2 ton frames of that era and all the added suspension wt. you are planing to add. You might what to consider finding the stiffener from frame to steering gear box that was added to later 1/2 ton trucks. Would be a pitting if you bent that frame after all your hard work. If it bends it will never stay put until you put in a stiffener anyway. Been there and done that.
 
SAM_3666.jpgYou mean like this factory brace

SAM_3666.jpg
 
So far, through looking, I see that except for the upper ball joints, the 87-93 D350 dually spindles are a direct bolt on. Same lower ball joint, same outer tie rod.

You are TOTALLY WRONG with this idea

the center hole is smaller in the Ford wheels
 
DodgeAddict said:
By the way, Does that help? Being that you have posted this same question in other forums I bet I've already replied to you a bunch already
Click to expand...

Just one other forum. I did not ask the question there either. I posted a link here. Sorta hoping others might find this place.
 
No I am correct. I never said the 87-93 spindles would not fit. I disagreed with the poster that said the 94 spindles WOULD fit. The 87-93 spindles are what I am looking for. Also, I have four Ford wheels with tires mounted up and ready to go. The bolt pattern, locater pin hole back spacing, offset and center hole are all the SAME as the one 93 Dodge wheel I have. There is one small difference. The locater pin hole in the Ford wheels is round while the locator pin hole in the Dodge wheel has an oval. However, since the locator pin is in the same place on the hubs, they fit anyway. So that effectively makes the wheels identical as far as fit and function. I'll be glad to post pictures if you like.

Thank yall for the information on the factory brace. My truck chassis is an 83. I have not even looked to see if one is there. With my luck, probably not.

DodgeAddict said:
So far, through looking, I see that except for the upper ball joints, the 87-93 D350 dually spindles are a direct bolt on. Same lower ball joint, same outer tie rod.

You are TOTALLY WRONG with this idea

the center hole is smaller in the Ford wheels
Click to expand...
 
So you are saying the one ton lower ball joint is the same as the D150 & the tie rods are the same also If so YOU ARE WRONG Read my threads on using a one ton LCA for lowering on most every truck related site on the net There's not one contradiction to this fact
 
DodgeAddict said:
So you are saying the one ton lower ball joint is the same as the D150 & the tie rods are the same also If so YOU ARE WRONG Read my threads on using a one ton LCA for lowering on most every truck related site on the net There's not one contradiction to this fact
Click to expand...

No. You're still not getting it. I AGREE that the 87-93 spindles are a bolt on sans the upper ball joints. I already knew that before asking my question. My question was if the 94 and up would somehow work. From what I found on the net, they would not, but I didn't know for sure so I asked here. After the question was posed, I found a 94 locally and looked for myself. The spindles are completely different and will not work, just as I suspected.

When I disagreed about the spindles it was about the 94 and up. Not the 93 and back.
 
I am also not seeing how that brace can fit on my truck. Does anyone have an installed picture? Thanks.
 
It bolts on as pictured with the brace bolting to the front crossmember that the strut rods are attached to

Upper ball joints are the same lowers & tie rods are different You can bolt the 1 ton spindles to 1/2 ton steering arms but you have to drill the steering arms larger to fit them

One tons use Moog ES424l & 424R tierods which have a 3/4" shaft 3600# & lighter front uses a tie rod (1/2-3/4 ton) that has a 5/8" shaft I own nine of these trucks currently & can post pics of all this new tie rods & all
 
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