Knucle upgrade

[mgenin]

I've got a 95 Lumina, and I've been wanting to upgrade the front rotors to the 11.25" ones, and swap out the back drums with discs next time I change the brakes. I also have a 04 Century, and noticed that on newer w-body cars they have aluminum knuckles all around.

 

So obviously i'm wondering if I could go to the wreckers and get these aluminum ones for my Lumina? I know you can do this upgrade with a Cutlass with rear discs and whatnot, I assume I would also need the front struts, since my Lumina's are all one piece with the front knuckles. Or even if the back ones would fit, they look damn similar, I bet the trailing arms are identacle.

 

Has anyone got newer aluminum ones to fit?

[pwmin]

they wont swap in without replacing everything and thats gonna take some fabricating. theres a guy on 60degreev6.com that cut his front caliper brackets off and cut and welded the tabs so they sat out farther to accomodate f-body rotors. i think he had to grind some off of the a arms too for clearance.

[BXX]

01-04?? Mustang Cobra 13" rotors FTW!!! They go right onto the hub and have a nearly identical offset as w-bodies do. But sorry, i haven't been able to go any further into the swap

[mgenin]

I'm not nessisarially looking for larger than 11.25" brakes, I'm just wondering if the rear or front aluminum knuckles would fit from later w-bodies, since all the 94-96 w-bodies here are rusted out to hell. I'm not looking into grinding my front knuckles down, just swapping them out and using their calipers as well.

[pwmin]

you are right about the trailing arms being identical. afaik, no one has tried a 2G rear swap, but i believe someone tried to do a 2G front swap and couldnt do it. i would just get the stuff from a 96-97 1.5G w/ the larger fronts and rear discs. if theyre that rusty, i would have them sandblasted and powdercoated. the metal SHOULDNT be rusted through, probably just a lot of surface rust.

[mgenin]

yeah they have a lot of surface rust, mine has little rust at all.

Why just to 97? would a 98-00 Lumina front strut towers fit on my 95?

I read on the w-body upgrades that the part numbers changed for the REAR in 97, so i should look for 94-96 only for the rear.

I plan on getting the rear calipers from the wreckers at the unlimited parts day tomorrow if i can find some, and then trading them in at NAPA for re manufactured ones

[pwmin]

i wasnt being specific, sorry, just saying a 1.5G w/ rear discs

[mgenin]

I know the back knuckles can be from a CS, but what about the front ones? Are those the same in the CS as the Lumina/Monte?

[pwmin]

the fronts are all the same in 96, yes.

[mgenin]

Alright, so I got front strut towers from 98 Lumina, and rear knuckles from a Cutlass. I'm going to take them to the machine shop at school and sandblast them before I paint.

 

The Fronts come off easy, and you dont need a spring compressor.

 

But when I took the rear off the cutlass, it was under a lot of compression, from the strut tower or that plastic mono leaf. So when I go to install these on my lumina, will i need something to compress the rear struts? Or just jack up the car, and unbolt everything?

 

Also, should I be replacing all the bushings/bolts?

 

BTY, I got my rear knuckles from a 97 Cutlass, They look the same as the 94-96 which the w-body pages says will work for the upgrade. Does anyone know if they will fit?

[pwmin]

ive never replaced the rear knuckles before, but you dont have to do anything but lift the car to get the struts out.

 

97 cutlass will work

[mgenin]

sweet, i was a little worried about removing the knuckle, but I guess since my car doesn't have a mono leaf, nothing will be putting any force on it.

and I was also worried about having a 97 Cutlass since the hub and knuckle part numbers changed, but they look identacle to the 94-96 ones, but the caliper/rotor part numbers never changed.

 

Now its just a matter of getting that last, stripped, rusted, damn bolt off to the hub/bearing and then sandblasting.

 

Thanks a bunch for your help!

[mgenin]

One more question,

 

Is there a way to remove the spring and cartridge from the front strut towers without a spring compressor and without the cartridge tool and without killing yourself?

[Pabz]

One more question,

 

Is there a way to remove the spring and cartridge from the front strut towers without a spring compressor and without the cartridge tool and without killing yourself?

 

Not without damaging the strut/knuckle assembly. Just rent the tools at a local part source or canadian tire. Get the rear caliper tool as well.

 

If thats a problem you need to find a way to get the spring out without killing yourself, then you can use a vise or something to get the cartridge nut off. Good luck.