RE: [Chrysler300] Disc Brakes and the Steering Arm on the Spindle-300F(conversion)

[Bill Huff <czbill@xxxxxxxxxx>]

John,


I would be leery of extending the adjusting sleeves without 
substantially increasing their strength.  They, along with the tie 
rods are considered a weak link as regards flex, etc. on cars that 
compete in other than drag race venues.  There is at least one 
company that makes oversize solid sleeves and tie rods that are 
thicker and stronger for that purpose.  Unfortunately they are for 
muscle car era vehicles.  If you have your sleeves extended, which 
sounds like the lesser of the various evils, I would have them 
strengthened.  If you are considering cutting and having a middle 
section welded/spliced in, my preference would be to make it a 
considerably larger tube with a large pressed on overlap.  The 
competition sleeves are solid and use lock nuts to lock the 
adjustment, a scheme that might work well in your case.

Bill Huff
At 10/30/200809:06 AM, John Kuegel wrote:

>Thanks Big John,
>
>-no doubt, yours is great advice about the ready-made kits from AAJ, 
>and had I not known John Hertog, I may have ultimately gone that 
>route, but I have had the donor parts for quite a while and got them 
>for next to nothing....and the rotors, calipers, etc. are super 
>cheap and plentiful from my local NAPA,...I think everything for 
>both wheels including the spindles was less than $150...I already 
>had made the 15" rim change(from a Dodge Diplomat), and modified 
>them to wear the stunning(and mandatory!) F hubcaps and the spiffy 
>new BFG wide white radials my lovely wife got all my friends to buy 
>me for my 40th B'day...that was a nice project even with all the 
>cutting, grinding and welding!...don't worry, all my stock F rims 
>and other parts, etc. are labeled and stored for the next curator if 
>I should slip on that banana peel!! (and the folks at Barrett Jackson ask...)
>
>-I will not be bending the steering arm with a torch, but follow my 
>instincts and find a way to shorten the tie rods...I will leave the 
>metallurgy to other, more experienced pilgrims...
>
>-after several hours at NAPA looking at the old books and noting 
>pictures and specs on steering parts, I think I may have an easy 
>alternative to threading and cutting the inner tie rod ends...it 
>involves using a longer sleeve and a shorter inner(LH threaded) tie 
>rod end- all off-the-shelf(cheap) stuff...it will be trial and 
>error, so I will have to keep you posted...
>
>-thanks to the knowledge from other club members and this 
>listserver, I think I will have a dual MC that will fit and work 
>well(and is inexpensive)...I took the other fork in the road, so I 
>have to stay on it, but the kit from AAJ looks like the cat's 
>pajamas!...I can't wait till the discs are on there- these and a 
>couple of other things, like rear seatbelts and a new driveshaft 
>will allow me to take my two-year-old to all the cool old car 
>events!! (with a little more peace of mind...)
>
>John Kuegel,
>F in Long Island
>
>--- On Wed, 10/29/08, John Mc Adams 
><<mailto:clafong%40earthlink.net>clafong@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>From: John Mc Adams <<mailto:clafong%40earthlink.net>clafong@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: RE: [Chrysler300] Disc Brakes and the Steering Arm on the 
>Spindle-300F(conversion)
>To: <mailto:jwkco%40yahoo.com>jwkco@xxxxxxxxx, 
><mailto:Chrysler300%40yahoogroups.com>Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2008, 12:11 PM
>
>John:
>
>It seems that you have already bought the spindles and have started
>
>installing them on your car. It is unfortunate that you did not just buy
>
>the complete kit from AAJ brakes. They just bolt onto your stock spindles
>
>(without re-aligning the front end geometry) and can be removed and put back
>
>to stock if you sell the car and the buyer wants it as original. The
>
>mechanical installation can be done in one afternoon, not including the
>
>fabrication and bleeding of the lines. I have done this on three of my
>
>project MOPARS including a "B" body car. They will even allow you to bolt
>
>on 14 inch wheels, if that is your thing.
>
>The dual circuit master cylinder that Roger offers with the AAJ kit will fit
>
>under the oval can (or oval rubber bellows) vacuum chamber on '61 and
>
>earlier cars so you can have a redundant brake system. I added an
>
>adjustable pressure proportioning valve to the rear brake circuit to balance
>
>out the braking between the discs on the front and the drums on the back. I
>
>am not sure that it was really necessary.
>
>Oh well, that is all water under the bridge as they say and you are now
>
>floating down the river on the course that you have selected. I wish you
>
>good luck and successful completion of your project. Disc brakes make such
>
>an improvement on our heavy 300's as the stock 12 inch "Center Pain" drum
>
>brakes were very temperamental for me to adjust to my satisfaction.
>
>To anyone else considering a disc brake conversion, I highly recommend the
>
>AAJ disc conversion. He also offers discs for the rear tapered axles but I
>
>have not tried them myself. Give Roger (at AAJ) a call and he will answer
>
>your questions as he is a really nice guy. See:
>
><http://www.aajbrake>http://www.aajbrake s.com/
>
>For what it is worth,
>
>Big John Mc Adams
>
>(In Sunny and warm SoCal)
>
>_____
>
>From: Chrysler300@ yahoogroups. com [mailto:Chrysler300@ yahoogroups. com] On
>
>Behalf Of John Kuegel
>
>Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 6:00 AM
>
>To: Bill Huff; Warren Anderson; Chrysler300@ yahoogroups. com; Hi Tech Auto
>
>Parts
>
>Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] Disc Brakes and the Steering Arm on the
>
>Spindle-300F( conversion)
>
>thankyou,
>
>- you confirm my belief that one should stay away from heating up and
>
>bending forged steering parts...I think I can accomplish the same thing
>
>by shortening the inner tie rod ends, if I can get the left hand
>
>threads extended a bit on the rod ends...this will give me the desired
>
>ability to align the steering, once this brake conversion is
>
>completed... the steering geometry should not be changed by shortening
>
>the tie rod ends because the disc brake spindles I am adding have
>
>longer steering arms anyway, and I would just be adjusting the length
>
>of the tie rod system to meet it for connection.. .all my 300F stock
>
>parts would stay intact- just get removed...the modifications will take
>
>place on new parts...
>
>thanks, John Kuegel
>
>--- On Tue, 10/28/08, Hi Tech Auto Parts 
><<mailto:htap%40clear.net>htap@xxxxxxxxxx
>
><mailto:htap% 40clear.net. nz> nz> wrote:
>
>From: Hi Tech Auto Parts <<mailto:htap%40clear.net>htap@xxxxxxxxxx 
><mailto:htap% 40clear.net. nz> nz>
>
>Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] Disc Brakes and the Steering Arm on the
>
>Spindle-300F( conversion)
>
>To: "Bill Huff" <<mailto:czbill%40cfl.rr>czbill@xxxxxxx 
><mailto:czbill% 40cfl.rr. com> com>, "Warren
>
>Anderson" <wranderson@ commspee <mailto:wranderson% 40commspeed. net> d.net>,
>
>jwkco@yahoo. <mailto:jwkco% 40yahoo.com> com, Chrysler300@
>
><mailto:Chrysler300 %40yahoogroups. com> yahoogroups. com
>
>Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 4:14 PM
>
>I agree bending/heating is dangerous and not good practice.how ever haveing
>
>to shorten the tierods that much, will more than likely upset the steering
>
>circle/geometry of your car.Chrysler wasnt short on spending $$$ when it
>
>came to investing on a good suspension layout and no doubt where the arms
>
>sit from factory are the optimum place-once changed how ever your steering
>
>capabilities will no doubt deminish with it-tried it once my self-and paid
>
>the price on nice orig.steering. Best solution is use orig.steering/
>
>suspension arms and get a bolt on disc brake conversion kit to suit.
>
>Geoff Matthews-sunny NZ.
>
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