minivan steering knuckles on a P body

[nvysion]

I would like to know if the minivan steering knuckles can fit on my 89 dodge shadow ?
Are they beefier and use bigger discs than the stock shadow ones ?

[rbryant]

They will fit but the minivan knuckles have a larger turning radius which might be annoying.

I would look for 91+ car spindles and put 11" 91+ minivan caliper brackts, calipers, and rotors on them. The 91+ car spindles are the same as the van spindles other than the different tie rod connection piont that changes the steering radius.

Let me know if you need brake pads for the setup (see my sig).

-Rich

[wallace]

They will fit but the minivan knuckles have a larger turning radius which might be annoying.

I would look for 91+ car spindles and put 11" 91+ minivan caliper brackts, calipers, and rotors on them. The 91+ car spindles are the same as the van spindles other than the different ball joint connection piont that changes the steering radius.

Let me know if you need brake pads for the setup (see my sig).

-Rich

Does this work for the k bodies? I've got a 87 t&c that I would like to upgrade.

[rbryant]

Does this work for the k bodies? I've got a 87 t&c that I would like to upgrade.

Everything except the Lbody has the same basic knuckle geometry. The only real difference is that 91+ knuckles push the ball joint downward so they give a better control arm angle and the vans have a different tie rod connection point that changes the steering radius.

So if you have a KJGHPA car you can run the 91+ 11" brakes. It might also be good to change the master cylinder so that your pedal travel doesn't become too long and possibly the prop valve depending on your rear brake setup but all of the parts are compatible.

The lbody on the other hand has a different camber angle in the knuckle so more changes are needed when putting KJGHPA knuckles on an lbody.

-Rich

[John B]

I would look for 91+ car spindles and put 11" 91+ minivan caliper brackts, calipers, and rotors on them. The 91+ car spindles are the same as the van spindles other than the different ball joint connection piont that changes the steering radius.

Let me know if you need brake pads for the setup (see my sig).

-Rich

Are they the same as the 11" IROC discs?

[rbryant]

Are they the same as the 11" IROC discs?

Yes, the 11" caravan calipers and rotors are the same as the RT setup, the only difference is the tie rod machining. 11" brakes were also available on lebarons and I believe some non iroc daytonas.
The 91+ car knuckes were the same for all of the cars (non vans). The only difference was the caliper brackets and calipers. Rockauto/Autozone/etc even sell the calipers and brackets together for a pretty low price (around $20 per side) to make the conversion easier.

The 11" rotors themselves are actually the same from 89+ as they didn't change between the 89/90 11" brakes and the newer brakes.

-Rich

[nvysion]

They will fit but the minivan knuckles have a larger turning radius which might be annoying.

Rich,
What would happen if I put minivan knukcles on my shadow ?
Do you mean that the car will turn less for the same steering wheel turn ?

[Jack's Dodge]

Is there any chance that the knuckles are different between auto and 5sp cars? The pt knuckles are different, yet very similar to the older design. I have 91 dynasty knuckles on my neon now, and the alignment cannot be set properly.