Grand Am Aluminum knuckles?

[90GTZHO]

Hey Jon you got pics of the spacers you used and you put them between the hub and the spindle correct? I wanna see how yours is set up.

[3X00-Modified]

Aparently my original Build thread got killed after seperating from the clutchmaster discussion....

Here are some pics of them.

You need longer studs too if you do them.

[90GTZHO]

Wait a min, i thought the hub had to be spaced to help with axle bind? I thought your spacers were between the hub and the spindle? Hmmm

[3X00-Modified]

Wait a min, i thought the hub had to be spaced to help with axle bind? I thought your spacers were between the hub and the spindle? Hmmm

No, thats just a theory... I think the spacing is perfectly fine. It's just that one of my boots was touching itself in one area and rubbing. But IIRC it might have done that on the Red car too. Might be the brand or assy of the axles I'm using.

As noted in the big brake thread, these knuckles pull IN your rim so if you are running stock offset with a 225 tire you will hit the spring perch on the strut without a spacer. This does bring up the question that it may be shortening the distance between the bearing and the trans, but that is not verified yet, and since on my car the boot was only touching on the passenger side I really do not think its an issue because the drivers side looks perfectly fine.

Now that the snow is gone, I should have the chance to jack up the red car and measure that distance on a stock setup and then compare to mine when its all back together.

[90GTZHO]

Cool, yeah man let me know what you find out. I think the wheels i just picked up have a lil bit bigger offset than the stock wheels as these 17s do not rub the strut at all.

[Chazzman]

Don't want to start another thread, but what brake lines and balljoints are you guys using? They ask if i want balljoints for aluminum or steel control arms???

[99GaGT3X00]

Don't want to start another thread, but what brake lines and balljoints are you guys using? They ask if i want balljoints for aluminum or steel control arms???

the only way you would need ball joints for the aluminum control arms if you found a way to use the N-body arms which won't work because the spacing between the horizontal and vertical bushing is shorter than the beretta control arms.

[3X00-Modified]

I'm using the same year G/A balljoints as the knuckles I have. 99

[heavywoody]

Yep, use the ball joints for the knuckles; bolt right into our control arms.

[3X00-Modified]

Geoff what brand ball joints did you end up going with? I originally got Moog since I got a discount from my uncles shop, but now that I've see Raybestos's version of the "Professional Grade" outer tie-rod, I'm really thinking of replacing what I have.

[Slinky]

I just put new moog ball joints/tie rod ends on, your saying the reybestos ones are better quality?

[3X00-Modified]

It's debatable... I've used Moog in the past but decided to switch to Raybestos this year. But $42 for each tie-rod and $56 or something for each ball joint so they are not cheap.

The ones I'm replacing, One is OEM and the other one I have no idea what it is, but one was squirting grease out the grease fitting, so it was definitely shot.

Both Moog and Raybestos say they are Full Ball design, but I have not cut one of my old Moog ones apart to see if thats true for what I have as far as the ball-joints go.

Raybestos actually uses the same supplier as Napa so their high end Professional Grade ones are equivalent to Napa's high end parts too, and I've see comparisons between Napa and Moog putting Napa on the top, but they are both top of the line companies. I highly suggest getting the better product from them though, do not get the cheap versions. They have a service grade and Pro grade on Raybestos, I'm not sure what that is called for Moog.

[heavywoody]

Honestly I don't remember; I'd have to dig through my receipts to find out. Whatever they are, they've held up great to my "aggressive" driving.

[KFLO 93 GT]

Moog only has one grade, they don't believe in making a cheap option. If you've already bought and installed Moog parts - have no fear, you did well. They are top quality, I have Moog balls and ties on the black car.

The only returns I ever do on Moog part failures are when they've been installed wrong.

[Kris GTwhat?]

Moog only has one grade, they don't believe in making a cheap option. If you've already bought and installed Moog parts - have no fear, you did well. They are top quality, I have Moog balls and ties on the black car.

The only returns I ever do on Moog part failures are when they've been installed wrong.

true dat