Front Lower Control Arms

[wb292]

Update or sort of. I have been working a lot of OT and have not gotten time to install them yet. I am hoping to start on it next weekend. With the added OT i ended up buying everything for the front end. Wheel bearings, CV Axles ETC. I will report back as I go. Sorry for the delay.

 

[Caman96]

 

[Schurkey]

NBS/Astro knuckle brake upgrade.

I have been wanting to do this swap for years and finally the local self serve yard got a 6 lug awd astro van in. When gm upgraded the brakes on the astro van they made a knuckle with gmt800+ style brakes that bolts in place of a gmt400 style knuckle(what the astro previously used). So for $54...

www.gmt400.com

9-page thread on transferring the entire Astro knuckle, hub, rotor, caliper to GMT400 trucks. I get confused by some of the off-topic stuff--Dodge parts, Italian calipers, etc. Apparently, it all bolts up from AWD Astro to K1500 except for minor grinding on the caliper for wheel clearance, brake hoses, and needing GMT800 CV axles. Going from Astro to C1500 involves ball-joint reaming.

IF (big IF) I'm understanding this correctly, the Astro arm should work for K-series trucks, but not for C-series trucks because the ball joint stud taper would be different.

Probably worth doing the research independently. Don't trust me.

 

[wb292]

I have a 91 model with the bolt on style stamped lower control arms. So far they look identical. Except for the threaded bolt holes I showed in the pics. My plan is to get started next weekend and I’ll take and post pics along the way. I’m also doing rear leaf spring bushings shocks and completely overhauling the front suspension. I want everything perfect before I get new tires.

 

[wb292]

Another Update. So far so good. The drivers side seems to fit great. I’ll finish the job tomorrow. The wife wants a date night so I’m out of time for today. I’ll post some pics so far.

 

[wb292]

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[wb292]

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[Schurkey]

Thanks for that. I feel like an idiot. Why didn't I think of that when I was fighting my torsion bar, and couldn't get it out of the control arm?

 

[wb292]

I think it was your post I read about fighting the bars. I planned on using a 2 jaw puller after reading it. So thanks for that. It was stuck. But the puller had it off in about 45 seconds.

 

[wb292]

I have the drivers side on and it appears to be the correct part. The only issue I had was the grease fitting. It hit when turning left. So I put the fitting from the UCA on it and it clears easily now.