69’ B-body Baer brakes w/ 72’ vs. 73’ spindles

[QuebecRollin]

I’m in the process of building a 69’ Coronet R/T and I’m trying to make a decision about the brakes.

I’m decided on the Baer 13” front brake kit to go behind 17” wheels.

What I’m looking for help with is the spindles. The car currently had front drums and I’ll be change out the spindles for disk brake spindles.

Baer has two options. I can either use. 72’ spindle which they confirm to work with no issues.
The other option is the 73’ spindle.
Baer could only tell me that they have a kit for the big bearing 73’ spindle but can’t say if it will create any other issues on my 69’.

My initial thought was that if I’m upgrading than I should go to the 73’ spindle since I can get them new and also have the more robust bearing and ball joint.
What I don’t know is if there is any geometry change in the 73’ spindle that I’ll have to sort out with suspension changes.

I’m hoping to take the car to Carlise this year and I don’t want to go down a rabbit hole making to many changes that’s create other issue to resolve.

Does anyone know if 72 vs 73 spindles are the same other than the bearing and ball joint improvements?

 

[R/T Boy 67]

There is no difference in ball joints on a B body from62 to 72when using the 73 up knuckles.(spindle). The 73 up A body and E body knuckles are identical geometrically to the 72 down B body. The 73 up B bodies and F bodies are a bit taller, but are used by many people in 72 down B bodies. The aftermarket knuckles are the A-E body type I believe. The 73 up, have a bigger bearing, and are available new.

 

[QuebecRollin]

There is no difference in ball joints on a B body from62 to 72when using the 73 up knuckles.(spindle). The 73 up A body and E body knuckles are identical geometrically to the 72 down B body. The 73 up B bodies and F bodies are a bit taller, but are used by many people in 72 down B bodies. The aftermarket knuckles are the A-E body type I believe. The 73 up, have a bigger bearing, and are available new.

Thanks for that explanation. I see where my confusion was now.
Most of the places offering the 73’ spindles have something in the description about larger ball joint.
I now understand that the larger ball joint which was only an improvement on 73’ A bodies. I’m going to assume that in 73’ A-bodies started getting the same size ball joints as B bodies.

So back to what I’m going to be ordering.
I spoke to someone at Baer today and they gave me a part number to order based on me telling him that I would like to use a kit that is for the larger 73’ wheel bearing. Unfortunately he gave me a wrong part number which was just an 11” kit for a 72’

I believe that this is what I should be ordering.
And yes, it’s a 4 piston kit. I know I said I was set on the 13” 6 piston kit but I’m getting cold feet.
I’m most likely ordering 17” steel wheels from U.S. wheels and I don’t want to chance a clearance issue with the bigger brake behind those wheels.
The car is a surprise for my wife who really doesn’t need anything more than the 4 piston 11” brake to begin with.

Front SS4+ Big Brake System 1973-1974 E/B 4141049 - Baer Brakes

US Wheel - Chrysler OE (Series 658)


This is what I believe I should be using for a spindle.

Mopar Reproduction Disc Brake Knuckles for A/B/E Bodies

If anyone knows if I’m wrong about any of this please feel free to correct me.

 

[HEMIB]

I am currently using Baer 6 piston pro with 13.5" rotors & 73 spindles using Forge line 18" ZX3 rims with a 4.5 Offset no problem 4 piston would be heaps the rear of the rim is parallel with no step all the way to the centre spokes

 

[QuebecRollin]

HEMIB, how wide is your rim?

The next part of this is getting the wheel fitment sorted out.

I’m going to use a 17x10 w/6” B.S. and a 305/45R17 on the rears but I haven’t focused on the front yet.

Would love to do an 11” rear with a 315 but then there is the issue of trying to get the car running by July and potentially messing that up with to many things running to the limits.

 

[andyf]

I'd use the FMJ knuckles if you can find them. They are a hair taller but they are lighter. If you can't find them no big deal, the factory late model A/E knuckles will work fine. I've used a few Baer kits over the years and they are super high quality.

 

[QuebecRollin]

I pulled the trigger on most of my parts.

73 knuckles
QA1 upper control arms
QA1 strut rods
Borgeson steering box



Baer track 4 13” front brakes,
Baer rear brakes
Baer master cylinder with proportioning valve

17x8 front wheels with Nitto 245/45r17
17x10 rear wheels with Nitto 315/35r17

I have a few sets of torsion bars on my shelf to choose from. Hemi bars or the big 1.08” bars


Also haven’t decided if I want QA1 lower control arms and the sway bar that you need for that setup or if I just want to box my stock arms and add poly bushings.

 

[andyf]

I pulled the trigger on most of my parts.

73 knuckles
QA1 upper control arms
QA1 strut rods
Borgeson steering box



Baer track 4 13” front brakes,
Baer rear brakes
Baer master cylinder with proportioning valve

17x8 front wheels with Nitto 245/45r17
17x10 rear wheels with Nitto 315/35r17

I have a few sets of torsion bars on my shelf to choose from. Hemi bars or the big 1.08” bars


Also haven’t decided if I want QA1 lower control arms and the sway bar that you need for that setup or if I just want to box my stock arms and add poly bushings.

Sounds good. If you're willing to buy really good shocks then I'd go ahead and recommend the 1.08 torsion bars and a big anti-sway bar. But you have to run a good shock like a Koni or else the bars will shake your fillings out.

 

[HEMIB]

8.5 " rear 8" front

 

[QuebecRollin]

I have a brand new set of 4 Edelbrock shocks that came in a pile of parts with a 69’ roadrunner that I bought over the winter.
I’m not ready to build that car yet and it’s going to be a numbers car so I’m probably not putting this shocks in it anyway.

Figured I would run them in the coronet for now and see how they are.
From everything I have read they were great units but Edelbrock sold there suspension line.

If they don’t do it for me I’ll go to billstein or Koni.


This morning I was thinking I would be running the 1.08 bar but then I decided to order the QA1 subframe and lower arms.

The car is a 6-pack injected with an A-12 hood and Edelbrock Aluminum intake.
I keep taking weight off the front end so I’m starting to wonder at what point to the Hemi bars become all I need.

I suppose how low I am able to have the keys with the wheel and tire combo will also play a part in that.

Torsion bars will be easy enough to swap out later so I’ll play around with it.
I have multiple sets of bars so nothing is permanent.

 

[andyf]

Koni shocks would be the best choice since they are adjustable. Koni has a front shock that is a direct fit. Their rear shock is designed wrong and requires some minor mods to work on a Mopar.