Ram 1500 Spindle Interchange

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EvilSpirit

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I have a 96 Ram 1500 2wd that has the "old style" wheel bearings. Has anybody switched over to use the later unit bearing style hubs? I'm trying to figure out if I find a 2000-2001 donor truck if I can just switch the spindles, rotors, calipers, pads and hubs. Rock Auto shows different ball joints, control arms, tie rod ends, etc starting in 2000, but I don't know why they made the change. Not really wanting to change the control arms if possible - the previous owner had installed new ones, along with other parts, about 30K miles ago. I would think that if the size and taper of the ball joint studs are the same between the different years it should work. I guess they might have changed something on the spindles where the tie rods mount, too. But since I need to do some brake work anyways, it would be a good time to do the swap, and I just prefer the sealed bearings, plus the options of factory wheels opens up a lot.

So, has anyone already done this swap, or knows exactly why it won't work?

Thanks, Willie
 

jessyj

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That's what I want to do also. From the research I,ve done we need to use the upper and lower control arms too. The problem I,m having is around here 2wd,s are very rare, everyone has 4wd,s. Also doing the switch gives us a 2 piston caliper. Whaen I find the donor truck I,m doing it.
 
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EvilSpirit

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I had someone reply on another forum that they "thought" that you could get buy just swapping the spindles. He then said since he found a 2000 donor truck with new ball joints he grabbed the control arms and swapped them anyways. I know all the part numbers for the control arms and ball joints are different because they went from press in ball joints (99 down) to bolt in (00-01). I guess if I find a donor truck I might as well grab everything.
 
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EvilSpirit

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I was considering killing 2 birds with one stone, but . . . I was thinking when I changed over to the 00-01 spindles I would just buy a set of 2" dropped spindles - then I could just buy all new parts and skip the junkyard shuffle, and since I wanted to drop the truck a little anyways, win-win, right? NOPE Checking the major sources nobody lists drop spindles for the 00-01 2wds. Probably not a big enough market to mess with. I always preferred drop spindles over shorter springs, due to spindles not changing geometry, bump stops, shocks, etc. So much for that plan. I guess it's off to the yard I go . . . This SPRING :superhack:
 

DodgeDude99

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Here is a question, why would you want to swap to unit bearings?
Tapered roller bearings setup is stronger and greasable.
 

wonton

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Would like to know the same if anyone has any info on swapping to later model unit bearing style hubs.

Wanting to swap to have more wheel options for a 94 1500
 
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EvilSpirit

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Here is a question, why would you want to swap to unit bearings?
Tapered roller bearings setup is stronger and greasable.

Several reasons.

The single piston caliper brakes are not that great to begin with, and towing a 1500lb utility trailer that doesn't have brakes makes it worse. The newer 2 piston caliper brakes are much improved over the singles.

The unit bearing's "hat style" rotors are much easier to service - no need to deal with cleaning and packing bearings for brake rotor service.

There is a lot better factory wheel selection for the unit bearing hubs. Early 2nd gen fit all 5 x 5.5" Ram trucks, but the unit bearing 5 lug wheels - 2000 and newer - won't fit the older ones without mods or adapters.

Personally I've had good luck with unit bearings on 1500 series trucks. I'd worry more about the service life on a 2500-3500 series. The OEM unit bearings on my 99 Dakota went 175+K miles before replacement. With 180K on my 96 Ram I'm pretty sure a good set of unit bearings will outlast the rest of the truck.
 

ouch1011

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I considered this as well when I figured out how bad the stock brakes are, but determined it wasn't worth it. Here's why:

The stock calipers for the early rams can be upgraded to a larger single piston. 2500 2WD calipers. They bolt on and you can use the original pads. I did these calipers with a new set of rotors, reused the old bearings after cleaning and repacking since they were still good, and installed a set of Hawk Severe Duty brake pads. I did that along with the 1 ton rear wheel cylinders, new shoes, drums and hardware. The early ram brakes are a Delco system, almost identical to what you find on a Chevy truck of the same Era, so parts are readily available and inexpensive. I have no more issues with stopping my truck, even with a heavy load. Now, let's be clear, it still isn't going to stop well if it is over loaded, but nothing will.

You'll only have to do brakes once every few years if the truck is a daily driver. My truck is really only used for towing/hauling and gets maybe 3k miles per year. The brakes will probably outlast the truck at this point. Replacing the majority of the front suspension just to avoid doing slightly more work during a brake job once every few years or so seems like stepping over dollars to grab a dime to me.

As for wheel choices, I can't comment on that. The stock sport 5 spokes are fine for my usage.

If you still want to do all that work, yeah, you'll basically need the complete set of spindles and control arms from an 00-01 Ram 1500 2WD.
 
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EvilSpirit

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Good info on the brakes. I didn't know about the caliper swap, but I have changed wheel cylinder diameters around on cars before for better brake bias or feel. While I consider the stock brakes marginal at best, my driving style rarely requires heavy braking - loaded or empty - it's the unavoidable panic stops created by traffic brain donors that made me consider brake upgrades. And actually it was research into swapping 3rd/4th gen rims onto the truck that made me even consider the spindle swap. It's either do the unit bearing spindle swap or use wheel spacers to do the rim swap. But in any case, I wouldn't consider doing the spindle swap unless I could find a donor vehicle that had all re-useable and CHEAP parts.

Thanks again for the info. Willie
 
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EvilSpirit

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Sorry, repost
 
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EvilSpirit

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The stock calipers for the early rams can be upgraded to a larger single piston 2500 2WD calipers.

ouch1011 - I did some comparing at a local parts store. 1500 series caliper pistons are 2 15/16" dia, 2500's are 3 1/8". The 94-99 Dodge 2500 series calipers are a direct interchange with 88-00 Chevy 2500's, along with a multitude of other GM vehicles. Looks like the pads need to be 2500 series ones, so the anti-rattle spring will fit the piston correctly. As to the rear - 1500 series wheel cylinders are 15/16" bore, 2500/3500's are 1 1/16", and again a direct interchange with GM vehicles.

I must say that there are MANY GM vehicles whose parts interchange with the Dodge units, but check their interchange personally before purchasing.

OK - after your swap, did you notice a low pedal after the swap, due to the master cylinder having to displace more fluid? Looks like 1500's have 1 1/8" bores, the 2500's have 1 1/4" bores - which again, interchange with GM's. In my experience designing drag race car brake systems, the smaller bore will give you a lower easier pedal, and the larger bore gives you a higher firmer one.

And I'm going to bring something up for discussions sake. By swapping the caliper/wheel cylinder diameters, only the apply pressure - pedal feel - has changed. The surface area of the pads haven't changed, the swept area of the rotors is the same, and the rear drum brake friction areas are the same, also. Cooling has remained unchanged also. Given that, actual "braking" ability with a given set of pads/shoes hasn't really changed, only the pedal feel - a lower, softer pedal (with the 1500 series master). You can accomplish the same with a smaller master cylinder. So IMO any real gains in actual braking function - more stopping power/less fade - would have to come from better pads/shoes. Those better friction materials are usually more fade resistant, and many times takes more pedal pressure, which changing the calipers/cylinders helps with. So the end result is probably slightly better braking, if you chose the proper pads/shoes.

As to the 00-01 spindle/caliper/rotor swap - the braking improvements come from larger diameter rotors, larger piston bore area (2 piston calipers), and more surface area on the pads. Toss on the proper pads and you have much improved braking, with the bonus of easier brake service.

I probably have 15K pad life left on my front brakes to decide what I choose to do. If I can find a complete useable 00-01 setup at a reasonable price in a salvage yard by then to swap in, I will probably go that route. If not, I will probably go the 2500 series parts route, and hope my pad selection makes the cost worthwhile.

And more food for thought - brake linings can be ruined by improper "bedding in" upon install. There is a lot to be gained in braking efficiency by simply following the manufacturers recommendations for break-in. There are manufacturers - I think Centric is one - that sells pads that have been pre-cooked to set the resins and stabilize the friction material throughout the lining.
 
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