K Member upgrade again, Please help

The sway bar mount on my 88 Daytona ripped out of the K-member and cannot be welded back in, so I am planning on upgrading K-members. However, because it is my only daily driver, I need to make sure I get all the right pieces before I tear my car apart... Here is my understanding so far:

1) Either the 89 or 90 K-member will drop right into my 88 Daytona

2) 91+ cast control arms bolt right into the 89-90 K-member

3) Napa sells poly bushings for the 91+ cast control arms

??? 4) The 91+ control arms have a relocated ball joint for better alignment, and a bigger bolt goes through the ball joint. However, this DOES NOT prevent the 91+ ball joints from mating to a 88 knuckle/strut/brake assembly ???

5) The mounting holes in the 88 power steering rack might need to be enlarged slightly to fit on the 89/90 rack, but it should be a simple fix with a drill...

6) The 88 Daytona sway bar will NOT work on a 89+ K member ??

7) The Daytona K-member is identical to P, H, J body K-member's

What I cannot find a definite answer on is:

Do you need to change the knuckle, to get everything to fit together? i.e. will a 91 ball joint fit into a 88 knuckle and line up correctly?

I am planning on getting:
1) 89-90 cross member from a MANUAL car
2) 91+ control arm
3) 91+ sway bar and sway bar mounts
4) poly bushings for control arms and sway bars from Napa

If I get those 4 things, will I be able to have a running car after a long day's work, or will I be stuck with something that does not fit together? Thanks for the help.

[lametec]

Well, since I just went from an '87 to an '89 k-frame a couple days ago, this is what I noticed:

1) At least '89 will
5) Yep
6) I compared the two, and they looked identical to the naked eye
7) All k-frames except L-bodies are the same

That's all I know.

Did the 89 stamped control arms bolt right into the 87 knuckle? Did you find any poly bushings, or new bushing replacements? How difficult was it maneuvering the K-member to get it lined up?(does it weigh 100 lbs, more, less?) Were there any other difficulties in the install? Thanks

[lametec]

Yes, the whole k-frame (with arms) bolted right in.

I kept the original bushings.

Getting it lined up is a piece of cake. Put a floor jack under it, and jack it up until the rear bolt holes are on the studs. Then loosely install both rear nuts. Now jack up the front a little, then attach steering rack (use some thread lock). Make sure the ball joints go into the knuckles, then raise the k-frame until it's all the way up. Insert the front bolts to hold it in place (don't torque down yet). Now tighten the rear passenger side nut, this will align the k-frame. Tighten the other nut and bolts, then the ball joint clamp bolts, and you're all set.

I don't know how much it weighs... I'd say right around 100lbs is a good guess.

To make things a little easier, remove the splash shield (on the front center of k-frame) before removing/installing the frames.

[mike mckay]

1. Yes; just put 90 k frame into 88 Shadow.
5. Yes; the bolts are larger in and you will have to drill out holes
for rack and pinion. Did it with a drill.
6. Sway bars interchange. I had 1 1/4" from 88 Shelby already
in 88 k frame and put it into the later K frame.
7. P, J, and G definitely interchange. I think all from 87 K cars
and up interchange from what I saw in Mopar Action tech but I
don't have it handy to verify.

Like lametec said it is easy to line up and get in place. Only problem was getting steering column inserted. With two people working on it no problem. I did job by myself and it is a little tricky but it can be done. Didn't have anyone around to help.
Go ahead and do it; you'll be glad you did. Drives so much better.

Does anybody know when, or if the steering knuckle changed? Are any control arms specific to a given knuckle? i.e. I have heard 90 control arms work on an 88, and I have read on the FMML that 91+ work on 90, but does anybody know for sure if a 91+ control arm will work with an 88 knuckle? It seems like it should, but I have also heard that the 91+ uses a ball joint with a bigger pin that will not fit into the 88 knuckle. The Napa catalog lists 2 different part #'s for 87-90 ball joints and 91+ ball joints which worries me. But then again, if the 91+ work in a 89, and a 89 works in a 88, I don't see why a 91+ shouldn't also work in an 88. Anybody know?


Also, I was planning on just leaving the rack in the car attached to the steering column, when I take out the K-member. Is there a reason to take it out? I figure it would be easier to drill 4 wholes a little bigger while under the car, then it would be to disconnect the power steering pump & column... Let me know what you think. Thanks again for all the great info!

[lametec]

Yeah, just leave the rack attached to the column. You might need to hook a bungy cord to it or something to keep it from falling down. Mine slipped down just enough for the column to come out, so I had to get it back in. Not too hard, but takes a few tries to get the rack aligned just right.

Dave Robinson sent me this info in an e-mail. It answered all my questions. Hope other people find it as useful as I did.

"The knuckles changed in 89, and then again in 91.


up to 88 knuckles have press in wheel bearings and bolt-on caliper adapters.


89/90 had 2 different knuckles for big (60mm caliper, 11" rotor) vs.
standard brakes (54mm caliper, 10.4" rotor) Both have bolt in wheel bearings. Big brake knuckle has caliper adapter cast on and takes 4 bolt, bolt-in wheel bearing. Standard knuckles have bolt-on caliper adapter and take a 3 bolt, bolt-in wheel bearing.


91+ has 1 knuckle. Uses a 4 bolt, bolt-in wheel bearing and can take either large or standard brakes with a matching bolt-on caliper adapter. These knuckles features a 'revised' ball joint angle.


I believe all three knuckles will fit any of the control arms. ie: I don't think the diameter of the ball joint pin was changed. I think the ball joint changed between 89/90 and 91+ because the arm was now cast, so the body of the ball joint had to be taller to compensate for the increased thickness of the arm itself. Also the 91+ knuckles had the ball joint pin hole repositioned lower which supposedly improved ball joint angle and thus suspension geometry. I know 89/90 and 91+ knuckles use the same diameter ball joint pin. I would guess the early knuckles do too.


Anyway basically I think you can bolt a 91+ K frame into your 88 without changing the knucles or steering rack. You will however have to enlarge the holes in your steering rack for the hold-down bolts. I think as of 89 Chrysler started using thicker bolts to attach the steering rack to the K frame."

I finished the K-member swap. A 1991+ K frame with 91+ control arms do Bolt directly into a 1988 Dodge Daytona. The 1988 steering rack does need to get drilled out slightly. I enlarged the holes with the rack in the car. I am not sure if the 1988 sway-bar is EXACTLY the same as the newer stlye ones or not. My sway-bar did not fit in very nicely, but it did fit (could have been poorly aligned when I was putting it on...). You DO need all new sway-bar bushings, and the sway-bar brackets from the newer style control arms. Moog, a branch of Federal Mogul makes poly-urethane control arms & sway bar bushings. Their website has a list of part #'s. However, you just need 2 sets of Moog part# K7294 bushings to replace all the old bushings. I ordered my parts from http://www.rockauto.com/, and paid $140 for control arm bushings, sway bar bushings, 2 ball joints, and 2nd day air. The new bushings are 2-piece and can just be pressed in by hand. Poly sway-bar bushings can be purchased from Napa. It is probably a good idea to order some poly-bushing lube when getting the bushings to prevent future squeaking. Hope this helps.

[firebaron90]

I assume that this will also work for a 86 G body???? My friend is about to do this swap as well. His K frame is out of a 93 Imperial. it is funny about the sway bars. The frame is sitting on the ground, and we lined up a extra 1 1/4 swaw bar with the frame. The angles of the bar going out to the arms from the center, are not as deep as the one on the frame. The ends do not line up. I believe Jonny Spiva from quicknor has posted something about this a while back on SDML, and said he was going to make new bars to compensate. they also have poly bushings now for these arms.

Joe