Blazer/Jimmy spindle knuckle question - front brake upgrade

[84SFIGN]

Could someone please help verify if all 98' or newer 2WD blazer spindle knuckles are compatible with the (2) piston caliper and large rotor or if there are specific spindles I need to look for? I have a lead on some spindles but want to make sure they'll work for the front brake upgrade....

Thanks for the help...

 

[ZNix]

Im guessing best way would be to get a part number. I can get pictures of mine to show if needed.

 

[84SFIGN]

Thanks for the offer.. I have pics already but a lot of my local yards don't have a clue as to if the vehicle it came from had dual piston calipers. If they were all the same then it's a no brainer....

 

[TIMS87GN]

I bought mine as an assembly off of Ebay. I hope you are buying it all together off one vehicle and not trying to piece it together. You can do it that way, but you're less likely to run into issues getting it all complete. Mine came from a 00 2WD blazer. You should be good with all from 98-04 I believe

 

[scojack_2001]

Could someone please help verify if all 98' or newer 2WD blazer spindle knuckles are compatible with the (2) piston caliper and large rotor or if there are specific spindles I need to look for? I have a lead on some spindles but want to make sure they'll work for the front brake upgrade....

Thanks for the help...

They should be compatible. I just bought spindles & hubs out of a yard near me for $100/pair. Not bad. If you just want to remove the spindle as a assembly, rotor & caliper and everything; it will bolt right onto your Buick.

I'm doing it a little differently. Im currently looking for junk pads and rotors off of a LS-1 powered F-Body to use the 12" rotors on my GN. I know I'll need a bracket made but that's no problem for me.

 

[84SFIGN]

Thanks for the input. I spent some time with my buddy the GM parts counter guy today and he verified that there is only (1) GM part number for all 2WD Blazer knuckles. After calling around it appears that all replacement calipers at AutoZone and Advance have the dual piston set up too. LKQ has a 50% off sale this weekend so hopefully I'll get lucky.

 

[charlief1]

Some of the early and 2wd 2 door blazers from 98 up won't have the dual piston brake set up, even though GM will list them as having them. Best bet is a 2wd 4 door with towing package. If you look under the back you'll also see a sway bar that you can adapt to your car if you haven't gone with a bigger one already. It doesn't attach like the stock one but bolts to the axle and you have to drill 2 holes in the frame supports to use, but it works better than the stock one since it doesn't bind things up and ties the axle to the frame instead of using the LCA's to control the car.

 

[turbofish38]

I will confirm all 98+ 2WD Blazer/Jimmys have the 2 piston caliper. You'll need everything bolted onto the knuckle including the knuckles themselves.

Personally I dont like this type of set up. Those sealed hub and bearings dont last very long. Do a google on the life expectancy of the sealed hub and bearings used by everybody since the mid 90's.

 

[charlief1]

I can't argue with you Eric, but the same type of bearing is on the back of my Olds 88 and they're the stock ones that came on the car, now with over 200K on them.:biggrin: One of the issues here is that the bearing is supposed to be a "sealed" bearing and it's not really the case. If you look at how they mount they're open at the back where they go into the knuckel. The pocket in the knuckle has noting in it so if you at least pck that area with grease it should help keep the bearings alive. If you go one step further and tap a grease zerk into the back of the knuckle then you can take the ABS sensor out once in a while and "repack" the bearing to keep it alive longer.

 

[84SFIGN]

I can't argue with you Eric, but the same type of bearing is on the back of my Olds 88 and they're the stock ones that came on the car, now with over 200K on them.:biggrin: One of the issues here is that the bearing is supposed to be a "sealed" bearing and it's not really the case. If you look at how they mount they're open at the back where they go into the knuckel. The pocket in the knuckle has noting in it so if you at least pck that area with grease it should help keep the bearings alive. If you go one step further and tap a grease zerk into the back of the knuckle then you can take the ABS sensor out once in a while and "repack" the bearing to keep it alive longer.

Good ideas on prolonging bearing life. My car doesn't get driven in the rain so that's a plus. Well I went to (4) large salvage yards in my area today (West Michigan) and came up empty. Too bad the 4WD version doesn't work... I found at least 20 of those in each yard. I'm considering the e bay route but the ones listed for a 2WD application also note that they work for a 4WD blazer. Has anyone purchased off of e bay successfully...any insight?

 

[novaderrik]

I can't argue with you Eric, but the same type of bearing is on the back of my Olds 88 and they're the stock ones that came on the car, now with over 200K on them.:biggrin: One of the issues here is that the bearing is supposed to be a "sealed" bearing and it's not really the case. If you look at how they mount they're open at the back where they go into the knuckel. The pocket in the knuckle has noting in it so if you at least pck that area with grease it should help keep the bearings alive. If you go one step further and tap a grease zerk into the back of the knuckle then you can take the ABS sensor out once in a while and "repack" the bearing to keep it alive longer.

the loads on the rear wheel bearings of a fwd car are totally different than the loading on the front wheel bearings.. the rears just kind of hold the car up off the ground and hold a lot less weight than the fronts, where the fronts not only hold the car up, but also absorb more of the cornering loads and hold the weight of the engine and trans.
i'm not a fan of the sealed hub assemblies- the only advantage that i can think of is that they allow you to run a wheel with a flatter center. the old style bearigns will last forever if repacked from time to time and if the preload is set right, and if they do go they are dirt cheap and easy to replace- you just gotta get a little grease under your fingernails or wear those silly nitrile gloves so you don't ruin your manicure..

 

[charlief1]

the loads on the rear wheel bearings of a fwd car are totally different than the loading on the front wheel bearings.. the rears just kind of hold the car up off the ground and hold a lot less weight than the fronts, where the fronts not only hold the car up, but also absorb more of the cornering loads and hold the weight of the engine and trans.
i'm not a fan of the sealed hub assemblies- the only advantage that i can think of is that they allow you to run a wheel with a flatter center. the old style bearigns will last forever if repacked from time to time and if the preload is set right, and if they do go they are dirt cheap and easy to replace- you just gotta get a little grease under your fingernails or wear those silly nitrile gloves so you don't ruin your manicure..

Been waitng for ya Derrik. The front's are the original ones as well so that kinda blows the fact of the bearing I would guess.:biggrin:

 

[novaderrik]

Been waitng for ya Derrik. The front's are the original ones as well so that kinda blows the fact of the bearing I would guess.:biggrin:

sometimes even the sealed hubs last forever, too.. depends on the usage and how perfectly that particular assembly was machined and assembled.. my '04 Cavalier has 173,000 miles on it and it still has all 4 original wheel bearings, but one of the fronts is starting to growl a little bit..
even with some of them lasting a good long time, i still don't like them. never will. but i'm kinda old school like that.

 

[charlief1]

sometimes even the sealed hubs last forever, too.. depends on the usage and how perfectly that particular assembly was machined and assembled.. my '04 Cavalier has 173,000 miles on it and it still has all 4 original wheel bearings, but one of the fronts is starting to growl a little bit..
even with some of them lasting a good long time, i still don't like them. never will. but i'm kinda old school like that.

To be houest, I'm suprised someone hasn't come up with a bolt in type of shaft to replace the hub bearings. Then you could just use a regular cone bearing and rotor instead.