99 to 03 front brakes
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 4,099
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From: Pittsburgh, PA or Columbia, SC
99 to 03 front brakes
To start off, the reasoning for this swap is that the 98-99 front brakes are pathetically undersized. Especially when going from 15" to heavier 17" wheels, both with 31" tires (about 15lbs heavier per wheel & tire) it was even more noticeable. Despite trying fancy pads with better friction rated edge codes and making sure all was well with rear brakes, I couldn't get adequate performance. I was avoiding driving the Durango in traffic because of the poor braking performance.
I'm hoping that with the bigger front brakes with good powerstop pads (same for the rear shoes, both are GG rated) that the braking performance will be much better now.
This swap is a bit more complicated on the 98 and 99 trucks because the control arms changed in 00 and with this came a lower balljoint with a bigger taper, so the newer knuckles won't just bolt on. The lower control arms don't swap over either. The good news is that the newer lower ball joints can work in the 98-99 control arms.
I got some 03 calipers from the local junkyard.
Some cleaning up, new seals, and paint and they look new.
The knuckles I had to order from out of town (not many 4wds local here). They were crusty and got wire wheeled and painted.
The rotors are r1 concepts coated. I've had drilled/slotted on here before and they all just crack. The last ones I had on it (powerstop) rusted like crazy and had lots of buildup in the slots, along with cracking. Solid = more thermal mass too.
11" 99 rotors vs 12" 03 rotors.
Here are some measurements of different Durango balljoints. Keep in mind all of these were $4 rock auto specials.
I measured the joints that I pressed out of my control arms and this time got about 1.963" - 1.965". The Mevotech joints were about 1.973" to start. Since my lathe is 500 miles away, I just had to make do with some sandpaper. Got the new joints down to about 1.969". Ideally you'd turn down the shoulder of the joint some too, but more on that later.
After sanding:
They were a good bit tighter going in than the old ones were coming out, but they went in. I got the snap ring to go on the passengers side, but couldn't on the drivers side. Looks like that taper on the shoulder of the joint hits first. Either way it's so tight it's not going anywhere. Eventually I might get another set of joints and turn down the shoulder some to get it that last 1/16" or so.
Everything other than the balljoints was pretty easy. The original brake lines work and everything (mine aren't very old).
The only thing I found a little bit different is that the ear for the tie rod is about 3/4" lower on the 03 knuckle than the 99 knuckle. I suspect due to lower mounting of the steering rack. I had to eyeball my alignment until I can take it up the street to get aligned during the week, took about 6 turns out to get the wheels looking straight. The geometry doesn't look drastically different than before, so hopefully it doesn't introduce excessive bump steer or anything like that.
I drove around the street here a couple times, and so far they seem like they're working well. After I get it aligned I'll have to go out and bed them in. I'm sure they'll feel much better after that.
They definitely look less puny behind the wheels.
One interesting thing to note is that the pads aren't much taller than the 99 pads, so they don't extend all the way down to cover the entire face of the rotor. It looks like the 2nd gens had the same pads but another inch larger rotors (13"). So just having more leverage being further out must make enough difference on its own.
I had the front end aligned yesterday. Didn't hear any issues from them, looks like it all lined up. Drove it to work today (about 25 miles round trip) and it drove fine. Aimed for a couple big dips (I've seen it bottom out cars) on the interstate and didn't get anything I could perceive as bump steer. I'm going to keep looking for different ends to straighten out the tie rods, but for now it drives fine.
I haven't gone out and bedded the brakes in here, but so far the brakes seem to be working great. The stopping force is definitely much improved for any given pedal effort compared to before.
Here's the angle the tie rods sit at.
It's been going on 2 years since I wrote those notes up originally and never posted apparently. So far no issues to speak of.
I'm hoping that with the bigger front brakes with good powerstop pads (same for the rear shoes, both are GG rated) that the braking performance will be much better now.
This swap is a bit more complicated on the 98 and 99 trucks because the control arms changed in 00 and with this came a lower balljoint with a bigger taper, so the newer knuckles won't just bolt on. The lower control arms don't swap over either. The good news is that the newer lower ball joints can work in the 98-99 control arms.
I got some 03 calipers from the local junkyard.
Some cleaning up, new seals, and paint and they look new.
The knuckles I had to order from out of town (not many 4wds local here). They were crusty and got wire wheeled and painted.
The rotors are r1 concepts coated. I've had drilled/slotted on here before and they all just crack. The last ones I had on it (powerstop) rusted like crazy and had lots of buildup in the slots, along with cracking. Solid = more thermal mass too.
11" 99 rotors vs 12" 03 rotors.
Here are some measurements of different Durango balljoints. Keep in mind all of these were $4 rock auto specials.
I measured the joints that I pressed out of my control arms and this time got about 1.963" - 1.965". The Mevotech joints were about 1.973" to start. Since my lathe is 500 miles away, I just had to make do with some sandpaper. Got the new joints down to about 1.969". Ideally you'd turn down the shoulder of the joint some too, but more on that later.
After sanding:
They were a good bit tighter going in than the old ones were coming out, but they went in. I got the snap ring to go on the passengers side, but couldn't on the drivers side. Looks like that taper on the shoulder of the joint hits first. Either way it's so tight it's not going anywhere. Eventually I might get another set of joints and turn down the shoulder some to get it that last 1/16" or so.
Everything other than the balljoints was pretty easy. The original brake lines work and everything (mine aren't very old).
The only thing I found a little bit different is that the ear for the tie rod is about 3/4" lower on the 03 knuckle than the 99 knuckle. I suspect due to lower mounting of the steering rack. I had to eyeball my alignment until I can take it up the street to get aligned during the week, took about 6 turns out to get the wheels looking straight. The geometry doesn't look drastically different than before, so hopefully it doesn't introduce excessive bump steer or anything like that.
I drove around the street here a couple times, and so far they seem like they're working well. After I get it aligned I'll have to go out and bed them in. I'm sure they'll feel much better after that.
They definitely look less puny behind the wheels.
One interesting thing to note is that the pads aren't much taller than the 99 pads, so they don't extend all the way down to cover the entire face of the rotor. It looks like the 2nd gens had the same pads but another inch larger rotors (13"). So just having more leverage being further out must make enough difference on its own.
I had the front end aligned yesterday. Didn't hear any issues from them, looks like it all lined up. Drove it to work today (about 25 miles round trip) and it drove fine. Aimed for a couple big dips (I've seen it bottom out cars) on the interstate and didn't get anything I could perceive as bump steer. I'm going to keep looking for different ends to straighten out the tie rods, but for now it drives fine.
I haven't gone out and bedded the brakes in here, but so far the brakes seem to be working great. The stopping force is definitely much improved for any given pedal effort compared to before.
Here's the angle the tie rods sit at.
It's been going on 2 years since I wrote those notes up originally and never posted apparently. So far no issues to speak of.
