AWD front end parts
 

Im currently looking into making my car AWD, Im just having a hard time figuring out what parts would be good to run. Ive looked over that Camaro build website and the guy says he is going to use a Cadillac STS front diff and I think c5 knuckles and hubs then run custom half shafts.

I know that the c5/c6 knuckles and hubs are good pieces and that the front hubs can accept a shaft since they are the same as the rear ones. What I do not like about them is that the upper ball joint is built into the knuckle. I want to run nascar type arms that have the ball joints in the arms. Does anyone have a good recommendation for some front knuckles that I could use? Im going to run 18x10's w/ 6.6in BS and 315 30 tires.

What Ive also been trying to figure out is what type of diff is the one from the STS? Is it based on a Dana 44 or something like that? I found one locally I can pick up with 0 miles on it with a 3.23 gear for $250. Ive also read online that the STS-V comes with 320hp out of the box but can be brought up to 600 or so with mods. Would this diff be able to handle that kind of power? My car will be somewhere in the 4-500hp and tq range.

Really intresting project.Remainds me Stielow buildt Quadra Duce. I would really like to see more custom built awd g-machines.

Could you take the upper ball joints away and machine billet bushing with correct tapper in C5 spindle.

Well anything is possible but I really do not want to have to do all that just to get em to work. Especially with the price of em, I do not want to have to do anything else to make em work for me. I figure it would be best to keep looking for other pieces to use. One huge problem Im running into is that most auctions on ebay do not even show a real pic of the part thats listed, just a random stock photo. Id also like to get diagrams for the parts since so I could know the ball joint angle and check my scrub radius on paper

I don't have an answer but like what you're talking about!
My current project is a 54 belair wagon with the complete Trailblazer SS frame and running gear. I don't know how strong the Trailblazer AWD set-up is but know that the guys at the strip are going 10's before breakage. That takes some serious hp.
I bet Marty would know, I think he is pretty well versed in GM AWD units.

Jeff-

Well after doing more looking around, I noticed that the C4 front knuckles look a lot like the C5/6 knuckles....except that the upper ball joint is not captured in the knuckle. Im sure that there are some dimensional changes in there too but it may work for me. I can just put some C4 hubs in there I think and run the front CV shafts to that.

Here is a C4 knuckle
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/91-92...#ht_500wt_1182

That one has the hub area wide open, Ive also seen ones that are closed off. Could I just cut that hole open if needed?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/88-89...#ht_500wt_1182

and the C5 stuff
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1997-...#ht_2260wt_941

I love the direction you are taking this project. This is going to be great!

Not sure what motor you plan on running
 

But Holden in Au makes an el camino looking car/truck that runs a LS motor and it is all wheel drive. That transaxle would be nice to use.

Not sure your going to be able to get the c4 knuckles to work for all wheel drive. And I def would not cut the backside open on the closed ones for strength issues. The c4 and c5/6 knuckles run completely different hub packs. I haven't put the c4 spindle and the s-10/blazer hub packs near each other, but that may be a possibility if you can check the bolt pattern and other clearances. Or you may just look at the s-10/blazer front spindles for the 4x4's. I believe they were the same spindle assembly for the syclone, typhoons and bravada awd vehicles.

I have not looked into the sts front diff yet, but there use to be a couple options out there, one was taking the 4x4 s-10 front axle diff setup and you have to swap out a couple parts to make it awd(there is tech over on syty.net on that). I was originally looking at a ford front axle so to have more gear options. And if you haven't found out yet, the gears are diffrent for the front diff typically. Some of the srt8 jeep cherokees are awd, so that may also open up some possibilities.

The hardest part is trying to not have a lot of specially built parts and to build it strong.

Not sure what trans you were looking to use, but auto is typically the easiest way to go without having to have custom machined adapters. Pretty much awd vehicles are auto that you are going to be sourcing parts from. The Audi, Subaru and others that have manual option have a far forward mounting engine with a crazy looking trans axle design that would kill the weight balance in most projects like this. Their front axle comes out of the front of the trans about 6-12" or so behind the motor, think about where your front axle is and how far forward the motor would sit. Chevy had the option on the silverado truck and trailblazer ss more recently for awd along with the cadillac ext truck. They hung a awd viscous coupler transfer case off the back of the trans. It's in the same area as the 4x4 transfer case but instead of being gear mesh driven, it is chain and fluid.

Not sure if any of this helps, but it some of the stuff I have found a while back when I was researching, lol .

Robert

okay so what is the car that you are converting to AWD

do a search for AWD Vette ( in Poland ) - tons of pics on the build

used a Syclone transfer case and syclone front diff

Upper and lower controls arms from Mike Lee at Race Proven Motors

Same arms that Troy used on the 49 AWD Delivery Sedan.

and yep the Quadra Duece was AWD from a Syclone.

Coleman Racing Products makes a "build-up" front knuckle that is basically just a flat plate that you add ball joint bosses, spindle, steeering arms, etc. to. Combining that with a bolt-in S10 front drive hub should allow you to set it up however you want.
I can't see you wanting enough torque split to the front to blow up a later model S10 diff...but I could be wrong.