So I have been reading and gathering parts for my swap and many have said the balljoints are different. I searched for 99 grand am ball joints on advance auto parts site and the numbers do match the cavy numbers. So I checked a newer year and the numbers still match. I remeber reading a lot about this argument as to whether they are the same or not. Jus t thought Id share what I found.

There was a thread about this elsewhere i was reading, someone had actually contacted Moog directly and reserched it with them. Even the manufacturer says they are the same, but some people STILL say theyre arent the same. Go figure.

Aparently the aftermarket came up with some kind of in-between unit that works for both, but the OEM ones are, in fact, different. Lenko actually compared the all side-by-side.

One thing that wasn't brought up is to be carefull regarding the ball joints, because there is at least one aftermarket unit that will rub on the 12" rotors. Viper98912 had this problem when he first did his swap. I think he got around it using a small spacer (note: the caliper bracket also needed to be spaced the same amount).

I think it has to do with the taper on them... the Grand Am is definitely a wider ball joint (stock for stock) then the Cavalier is. I've tried to use a Grand Am knuckle on a Cavalier ball joint, and it doesn't work. It's way too loose.

i know a 99 aluminum CA with STOCK ball joint slipped right into the stock j-body knuckle perfectly. it was the stock ball joint, it was riveted on.



We all need somebody to believe in something...

Yes, but that's because they taper. The problem is using the stock J-body ball joint on the N-body knuckles, because it goes in too far, crushes the boot, and can cause the knuckle and the control arm to contact during some suspension travel. The stock J-body is definitely smaller than the stock N-body. I have some pictures around somewhere of the N-body knuckle on the two different ball joints, but I haven't got a clue which drive I have them on. If I can find them, I'll post them up.

Ugh, you remind me of my ball joint dilemma.

They are indeed different - the cavalier is smaller. If you place the N knuckle on the J ball joint, it goes down way too far. You need to find the N ball joints, which I was able to find at Napa. Beacause of the weight of the N knuckle, when you place it on the J it falls down far enough where it looks like it'll work, but it won't. Everytime I reassembled my front suspension on the J ball joints, it through off my wheel significantly compared to how it was before. Normally it'll change slightly after a full reassemble, but this a large, random move either towards the left or the right. You can tell it wasn't sitting on there correctly.

My issue with the ball joints - there is a thin bodied and a fat bodied ball joint. The fat bodied ones would rub on the rotor, and the thin bodied ones would barely rub. I ended up having to grind down the outside of the body of the ball joint to get it to work.

If you look closely at the rotor, your rotor hole is a larger size than the wheel hub hole. When I tried using a spacer behind the rotor and the caliper, the rotor comes off of its hubcentric lip and ends up floating some. So putting spacers wasn't going to work. In the end, the depth of the W rotor is just too deep compared to the depth of the N rotor.

It seems that nobody else has had this issue, and I think I figured out why. When I looked at other people's N knuckle pictures posted online, my knuckle is shaped differently. It's still aluminum, came of an N body, etc, but for some reason there was a small design change or supplier change. There has to be a difference in the location of the bottom taper hole with the depth of the hub mounting surface. I believe it's this different knuckle that has screwed me over. Regardless, I was barely able to make it work and wasn't about to go out to the yard to get some new knuckles (but I did contemplate it).

But yes, the N ball joints are different and you must use those.



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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -

So basically for anyone looking into this, with aftermarket balljoints it doesnt matter which car you go with . You will get the same ones whether you ask for a 99 grand am or a 99 cavalier.

I dug through a ton of info, plus I was the one that contacted moog and it was confirmed that they are the same. Now thats not to say that STOCK isnt different between the cars but replacement parts will be identical.

I have a ’96 Sunfire that I put a 3800SC with the original MK7 (isuzu 5-speed) in. It finally started jumping in 2nd gear so I parked it last Christmas.

I currently put the 4T65E HD tranny in it but have got to the point where I need to decide what to do about the struts, spindle, brakes, etc… I have the large CV axles from the SSEI and want to use them. I’d like to use the complete spindle ass’y from the SSEI but want your opinions about it. I don’t know if going with the N-F-W will give me the same CV spline size but the original spindle will. This however screws up using the Sunfire strut. I lost about 1.5” with 3800 and the 5-speed. The 4T65E weighs about 75 lbs. more, so I’m guessing I’ll lose another .5”. What are your thoughts, and would using the springs from an “N” body fix the height issue ? (I drag the front air dam a lot).

Thanks in Advance !!!

Use the N-body spindles with the C/W body hubs (off the top of my head, I'm not sure what body the SSEI is). The C/W hubs will bolt to the N-body spindles, and work fine with the brakes and bolt pattern, but they have the fitment for the larger axles.

My two cents:
When I first put mine together I used N-body knuckles on the J-body ball joints. It worked, but the ball joint went into the knuckle farther than it really should, and eventually damaged the boot (got pinched).
I switched to aftermarket ball joints and they are definitely beefier, probably just the n-body spec and it happens to fit j-bodies well enough they list the part for both.
I know people have used aftermarket ball joints and had problems because the end of the ball joint had a "tab" on the side nearest the rotor, it rubbed on the rotor.

So basically, be very careful what you get. The stock ones worked for me for a limited time. Aftermarket are eventually necessary, but some will not work.

SSEI is a c body



JBO since July 30, 2001

I have the 4T65E-HD on my L67 swap. I had to get Dutchman Motorsports to make me custom length half-shafts and built my own CV axles. I couldn't find an axle that was the proper length that had the right splines on it.

The 4T65E-HD is a 34-spline axle... I don't know if all C-bodies are... but I know all the W-body axles I looked at were not 34 splines... they were 31 or 32... I don't remember now...

Wow !!! I'm am impressed... CTS, Quiklilcav, and John Lenko all spoke to me !!! (That's a compliment. Not being sarcastic...)

I was told last night (right or wrong) that the Bonneville (-W-) came with the long nose tranny, and the SSEI (-C-) came with the standard nose. If this is correct, then I have a (-W-) knuckles and shafts because it is a long nose tranny. Right / Wrong ?

So in a nut shell, use the Sunfire Struts, the N-W-F swap, get the lower ball joint for an -N- Body (not the Sunfire), What about the Tie Rod ends ?

I don't know anything about noses and transmissions, sorry... didn't know there was a difference.

Does the nose on your tranny go clear to the front of the engine block (within an inch) ? If so, it is a long nose...