front wheel hubs, stub arms?

[®evo03]

Picked up on a idea to swap front stub arms from left to right and fit them upside down, is this the right name for them, its the bit between the upper and lower ball joints, trackrod ends connect to, and caliper, hub, disk, wheel.

Why? My idea is it will raise the wheel assembly therefore lowering the car? Is this a crazy idea? Will it work?

Bit of trivia for you, the manta b has shorter arm leading up to the trackrod end, therefore increasing lock, later GTE / EXCLUSIVE where longer, decreasing lock, did they do them to accommodate wider wheels?

Also for the works 400, there is a period correct item available, known as French hubs, must be tarmac spec item, and hub carrier looks higher, therefore doing what im trying to do above.

Anyone know if another vauxhall / opel item will fit, manta A, kadett, chevette, commodore, bedford.

Just throwing this idea out there! 

[Exclusive Opel]

Think the stub axles are different between the GT/E and 1.8 due to the hole for the track rod in a slightly different position I think! There is a thread somewhere about this from a couple of years ago.

[Jessopia74]

31 minutes ago, Exclusive Opel said:

Think the stub axles are different between the GT/E and 1.8 due to the hole for the track rod in a slightly different position I think! There is a thread somewhere about this from a couple of years ago.

Yes they are, I read that and compared mine when I had them off. They are drilled slightly closer to the stub axle. Very noticeable when next to each other.

[cam.in.head]

also .without having one in front of me to check i have a feeling that the upper and lower balljoints are different shaft size ? ? 

also again without looking would the camber angle be totally wrong. just trying to picture the offsets without laying under car cos its pissing it down here at the moment !

plus also ( although a minor issue) you would need to fit the opposite brake calipers but with the piston step or shims inverted.

[Jessopia74]

12 minutes ago, cam.in.head said:

also .without having one in front of me to check i have a feeling that the upper and lower balljoints are different shaft size ? ? 

also again without looking would the camber angle be totally wrong. just trying to picture the offsets without laying under car cos its pissing it down here at the moment !

plus also ( although a minor issue) you would need to fit the opposite brake calipers but with the piston step or shims inverted.

The arms are removable from the MantaA stub axles. But from what you describe it would be better to have some manufactured?
Or a new subframe to move the pickup position of the wishbones

[H-400]

The upper & lower balljoints have not the same shaft, so it is not just plug&play. 

And if you look at the pic above: If you fit upside down the stubs would point up, in a very negative camber. The French suspension you mentioned is the Frequelin suspension. A French rallydriver that drove a works-Manta400. I think it was the lower wishbone that was modified together with the lower balljoint. 

Simon Powell with the ADZ4575 gave a nice explenation on this topic:

About the stub axles: I had a 1.8 and fitted Carlton vent. discs & calipers on them, but later they went on my GSI. But never found a big problem with alligning later. So I checked the parts catalogue. There is indeed a difference, but the GT/E and 18S seem to have the same ones. The 1.2/1.6/1.9/2.0 and diesels (Ascona) have another partnr.  Looks all a bit confusing and maybe after years and several rebuilds parts go from one car to another one. And I remember those guys (that worked at Opel Antwerp)saying me: At the end we made all the shelfs empty to finish the later models of the Manta😄.   I never knew this difference, so again something I learned from this forum👍.

[®evo03]

Yeh grabbed a minute at lunch today to venture into the garage for a look, have early 81 gtj manta b with shorter arms to the track rod ends. The gte stubs are longer, creating less lock, then i remembered thinking about something i read where they decreased the lock to remove the feel of trying to park with wider ronal alloys! It didnt work.

Anyway back to stubs, yep extreme negative camber! Em! Upper and lower ball joint pins are different, maybe a steel sleeve and a drill out would cure this. 

As for the caliper, would need to try em! Im in the process of building one complete front end out of two, will be adding other strengthening mods, so it time to play.... have to admit it would be an interesting mod, never tried before.