IMHO, you are much more likely to have some sort of issue with a kit. You're using a mishmash of odd parts that should work. They are depending on your mechanical ability to put them all together and make them work.
I did a search here and found 8 pages of posts with the word "scarebird" in them. The majority were early 60's cars.... So you aren't going to have a lot of expertise here to draw from if you run into a problem. Pulling a stock front end apart and reassembling it? There's some here that can do it in their sleep.
Let me ask you this... Are the ball joints anywhere near needing to be replaced? If you are thinking of rebuilding the front end in the future, the spindle swap becomes a lot easier.
The tools you need are a big hammer and some pickle forks. It isn't rocket surgery, but it is heavy work. Do you have a good mechanic that could do the work for you? That's another option.
I think both options (OEM/Scarebird) have positive and negative points:
OEM:
Positives: 1. Keeps it all Chrysler, 2. Parts availability in the future (if ever needed), no guesswork and praying it will all work together properly and perfectly 3. Less expensive.
Negatives: 1. I've never did a job like this on my car, on any car I've had. Its an easy walk in the park job for some, but not for those who have never done it before. I'm very apprehensive about mucking around with the front suspension aside from changing shocks or brake shoes or adjusting torsion bars. I really don't know what's involved -- thru first hand experience. Yeah the FSM explains it, in a perfect sterilized world.
SB:
Positives: 1. Bypass spindle swap entirely. 2. Keep my original parts 3. Less work, same results (very attractive).
Negatives: 1. Mishmash of parts (Chrysler, Ford, GM..not crazy about this). No guarantee it will be hassle free down the road.
I totally get the "It should work"...its been my experience that this usually is more like its not gonna work perfectly, as it should...which means sooner or later problems will appear somewhere down the road. I don't want to be sorry that I didn't choose curtain no.1.
The ball joints were replaced around four years ago...and I haven't seen any indication they need to be replaced; neither wheel is caving inward and I'm not hearing that familiar "groan" noise the bearings make when they are worn. The car drives true and straight and relatively smooth at speeds.
I know full well there are guys out there who can do it blind and its not rocket science, but this will by my first time, so in a way it kinda is..until I've done it once. I guess I just want to be cautious before getting into this. Whatever route I take, I'm not gonna pay a shop to do the work. I've done everything else on my car....except for refreshing the heads...that HAD to be done at a shop (but I removed them, took there there, told them what I wanted and then reinstalled them myself). So whatever route I choose, I'm gonna do it myself.
The SB setup would install easier, no futzing with the spindles; but then no guarantee there won't be problems down the road because of the different parts working together. The OEM job is gonna be a lot harder to do, but I feel there is a better chance of everything working properly...forever. I'm not saying the SB won't, based on what other's here have said...its working for them. However, intuition tells me all Chrysler parts work the best with all Chrysler parts now and miles down the road and this gives me little more piece of mind.
