Front axle Ident help

[Keeper]

Okay I am about to start picking up parts for the front end, but I am confuzzeled as to which front axle I have.

I am pretty sure its a Chevy axle as it had chev spindles on it when I got it.

Pin to Pin is - 50 1/2
Perch is - 40 3/4
Perches are 2 1/4 tall

Codes stamped - 21a 3010 on each end of the axle

It has two shock mount holes in the middle 30 inches apart, though I am not sure they are original. It also has a continuous curve the entire length.

I have looked around for info on the early chev axles and everything just points me to new axle makers.

Thanks in advance.

[Baby Huey]

Chebby Spindles can be made to fit bout anything either by modifying the axle boss or the spindles.
Your axle could be anything from a Dodge to a Furd to a Chebby....
How bout a picture or two ?
I have an old Chev Front Axle and spindles, think mine is 20's or 30's vintage....Pretty Wimpy....
Hang in there, keep collecting stuff.... "BH"

[Keeper]

Sure do. Sorry about the size!



and

[butch27]

I thought early Chevys had parralel leaf springs on front. That's why you couldn't lower them. I think thats a Ford axle and some hotrodder put '54 Chevy spindles on it.

[Keeper]

That is what I thought as well. But none of the measurements match the fords.

[donsrods]

I can tell you with certainty that is a Ford axle. You can take that to the bank. Chevy axles never had perch holes. The 21A prefix is consistent with Ford numbering systems also.

From looking at your axle and the pictures I am posting, it appears your axle is a '42-47 that someone has modified by adding holes to mount hydraulic shocks.

Let us see the spindles so we can be sure they are really Chevy. It is possible to add them, but I'm not sure that is what you really have. One problem with these axles is that the spring perch holes are farther out than earlier axles, making it tough to get a spring to fit for something like a T bucket. The spring on these is very wide. Also, the wishbones end up very close to the wheels, shortening the amount of room you can turn your wheels without hitting them.

[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Owner/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Owner/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg[/IMG]

Don

[Keeper]

Thanks. - I did notice that the perches were pretty far apart compared to the front spring that came with the car.

The spindles are currently at the machine shop getting cleaned up. I do know that they are chev spindles as they have the 4 "tabs" where they mount and are not round like the fords. I may have a pic of them around though.

[Keeper]

not the greatest of pics but here is the only one I have of the spindles.

[donsrods]

Here, these are Chevy spindles, do they look like these? Reason I ask is because '42-48 Ford spindles are square, not round like '37-41.

Don

[Youngster]

Don's right . You have a '42 to '48 axle. There were two axles used in '48. If you ordered your car with hydraulic brakes, you got the axle with an extra hole in it for the lower shock mount. If you wanted the lever type hydraulic shocks you got an axle like the one you have. By mid-'48 the tube type shocks were all that was offered.

You are going to run into tire clearance problems with your axle. It will also be hard to find a spring to work with it. But the biggest problem is going to be the camber. The Chevy spindles have a different camber than the Ford. This can be corrected by bending the axle between the king pin boss and the wishbone boss. You will also have to have king pin bushings made as there are none that I know of ready made. In short, this is the long way around the barn. I would recommend looking for a stock '37-'40 complete front end to rework if you want the old Ford look up front.

In the early '70's, Joe Mayall did an article on this conversion. It looked simple so I tried it with a dropped Model A axle. Let me tell you, it was any thing but simple. By the time I had all the problems worked out, I could have had a nice front end with a dropped axle and hair pins. The wheel bearings along would have paid fro the hairpins.

Ron