Front axle Ident help

[donsrods]

Yep, sure look like Chevy spindles, '49-54. What someone evidently did was enlarge the kingpin hole in the axle to the Chevy size (Chevy is .876, Ford is .813) The one thing that is an unknown is if they also did something to the axle to bend it to the Chevy camber specs. I think the Ford axle has something like an 80 inclination and the Chevys are something like 40, so your wheels will tuck under differently than they should. Don't hold me to that, as am doing it from memory.

I really hate to use components other people have modified, because you never know exactly what they did or how well.

Don

[Youngster]

If they didn't rebore the axle, they used the Ford king pins and made up bushings for the Chevy spindles.

Ron

[donsrods]

Hehe Ron, I see you and I were typing pretty much the same info at the same time. Great minds.....................

I know some guys can modify anything to work with anything else, but I am not that talented. I just stick with tried and true parts that match up and that I can get common replacement parts for.

Don

[Keeper]

Yes they were re-bored to use the bigger king-pins. The machine shop mic'd them to make sure. I had a feeling I was going to run into issues with this thing. But when all the parts were piled into the truck I didn't measure everything out.

I may just purchase a whole new front setup since the only thing I really have is the i-beam and the spindles. There is a spring mounted on the perch but its pretty narrow compared to the axle.

Who is a good supplier for front ends?

Oh and yes those look just like the spindles I have. I just went and used some calipers on the pin holes and they come out to .867 (this is not the most accurate digi mic made....) both sides were the same maybe that was why I had to have the pins pressed out of the axles.

[Youngster]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to discourage you but there are better ways to do this. As Don said you don't know what they did or how good they did it. It's been my experience that these short cut always seem to cost more $$ than if I would have done it right in the first place.

I know if you're looking at a complete '40 front end and the guy wants $300 for it, you're thinking that a lot of money. But if you stop and add up the individual parts, it dosen't take long before you pass that $300 mark (Thanks E-bay!).

With the swap meet season here , you should be able to find what you need pretty easy. If you see someone that has a lot of suspension parts, ask if he knows anyone who has what you're looking for. Some of my best buys were made on the way home from the swap meet.

Ron

[Keeper]

No worries on being discouraged, I know its all part of the fun of building. Just have to look a little more to find what I need. I can always swap this one

We don't seem to have to many swap meets up here. Usually one huge on at the beginning of the summer.

Well on the plus side of things. I did find an great set of chev spindles and some bucket windshield posts for a good price.

I will probably buy a complete tube axle setup from somewhere. Hopefully somewhere local to avoid the border "brokerage" fees!!!

[Youngster]

Keeper check out this site.;

Street Rod Parts Kits Ready to be Welded - Welder Series

Lots of good stuff there for you guys in Canada. There are some links that would be worth checking out too. There's even one on titling in Ontario.

Ron

[Keeper]

Yeah those guys are about an hour from me. I have their catalog but most of their stuff seemed to be for Model A's though they did have select parts for the T.