I'm trying to ID the spindles on my '32. A previous owner converted the car to juice brakes. I'm going to take another look at them in my barn after work tonight. Braking performance is...... less than desirable let's say. The brakes are kinda weak. I'm trying to figure out what I have so I can develop a plan to address it.
Your spindles are ‘42-‘48 Ford, you can tell by the tall boss on the top where the king pin passes through. ‘37-‘41 k/p’s are 5 3/8” long, the later ones are a 1/2” longer.
Adjusted correctly? EDIT: the brakes are adjusted properly. Got it. Had a DUH moment! LOL Would this cause darty steering? It gets a little squirrelly above 40-45mph. Gotta check the alignment.
I don't think the brakes would cause darty steering. When you are checking your brakes, measure your drum size. They may have been turned a bunch of times and are oversized. Mine were so I had my shoes relined with extra thick material and then had them sized exactly to match the drum. That made a world of difference.
Yes they are. They lack the lower adjusters than were on the earlier backing plates. Your shoes are adjusted by the large hex nuts at the top of the backing plate.
Those wheel cylinders look like they may be leaking. I can't tell if it's just crud build up around them or bubbled up paint from contact with brake fluid. If brake fluid gets on the linings then the shoes will be really grabby, that happened on my Model A, it would pull hard to the left when trying to stop.
Fluid on the linings would cause the steering to grab as you describe when breaking, but wouldn't cause general the steering to be squirrelly at X speed.
I'm hoping to get some actual drive time this summer and it's becoming clear that I need to go through the brake system and suspension to ensure it's all up to snuff.
I was able to get into my barn and get a couple better pictures of my spindles. Here's the pics. Driver and passenger sides ahead and behind the axle. Can these spindles be used with a 4" drop axle? I'm thinking only if the steering arms are bent accordingly.
IF you are running a stock unsplit wishbone your perch pins are at 36.5 inches you have a 2'' perch boss at the moment your axle width to the king pins is 50.5 inches IF you go and buy new forged axle that is at 36.5'' perch distance with a 2'' perch boss = =because you wish to run the wishbone unsplit from where you are now - -IF a 32 heavy axle is the same dimensions as a 36 you will come inboard 1 1/4'' each side at each king pin. FROM WHERE YOU ARE NOW the drop will be 2 3/4'' not 4 its 4 inches of drop from the straight over model A axle. IF the steering arms are in the same location as model 78 37-40 spindles then you will need to drop the steering arms 2'' = =not 2 3/4 so, even though you could have your heavy 32 axle dropped 2 3/4'' and narrowed to 48 inches 1 1/4 each side you will still need to narrow the tie rod 2.5 inches and your cata-pult input steering link will also - -looking at it need to be looked at before you start and knowing you will be coming over 1 1/4'' each side - -how far away at the moment is the tyre from the drag link - -on the stock spindle stops
Sure those spindles can be used with a dropped axle. I highly recommend dropping the original axle rather than buying a new one. And I also highly recommend heating and dropping the original arms instead of cutting them off and bolting on new arms.
Looking at the car over the weekend I reassessed and figured I'd like to bring the rear down about 1.5" and the front down about 3.5" total. Front wheels coming in 1"+ would be welcomed. I want to keep the stock wishbone unsplit. I've been reading about changing the steering links to later style. I'm open to that. I'm also reconsidering the wheels I bought for a couple reasons. I might go to a set of "big & little" bias ply 18's on the stock 18" wires. Maybe a pair of 17" on the front if I can find a pair that aren't junk. Offset is an issue on the rear with the steel wheels I bought. Swapping a different axle is more work/trouble than I want to get into. And the wheel lugs on every corner are not acceptable to me as is. With the lug nuts torqued on, the stud is flush with the flat of the lug nut. No bueno. It needs either different wheels (OEM wires) or longer wheel studs. Longer wheel studs are more of a challenge because of how Ford put the studs in the hubs. I could have the hubs drilled between the stock studs for modern press in studs, but, again, even more work. Everything I'd like to do snowballs.
My sedan has about the exact description you are looking for. See the pics in your previous thread a year ago. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tire-fitment-a-32-sedan.1311343/#post-15158008 I flattened the rear spring, have a four inch dropped axle, and a reversed eye front spring that is flatter than stock. Nothing done to the crossmembers at all. It has stock 18” wires on 40 Ford drums with those thin spacers to support the rim inside the lugs. Rear tires are 7.00 and front are 5.00.
I had forgot about that thread. Yeah what you did is pretty much what I want to do. I'd really like to do it all bolt in. No fabrication. Excelsior radials it looks like. I checked those sizes. $1800+ in tires alone. Ouch... But the tire diameters are 31.6" rear and 28.5" front. Do/did you get any rubbing in the rear with that setup? I've been thinking about Coker Excelsior bias-ply tires on the stock 18" wheels in 525/550-18 and 450-18. They're 29.86" rear and 27.25" front tall. With them a bolt in 4" drop axle (nets 2.5" drop) with a 1" drop front spring and a 1.5 to 2-ish" drop rear spring. Then a couple little things like a drop headlight bar, custom license plate mount, 12V conversion for real lights, dual exhaust. And some basic maintenance items.
I want my stud to come through the nut by at least 3/8" preferably a full 1/2". The NHRA safety standard is the stud should stick out the same as the diameter of the stud as I recall.
I don’t think there’s a bolt in new axle that will work with the stock wishbone. Pony up and get your original one dropped. You will be much happier. I think a 500-ish tire is way too small for the rear. I have zero rubbing on my rear tires, but the front will rub the headlight bar bolts on a turn. The only real fab for my combo was shock mounts. But if you have good original shocks you can use them.
So-Cal has a forged 4" I beam with 2" perch thickness at 36.5" centerline & 48" kingpin. There is also a shop about 2 hours south of me in Williamsport, PA that drops axles I've heard about. No idea the cost. Wonder if they also do spindle modification? Coker has 600/650-18 at 30.25". Your 7.00 tires look a touch big to me. This falls a little under yours. I like the bigger rear diameter
Check examples of the shop’s work, and if they are nice, go that way. The investment will be worth it. A real 32 axle is worth a lot more than a new axle.
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