Econoline front ends

Hey,

Someone on here mentioned that the straight axles out
from under an older Ford Econoline and Chevrolet van
works great for a g***er front end.

Which years and models do I need to be looking for ??

Can you put a disc brake set up on them ??

Gathering info for a possible project.

Best,
BC

 

61-67, after that they went to a twin ibeam setup. There is someone making a disc kit for these spindles...

 

I have one out of a '62 im not gonna use . It was too wide for my comet, it has the spindles and drag link 50.00 bucks plus shipping it can be yours .PM me if you want pics

 

SRM / Street Rod Mfg makes a disc set up. Stock econo drums stop very well though. Still using the drums under my race falcon, a street falcon, a 57 Fairlane, and a 66 Country Sedan -- all running econo axles !!!

 

The book "How to build a T-bucket" used an econoline axle, it showed how to make the brackets for disc brakes, I think he used Granada discs...been a long time since I saw that book.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Build-T-Bucket-Roadster-Budget/dp/087938395X

 

anyone close to minnesota have a complete econoline straight axle?

 

the frontend of my g***er is out of a 50 ford f100, works great.

 

blue car heres those pics you wanted couldnt figure out how to PM them too you

 

You mentioned Chev Van front ends which are similar but easily identified by their two bolt covers over the king pins. I used one of them for my Sr dragster . Making a new center section from tubing is not that hard if you want a different look . Also a good welder can shorten the I beam and it will be super strong still should the stock width not suit your project. .

 

Axles for sale
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=418573&highlight=econoline

There are a few places that sell disk conversion kits for Econolines. This is the kit I'm using. Nice guy and he answered all my questions. Other than the bracket, everything uses off the shelf parts

http://www.dddiscbrakes.com/kits.html

 

Back in 75, I put one under my 23 Chevy Superior Coupe. It came stock with 1/4 elyptical springs and when I put it in place, it was so close that I had to pinch the spring in about 1/8 inch. It really looked good and it has a real nice I think about 4" drop and the econoline front brakes are really adequate for almost any car. Oh yea, it had the same wheel base, seriously, spindle center to spindle center as the Coupes stock axle. I don't remember the the numbers, but I suppose most pre-32 frames are about the same width. That's my two cents.

 

The axle that was put in my 61 falcon, i'm told is out of a 65 Chevy G10 Van. Never heard of the two bolt kingpin cover identification technique before. Good to know.

 

they use jeep cherokee rotors for the disc conversion. go to the yahoo group old econolines and the guy that makes a kit out of oregon is on that site.

 

Yeah, that's the link I posted

 

Have a '64 chevy van axle narrowed on a "T" bucket. Happy with it.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but does anyone know if you can buy steering arms for the econoline spindles? I have econo spindles complete with econo drum brakes on my Model A, on a 42-47 axle with split bones. The spindle bolts to the backing plate are 2.5" center-to-center, compared to the 3"+ of the typical ford/chevy spindles.

Thanks,
Pete