my 31 Ford 5-window has the original running gear. I was thinking of dropping the front axle (***us) instead of getting a new one from Speedway. My question is about the spindles. I have a set of juice brakes for the front, will these adapt to my stock spindles or will I have to get another set? If so, what years do I need and will they work on my axle. How much of my front suspension can I use? I will lower the coupe; not suicide. And will run w/ a reversed eye springs. Like most, Im on somewhat of a budget and want to go the cost effective way. ~OR~ Do I get new the 4" drop axle, spring...yadda, yadda, from Speedway and sell what I got? BTW: this would make a good tech post.
Speedway sells an adapter kit for $20. I bought a set of juice brakes a while back that had early spindles. It looked like all they did was redrill the mounting bolt holes but im not sure what year spindles they were.
Although a good machinist can get pretty much any combination to work, the '37-'41 Ford spindles are what's most commonly used between early Ford axles and hydraulic brakes. Your Model A axle is an excellent one to have dropped. We do that here in Phoenix. Model A axles have 2 1/4-inch perch bosses like the '37-'48 axles, and unlike the '32-'36 axles, which have two-inch bosses. My suggestion would be to retain the Model A wishbone. Whenever possible, I like to use original parts on my cars, and I always recommend that others do. None of the reproduction I-beam axles look like original Ford axles. Besides, almost all of them are cast, instead of forged like the Ford axles. Here's a link to a page on my site about dropped early Ford I-beam axles: http://www.roadsters.com/axles/ Hope this helps. Any questions, please phone me at (602) 233-8400. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/