32 Ford Spindle

[Deuce Man]

I want to use 1932 Ford spindles on a '32 wide-beam axle. I plan on '39-'48 hydraulic brakes. Will the Model A hydraulic brake adapter rings work as is on 1932 spindles and do I have to use the nasty looking '32 kingpins - or will later ones work?

[Andy]

You have to use the 32 kingpins. There is no room for the thrust bearing next to the axle so it has to go on top. Some people have used needle bearing thrust bearings. I never heard if it worked. You can cut part of the 32 cup off.

[HotRodmicky]

Get in touch with Early V8 Garage !
Dennis and Richard Lacy
(626)338-2282

They have VERY good adapters and a good soloution for your "bearing problem" also
Way better than the Speedway crap.

Michael

[DICK SPADARO]

This is a simple application for hydraulic brakes. Later hydraulic backing plates require a spacer on the spindle snout to retain the correct wheel bearing space and then a spacer ring on the spindle backing plate boss to center the backing plate. You will have to redrill the backing plate mounting holes to the 32 pattern. The spacers are sold by a number of V8 vendors.

In regard to the king pin it is best to use the original design king pins. This allows you to use the larger original design support ball bearing. To use the stock king pins you just cut down the actuator cup portion leaving about 3/8" of material as a retainer boss for the upper bearing and install the king pin as you would normally do. If you do not like the brake actuator hole showing you can make a nice cap using a stainless steel freeze out plug as a cover cap. This is a nice clean simple application. My personal opinion is to stay away from the thin Torrington thrust bearing application, this bearing is not shielded, does not retain grease for extended time, picks up water and dirt. While it does work, it is more of a race car application part where there is constant maintenance.

[Jason M.]

I used the typical adapter kit and after welding up the holes in my backing plates I had a friend re-drill the holes on a milling machine to match the spindle, the backing plates turned out very nice. I am very happy with how the whole conversion turned out. Used a $30 NOS king pin set from ebay.

[Richard (EV8G)]

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The typical/cheapo X-2000 adaptor kit is actually two (too thick, brittle and easily broken) piston rings and two wrong-sized valve seats. A few years ago, Dave Wilton was making a Deluxe version (DLX-2000) that consisted of a flanged spacer for plate- to-spindle to make up the difference in the center hole diameters and which has holes in the flange that align with the original spindle holes. It is only necessary to file small notches from the original backing plate holes just into the large center hole. We use a 3/8" diameter round file so that the notches are radiused to fit the mounting bolt shank, preventing the plate from rotating. The bearing spacers are made for a tight fit on unworn spindles (most do have some wear) or can use locktite to prevent them from rotating.

Dave quit making them several years ago and advised me that if I wanted to
have them made, fine with him. I finally did and they are now back in stock.

We have used 78-3111 (37-41) king pins in 32-34 and 35/36 spindles with Torrington bearings installed between the BOTTOM of the axle and the lower
spindle knuckle with total success and zero failure. I do advise customers to
remove and grease them annually, which is over-kill in most cases. They are
rated for way more than the weight involved and most of these vehicles are only driven in good weather anyway with few exceptions - with all due respect to Dick's opinion...

The 78-3111 kingpin is about 3/8" too long, but they can be shortened, and the grease groove ends up where it needs to be, as does the lock pin/bolt notch.

What we do cleans up the front spindle/kingpin/bearing arrangement and gets rid of the ugly socket, which by the way carries the bearing load and so should
never be severely cut off... It is good to retain the original 32-34 spindles, as
the LH arm for the draglink is also retained; the adaptors for later spindles are
all made incorrectly, as the pivot hole is centered over the axle at straight-ahead, while the original is 3/4" forward of the axle center, making a 90-degree angle at the draglink. Using the adaptor arm causes the original drag link to be too long, and therefore when the steering is centered, the vehicle will be turning left and therefore when the front wheels are going straight-ahead, the steering will be off-center and into the built-in play that allows adjustment for wear at center... causing many otherwise-good steering gearboxes to be condemned... Learned this the hard way....

[Kahuna]

Just a note re the EV8Gararge.
I used Richard's king pin set along with the Lincoln type backing plates made to be used with 32 spindles. This, to me, is the very best way to improve the front end. By using the original spindles, everything fits and just looks right. I can't say enough good things about Richard's stuff.
Jim

[Richard (EV8G)]

Originally Posted by Kahuna

Just a note re the EV8Gararge.
I used Richard's king pin set along with the Lincoln type backing plates made to be used with 32 spindles. This, to me, is the very best way to improve the front end. By using the original spindles, everything fits and just looks right. I can't say enough good things about Richard's stuff.
Jim

Thank you Jim !!!