I got to looking at the front axle on my T bucket today and I noticed the trust bearing is on top of the King pin. Hows that work?
It does not!!!! It was an old trick to lower the front end. Put it back on the bottom where it belongs!!!!
Or it might be a pre ‘37 spindle, the thrust bearing will be on top of the upper yoke of the spindle on those. Can you post a photo of what you have?
The axle is bolted to the king pin, so with the thrust bearing on top the axle hangs on the king pin so the bearing works. This is a model A. 32 is different, bearing is under axle. →→ 2 0 ⤡
And here is a really bad photo of a stock ‘32 axle stacked in a pile with other front end stuff. I would have taken a better pic but I didn’t feel like moving stuff around. Anyway, as seen here the thrust bearing is on top of the spindle just like all the others through 1936.
I must be blind , that can not be an auto axle , can it ? It must be a farm wagon ! Completely redo what you have and toss unsafe junk . Brakes and steering are near top of the safety first list ! I don’t think your near on the list with the photo you have posted . Be safe the person who suffers the most will be your or someone else’s family .
Ford axle and spindle, old time "spliced" juice brake backing plates; looks like it could stand some attention in several areas.
I’ll start with the brakes, those resemble early ‘50’s F100 pickup backing plates (not really sure) but there are rather crudely welded plates on them to adapt them to the smaller bolt pattern of the spindles. The ‘37-‘48 spindles have a larger bolt pattern for the backing plates. Without seeing the complete steering arm on that passenger spindle I can’t be sure if that is the drag link from cross steering, and maybe there is a tie rod in front of it. If there are two tie rod ends on that arm then those are ‘35-‘36 spindles. If only one rod end eye is forged into the steering arm then you have ‘32-‘34 spindles. Hard to tell, but the protective shield on the thrust bearing appears to be damaged and there really needs to be 360* contact of the king pin and the top of the thrust bearing. It might be possible to remove the k/p’s, clean the top surface up and then weld a heavy washer on to make a cap on top. That way the weight of the front end will properly be on the thrust bearings. By heavy washers I mean a manufactured 1/4” thick machinery washer or even a heavy washer turned on a lathe. The brakes aren’t very nice looking but I guess if they work correctly you really could keep them. The king pins/thrust bearings do need attention though. Does the car steer hard? The bottom of the axle might be resting directly on the spindle if the thrust bearings are not being properly loaded.
Correct. There was mention of the early V8 spindles being different, but they have the same span between the yokes as the Model A. The ‘37 ^ spindles are 17/32” wider there to accommodate the thrust bearing under the axle.
I should have said that the brake idea we tried some years ago didn't work well. They are 1966 Ford Galaxie. They were on a different car. This axle already had split wisbones and was a rolling, So we used it. I has not been driven like this. I was trimming the brake cup off when I noticed the bearing.Speedway claims all kingpins and axles from 28-48 are the same. So any 37-48 spindle will work. I don't know?
Axles are the same thickness at the king pin boss, but as mentioned earlier only the ‘37-‘48 spindles will have the thrust bearing inside the yoke of the spindle. It is correct that any ‘37-‘48 spindle will work but there is a difference in k/p’s. The ‘37-‘41 round backs will use a 5 1/2” long k/p and the square back ‘42-‘48’s use a king pin 6” long.
As long as the thrust bearing has downward pressure on it that will be ok. No comment on the other cobbled up engineering.
First you will need to change the spindles to the ‘37 and up style with the larger backing plate bolt pattern. There are no commercially available caliper brackets that bolt on the earlier spindles. You can get aftermarket ‘37-‘41 round backs or original Ford, just use the correct king pin kit depending on what you get. Many dealers will have kits with caliper brackets, spacers for the inner bearings and the necessary hardware, you just add OEM rotors and calipers. This type of kit will widen the front track a bit, but for your car with no fenders that won’t matter, unless you don’t like that appearance. For sure there are more costly ways to go, like aftermarket aluminum calipers, aluminum hubs and the choice of solid or vented rotors. It all depends on your budget.
Get a pair of later stock spindles along with a new king pin set, get a compatible disc brake kit, get a compatible master cylinder, plumb the brakes system with the necessary components, get a new steering arm to hook up your side steer, get a new tie rod or at least the ends, maybe a new drag link depending on the positioning of the old steering arm, etc. $6-700 parts and a weekends work.
I guess it will get shoved to the back of the garage again. I started this project when t was 13, im 60 now.
Sounds like now is the time to get stuck in. A lot of good advice here. Just change some of those dubious parts and keep going.
You give up way to easily. Keep plugging away on it, and you could have it on the road to use in your retirement.
If I cant put hyd. brakes on this axle,How do the kits to put brakes on Stock Model A's work. When I first built this in the early 70's I only had rear brakes.It was 6 cly.too.
Sure you can put hydraulic (even disks) brakes on this axle. Easiest way is to use 37-41 or 42-48 spindles, which will fit right on the axle with their correct kingpins. Either use the 39-48 style drums, the F-1 drums, or any of hundreds of disk kits. They will all pretty much bolt together with the right combo of parts. Pick your poison and ask about the particulars. We know this stuff and can help.
Don't think anyone said you can't put hyd brakes on your axle; you mentioned disc brakes and the response was: there are no kits available to put them on your early spindles. Followed by the advise to use '37 and up spindles. You can easily adapt either early Ford Lockheed or later truck Bendix drum brakes to your spindles; but you still need to replace the kingpin that was whacked.
Using 39-48 Ford brakes on those early spindles can be done. You will need an adapter kit (available at early Ford parts vendors) which includes a spacer ring for the backing plate, and a spacer collar for the inner bearing. Then you will need to slot the mounting holes on the backing plates so they match up to the smaller holes of the spindle. Search here on the HAMB, there have been pics posted on this type of swap before. Does anybody know of such a post to show the Kid?
No picture for him but I will mention that some use a piston ring for the backing plate to spindle register diameter for the spacer. Google Early V8 Garage for a kit with a true, solid spacer rather than a piston ring.
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