I appologise if this has been covered but I have heard that late 70's Granada spindals are a direct bolt on to late 50's Ford cars, is this true?If so which ball joints do I use?Its about time to get the Ranchero on the road.
Heres the deal with Granada spindles. You could bolt the Granada spindles to the 57 ball joints, BUT, the taper is wrong for the lower ball joint & they won't seat properly plus you'll never get the cotter pin on. In other words, Don't do it. To remedy this you need to ream the lower ball joint hole in the Granada spindle. You'll need to buy a 7 degree/1.5"/ft tapered reamer. I got mine from speedway for about $80. You may be able to find a machine shop near you that can ream them if they have that reamer. Use your stock 57 ball joints. Billy
75-80 Granada spindles are almost a bolt in for 54-and later Fords. The lower ball joint hole may have to be reamed out a bit, depending on the size of the ball joint (definately have to do it on 54-57, don't know for sure on later years. You may also have to ream the outer tie rod holes slightly. Again, check the size of the tie rod ends to be sure. Reamers are readily available (Speedway and others). If you are going this route, be sure to get the proportioning/metering valve off the donor car and before taking it off make notes of where the lines go.
hey guys, note that it changes your front track width by like an inch each way, depending on which wheels you use. Also note that you cannot run you orginal 14 inch wheels because the disc hub has a larger diameter bearing. basically the hole is smaller on the center of the original wheels. but you do get like a 2" drop with the granada spindles
You can use the 14" steelies off of the Granada, they have the correct size center hole to fit the newer style larger hubs. I already have a set on my 57 for when I put the 73 Torino disc brakes on.
I have done several Granada disc brake swaps. There is no need to ream anything, simply use the correct tie rod end. I have 68 LTD spindles on my 57 right now, and when I ordered a front end rebuild kit, I ordered 57 Ford parts with LTD tie rod ends. They will thread right on, as will the Granada parts. Granada brakes will allow you to run a 14" wheel, where as the larger fullsize brakes require a 15" wheel. You could ream the spindles, but imho, its easier and cheaper to just switch rod ends. Hope this helps.
I think everyone is talking about the lower ball joint as well as the tie rod end. They won't seat right and can be dangerous if the spindle is not reamed.
I have also heard that you can machine the Granada hubs down to the smaller size. There is a lot of meat on the Granada hubs.
The Granada setup works with the modifications already mentioned above, and you get the advantage (if that's what you want) of the spindles from the Granada lowering the car about an inch. The mid to late seventies T-bird, Torino, and Cougar are supposed to be a bolt on with no mods to tie-rods or the ball-joint holes. Lots of good info on this forum as well: http://www.57fordsforever.com/forums/index.php
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