Dodge wavy tube axle - can I fit Ford spindles?

Bought a Dodge wavy tube axle here on the Hamb and heard it's easy to fit Ford spindles/kingpins - anyone have some insight? I have a pair of round back spindles and new kingpins ready to go.

Steve

 

yea you ream the bungs on the axle so that the king pin will fit. I don't recall how much you actually remove, I think BenD has exact numbers if you drop him a note.

 

I just "miked" a Dodge kingpin and it's .795". That's not equivalent to anything but it may be due to wear. .7969" = 51/64". Ford is .812" or 13/16".

 

Don't cut that axle knuckle until you measure the hole in a Ford axle. The kingpin fits tight but not a press fit. Check and see if the Dodge axle has a kingpin retainer hole also.
It wouldn't hurt to know the camber built into the Dodge axle in comparison to the stock Ford axle and also the angle of the stub axle on the Ford spindle compared to the Dodge too.

 

You ream the Mopar axle to the Ford kingpin spec, it's the same inclination. You also have to grind a new "flat" on the ford kingpin because the lock bolt is in a different spot on the Dodge axle.

Sorry, I don't have the exact numbers, my machinist buddy did the work.

 

Anyone know these MoPar tube axles really well? I have one that has the center dip towards the front and uses .795" kingpins. I have another axle that has the center dip downwards and uses .732" kingpins. Any one have an idea of the original application of these two axles (other than "30's MoPar"...)?

 

From my playing with early Plymouths the dip down is 33 and earlier. they stuck an independent front end in 34 and then in 35 when they returned to the tube axle they pushed the dip forward to clear the sump. Not 100% certain on the year of introduction of the tube axle.

 

Thanks guys for all the input.

Steve

 

The Dodge/Plymouth tubular axle was introduced in both makes in 1933. Plymouth replaced it with an independent front suspension in 1934, then returned to it through the late 30s. Dodge retained teh tube axle in 1934 and used it through the late 30s as well.

 

I don't think they are called "Dodge wavy tube axle," I believe the proper term for the front end is "Dodge super-badass double-dip curvy tube axle."

 

Yeah I like that better

Steve

 

i used late 30's chevy king pins and spindles on my double dip with no reaming....? http://www.evil1customs.com/current_projects/Durant/IMG_3123.jpg

 

I have 2 ,1 wavy and 1 straight, both juice brakes, Are these the same year range as mentioned,I got both for $100 and on both the brakes were completely gone thru. Did'nt know what I was buying until I showed up, My buddy called and said my neighbor is cleaning out his garage and has a Complete Rebuilt 216 Carb to Pan Chev 6 In-liner with Trans $50 (needed a cheap motor for a project)then when we got there he said do you want these front ends also, $100 , I was like hell yhea figured they were atleast worth that. By the way still looking for a Chevy Floor shift trans top plate with shifter, late forties model if anybody has one....

 

By the way evil1 nice work , love your Coupe....

 

thank you

 

Bringing this one BTTT. Any info in regards to specs. and tooling to make this swap? I keep finding a little here, and a little there. I am getting a feeling I may have to write my first tech article about this...unless its already been done and I just cannot find it.

 

I've got one of these axles too, that needs a little converting

 

O.k. who themselves have done the actual reaming of the king pin bores? Would this type/style of reamer do the trick?

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PARTPG=INSRAR2&PMAKA=334-1112&PMPXNO=945451


It is an adjustable one that will range from .78125" to .84375". So in theory, this reamer will fit the orignial bore of .795" and can be adjusted up to the necessary dimension of .815" (ford kingpin measures .812" or 13/16 + .003 for clearance = .815).

You would need to stop every so often and take a measurement and check with a new ford king pin to make sure you don't run the bore over size.

Would this reamer also do the trick for sizing the bushings that press into the spindles?

Maybe just drill out the axle to 13/16" and ream the last bit.

 

My brother and I picked up one of these axles (for his 28 Dodge) that had been used in a trailer and the spindles are tacked to the axle (along with the tie rod cut in half and welded to the axle also). I haven't tried to free the axle from the spindles yet, so this thread is of great interest.

Why do you need to run Ford spindles? Mopar spindles harder to get? Weren't the Mopars juice braked from the factory? Are the Mopar spindles harder to adapt to later more efficient brakes?

What are the advantages (aside from aside from the obvious of starting with a bare axle and not having the Mopar spindles)?

 

Good questions. With the ford spindles you can adapt F-100 brakes which are the Bendix style self energizing type. I think the original Plymouth brakes would be about as effective as the early Ford juice ones...which work but the F-100 brakes are better.

I could maybe live with the original plymouth juice brakes. A bigger concern for me is how adaptable the spindles are for adding a steering arm onto the upper portion as you would normally do for a Ford spindle. The lower part of the Plymouth spindles are nice and beefy, but the upper halves are narrow and thin, and I think have only 5/16" bolt holes for the backing plates with no room to go larger. They just don't look like they would hold up to a side delivery steering set up with a steering arm added to the top of the left spindle...I could be wrong here and would love to here it.

 

heres a picture of mine as i shit-cobble together brakes for the damn thing.... the hardest part so far was identifying the fuckin thing.

 

Ok guy's, I have a 36 Dodge 1/2 ton and want better braking. Anybody convert to disc brakes?

 

i know a guy that did this for his 27 t that was on the cover of rod and custom. hes on here someplace if he sees this post he would know for sure how to do it. ive got a couple pics of it hope they help and mybe tim will see it and reply. ive got one in my garage that has one side converted to discs i could ask the guy who did it what he used.

 

I could be wrong, but those spindles and brakes look Ford to me. I am feeling pretty lucky. I just finished pulling apart this Plymouth axle and also a '41 Ford axle...king pins on both axles slid out smooth as butter. Next step will be to drill out the king pin holes on the Plymouth axle to 13/16"...and then ream for proper clearance...I need to measure the Ford king pin and Ford king pin hole in the axle to see what that clearance should be.

 

hemisteve, The modified that doliak is talking about is mine. The spindels are alomst an exact fit I had to ream the axel a small bit but not much.I had to mill a flat spot on the Ford king pin in order to use the mopar kingpin bolt ,so theres minimual machine work.I ran into a problem with the kingpin inclination, when you put ford spindels on the mopar you get alot of positive camber, I took the axel to an alinement shop and thay bent the axel to correct the problem (got it within a 1/2 degree). Hope this helps if you have any more ? pm me and ill try to help. I suffer from crs so hopefully i,ll remember.

 

What year spindels are they ?

 

Right. So what did you use to ream the king pin holes. Some here have said that the build in camber angles are the same, a few have said there were issues. This could be due to slight differences in Mopar tube axles...years, Dodge vs. Plymouth...what exactly is your axle Timmy T? My axle is supposed to be a 38 Plymouth.

 

I found the whole front end laying on the ground with no old mopar around but the seller thought it was a 35 dodge. The kingpins are castoffs from my 47 parts car. My machinast buddy chucked the axel in his mill for the reaming.

 

This is the one I have, it's under a homemade model A trailer, I thought the springs would go on top of the axle.

 

Alright, So after reading through this post I went out to find some F-1 brakes for my 37 Plymouth front axle, only to find that there were problems with the camber, can anyone give me a definitive answer on how to make these bendix brakes and F-1 spindles work on a 37 plymouth axle? Is there a way to fix this camber issue? Will any alignment shop bend the axle to get the right camber? Any info will be very much appreciated.