OK, had an incident with a bearing this weekend. Took out the spindle with it. Here are the details - Dana 44 front, chevy 3/4 ton housing, Chevy kuckles, Ford hubs and I think Ford spindles. I got a pair of Wagoneer spindles at PnP but the old bearings don't fit, different part numbers. Here's the question -

If I go with the Wagoneer bearings (so they fit on the spindle) will the races press into the Ford hubs? I'm going to NAPA today with part numbers, spindle and old race in hand, but I'd like to have my ducks in a row before.

Thanks.

This is a good question... Sorry, no clue here though.:p

If you are running 5 lug, you need to get the pre-78 (I think) spindles from the Waggy (74-77?)or Chevy. They have a smaller ID on the inner wheel bearing to fit the smaller spindle. The later model 1/2 tons use a larger bearing so it won't work. Sounds like you have a larger bearing spindle from a later model Waggy.

Will mid 70's bronco $hit work?

not 100% sure but when I got my Chevy front end, I compared the hubs to the Ford hubs. They look identical except for Chevy being 6 lug and Ford being a 5 lug. They even take the same lock-outs. That being said, when I was inspecting the Chevy spingles that I was intending to use, I noticed that one side had the small old style spindle and the other side had the new style larger spindle. I went to the GMC parts counter with some questions and was told that if you needed to buy the spindle new, the only way it comes is in the large style. All that is needed to covert from small to large is a different inner bearing.
Ok, so if a large spindle will fit into an existing small spindled hub with a different bearing and a small spindle will fit into a Ford hub, it stands to reason that the large spindle will fit the Ford hub with a different inner bearing to match the large spindle. I am going to try this with my Ford hubs and large spindles to verify it but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Originally posted by Keith Strong
Will mid 70's bronco $hit work?

The donor vehicle I got my Ford hubs off of was a 79 Bronco. I looked at the spindles and they are the same as the small Chevy style expect that they were bolted onto the knuckle with 5 bolts instead of 6 or 8 like the Chevy/Waggy spindles.

Originally posted by TORC
the large spindle will fit the Ford hub with a different inner bearing to match the large spindle.

Well, my worst fears were just confirmed at NAPA. Took the Waggie (large spindle) down to NAPA and the Ford (small spindle) bearing race. We compared part numbers and races and the larger inner bearing race is .160" bigger than the small one. So, no go on the simple swap to a larger spindle. You can probably have the hubs machined to accept the larger race, but at what cost? I dunno.

So now I have two Waggie large bearing spindles and I'm in a bit of a quandry. Do the machine work and have a big inner bearing (by the way, the outer is the same for both) or just find a small bearing Ford/Chevy spindle.

I can buy a new spindle - for a $100!!! :eek:

Originally posted by Putzboy


I can buy a new spindle - for a $100!!! :eek:

You could also have the large bearing spindles turned down to small bearing specs.. you have one good small bearing spindle still, right?

Take it and the two new Waggy spindles to a machinist..

Originally posted by Putzboy


Well, my worst fears were just confirmed at NAPA. Took the Waggie (large spindle) down to NAPA and the Ford (small spindle) bearing race. We compared part numbers and races and the larger inner bearing race is .160" bigger than the small one. So, no go on the simple swap to a larger spindle. You can probably have the hubs machined to accept the larger race, but at what cost? I dunno.

So now I have two Waggie large bearing spindles and I'm in a bit of a quandry. Do the machine work and have a big inner bearing (by the way, the outer is the same for both) or just find a small bearing Ford/Chevy spindle.

I can buy a new spindle - for a $100!!! :eek:

Damn....:( I was hoping that this would work easily. I can find tons of the big bearing spindles in the yards. Looks like I will have to keep searching for the so far illusive small bearing spindles. Or do some machining like Tom said....

The spindles I got off an '82 Bronco have 6 holes to bolt on the knucle & I would guess the bearings are the same as other Fords.