swapping spindles

I got me a 99 explorer. I was thinking in the front I could swap to like a chevy c10 spindle. I took some measurements and it looks like it would probably work. What do I need to look for to see if I can do it.

Keep in mind that the important points are the actual pivot points inside the balljoints. You can get pretty close by speculation if you're good. Also the spindle inclination is important too. That is the angle of the line that is drawn through the upper and lower ball joints, to the face of the wheel mounting surface. And obviously the steering arm position is important too.

Originally posted by BioMax



Keep in mind that the important points are the actual pivot points inside the balljoints.

Not sure what you mean there. I will be building new upper control arms so I should be able to fix the inclination there. And they are both front steer.

What Max means about the steering is refering to the location of where the tie rod is attached to the spindle. Rather it be the same distance as the orginal spindle or closer/farther from the spindle.

That I hadn't thought about. Got to check it out.

Originally posted by huskerdually



Originally posted by BioMax



Keep in mind that the important points are the actual pivot points inside the balljoints.

Not sure what you mean there.



There is a single point inside of the balljoint that is THE pivot point, that is the point that should be used for measuring.

I would assume that THE point is pretty close to the middle of the ball joint, correct?

That is like 13" and the pivots of my control arms are about 13" also so I figure it should work pretty good. Right?

exactly!

As long as the spindle inclination is close you'll be fine.

How do you measure the inclination? Can't I just fix that w/ the upper arms?

The way that I do it is to clamp the face of the hub (where the wheel bolts to) to a table or other flat surface and I plot out all of the points on paper. Then I can take more acurate measurements.

If the inclination is only slightly off, then you shouldn't have too many problems.