Help with Granada Spindles

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rsev216 said:
I took my 65 in for a front alignment this morning and was told the 78 Granada spindles are shot. Where can I find new ones? :shrug:

The new spindles Degins sells can be seen at: http://www.discbrakeswap.com/

How did the alignment shop determin that the spindles were shot? If they tried to align your car to '65 Mustang alignment specs, then it probably appeared that you had problems, because the Granada spindles do not have the same angles and geometery layout as your stock Mustang spindles.

The settings they need to align your car to are: 0 to .5 neg. camber and 2.5 deg pos. caster with 1/8" toe in.


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I'd get a second opinion. The shop may be trying to sell you more parts you may not need. If you replaced all the ball joints, tie rods, spring saddles, etc., you'd be the first I've heard of that got a hold of bad spindles. They just don't wear out in normal service.
 
D.Hearne said:
I'd get a second opinion. The shop may be trying to sell you more parts you may not need. If you replaced all the ball joints, tie rods, spring saddles, etc., you'd be the first I've heard of that got a hold of bad spindles. They just don't wear out in normal service.


No one tried to sell me parts. It's an excellent shop that specializes in classic cars. The owner is an old Mustang guy. He did not charge me. He just showed me the problem and said to bring it back when it was fixed. The tie rod ends are new but even when tightened down all the way there is a lot of play where the end connects to the spindle arm.
 
rsev216 said:
No one tried to sell me parts. It's an excellent shop that specializes in classic cars. The owner is an old Mustang guy. He did not charge me. He just showed me the problem and said to bring it back when it was fixed. The tie rod ends are new but even when tightened down all the way there is a lot of play where the end connects to the spindle arm.

I think you are talking about play in the outer tie rod to steering arm interface (the tapered stud doesn't fit snug into the mounting hole). It sounds like you have the wrong, probably 65 type outer tie rods. If your car is a 8 cylinder, you need 75-80 Granada type, if 6 cylinder you need adapters.

Please be more specific about the problem. No one is saying the shop is trying to cheat you, but they probably aren't willing to invest time figuring out a problem with a car that has non-standard equipment.
 
degins said:
I think you are talking about play in the outer tie rod to steering arm interface (the tapered stud doesn't fit snug into the mounting hole). It sounds like you have the wrong, probably 65 type outer tie rods. If your car is a 8 cylinder, you need 75-80 Granada type, if 6 cylinder you need adapters.

Please be more specific about the problem. No one is saying the shop is trying to cheat you, but they probably aren't willing to invest time figuring out a problem with a car that has non-standard equipment.

You nailed it. The outer tie rod end is not snug in the steering arm. The car had the Granada spindles when I bought it. I just replaced the tie rod ends with 65 ends that were an exact match to what I took off.
The car is a 289 with power steering. Will the Granada ends go on with no other mods?
 
Granada tie rods

[/QUOTE]You nailed it. The outer tie rod end is not snug in the steering arm. The car had the Granada spindles when I bought it. I just replaced the tie rod ends with 65 ends that were an exact match to what I took off.
The car is a 289 with power steering. Will the Granada ends go on with no other mods?[/QUOTE]

65 outer tie rods will NOT fit in Granada spindles. You must use the outer Granada tie rods, they will fit the Mustang adjusting sleeves. But you have one more problem. The 65 and 66 Mustang power steering outer tie rod is a different size on the driver's side, you will have to purchase a special tie rod that fits the Granada spindle. The one I bought is from Mustang's Plus and costs 90 bucks. I am currently dumping my steering setup for a TCP rack and pinion with my Granada spindles. I bought the 90 dollar outer tie rod and now have to get rid of it for the Granada tie rod to fit. I lost both ways. Mike
 
rsev216 said:
You nailed it. The outer tie rod end is not snug in the steering arm. The car had the Granada spindles when I bought it. I just replaced the tie rod ends with 65 ends that were an exact match to what I took off.
The car is a 289 with power steering. Will the Granada ends go on with no other mods?

On the 65 type outers you bought, the tapered studs have a slightly smaller diameter.

As stated above, driver side outer tie rod on PS equipped 65-66 (even V8s) Mustangs require a GR65 adapter available from mustangsteve. Be sure that you use the correct PS type tie rod on the driver side. Alternately, MustangPlus sells a direct tie rod that has the correct configuration, stud, and threads. They charge an arm and a leg for it (understood since they probably don't sell many). The passenger side on the V8 uses a Granada outer ($10).

I will soon be offering the direct Granada to PS type tie rod for PS 65-66 V8 and direct Granada to 6 cylinder type for 65-66. They will cost $19.

Sometimes 65-66 with Granada spindles will have a problem with not having enough tow out to get proper alignment. This is not common and can be solved by using shorter (granada type adjuster sleeves).
 
Big_B said:
Are the specs the same for a 68 with granada swap? I am having mine aligned next week.

'65/'66 Mustangs have shorter control arms than '67-up Mustangs --thus, the track width is narrower. The steering arms and angles on Granada spindles aren't in the same exact location as the '65/'66 spindles.

However, '67-'70 Mustangs have the same track width and front suspension geometry layout as the '75-'80 Granadas/Monarchs. Unless something is worn out on the front suspension, the stock '68-70 Mustang alignment specs will work just fine on those models with Granada front spindles.


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