Ball joint ?

[tjnavyblue]

Hi

I'm doing the granada swap, and noticed when I was putting the disc spindle on that the ball joint stud was spinning with the castle nut. This made it appear difficult to tighten the castle nut (in fact, it's not tight at all right now). I'm worried that the lower ball joint may be broken/damaged.

Does this mean I need to replace the lower ball joint or will it tighten properly once the stud is seated in the tapered mounting hole?

Any insight would be greatly appreciatted

 

[Helmantel]

The stud is not seated in the tapered hole. Make sure that both the stud and hole are clean so that it seats properly and that the threads are clean and do not have burrs. The cleaner the threads, the easier the nut goes on and less clamping is needed to keep the stud from spinning.

If that fails, you could jack up the car a little under the lower control arm to put some pressure on the ball joint.

 

[BB1966]

The taper in the Granada spindle is bigger,you need the adapters. I have a pair cheap if you are interested.

 

[Helmantel]

The tie rod holes are larger, but the lower ball joint hole is the same as on a Mustang. You may be confused with the Versailles spindles, which are the same as Granada, except for a larger lower ball joint hole. They do need sleeves in order to use them on a Mustang.

 

[tjnavyblue]

Thanks - very instructive. Had no probs getting it on with the jack under the LCA.

I'm pretty sure the lower mounting hole is the right size for the granada spindle. I compared the spindles side by side and the holes appear exactly the same.

BTW, is there anyone on here who has swapped an 8" rear into a 6cyl mustang? Wondering what your solution for the U-joint was.

 

[geostang351]

Thanks - very instructive. Had no probs getting it on with the jack under the LCA.

I'm pretty sure the lower mounting hole is the right size for the granada spindle. I compared the spindles side by side and the holes appear exactly the same.

BTW, is there anyone on here who has swapped an 8" rear into a 6cyl mustang? Wondering what your solution for the U-joint was.

Hmmm. I have but 8 years ago. I don't think I changed the U-joint when I intially did the conversion. I now have a new drive shaft due to the AOD install (1" shorter) and the drive shaft shop asked my specifics and hooked me up. Probably does help to much but I think I left it as is. Someone might be able to tell you if Ford used a different driveshaft (stronger) using the 8 cylinder vs the 6 cylinder cars