Help! What spindles do I have??

[**grumpy**]

***EDITED FOR NEW INFO***06-12-11***

My 66 that I just bought already has 5 lug disc brake frontend. I want to buy drop spindles but dont know whether this is a 72 or 73-up frontend...

PO didnt know either. Was on there 10yrs ago when he bought the truck.

heres pics.

Thanks

[lolife99]

I wanna say 71-72 by looking at the dust shields.
Rubber bushings or steel bushings in the a-arm cross shafts?
Where does the rubber brake hose connect?
Front or back side of the crossmember?

[**grumpy**]

Heres pics from back side.

[lolife99]

The a-ams are definitely pre-'73.
Do you plan on rebuilding the front suspension also?
(balljoints, tie rods, etc)

The upper balljoint and outer tie rod will tell, for sure, what year it is.
You may have to pull the upper balljoint and take it to the auto parts store and compare.
(the lower balljoints are the same from 71-72 and 73-87)

If it was mine,... I would consider going thru all of it while you have it apart.
Front suspension components and brakes. Everything.

[**grumpy**]

Thanks Lo!
Id love to rebuild everything now, but its not in the cards.

however, it did steer and handle very good when driving it home. I ran 65-70 on the highway with ease, no play. And thats with mis-matched dry-rotted old tires

its nowhere near as sloppy as other trucks ive had. So going to try and just do drop spindles for now.

I appreciate the help.

[lolife99]

If you want to know for sure,... take the entire upper a-arm off.
(You have to separate it at the balljoint anyway, to remove the old spindle.)

Take it to your local parts store and compare it to a '73 upper ball joint.
(they most likely won't have a 71-72 balljoint in stock anyway)

If they match,... order 73-87 spindles.
If the don't,... they are 71-72 spindles.

Another quick check,... what width are the rotors?
1" wide or 1.25" wide?
The only reason I ask,... there are two different 73-87 spindles.
Light duty (for 1" wide rotors), and heavy duty (for 1.25" wide rotors)

[awbrown]

Grumpy , did that big snow storm miss you ???

[**grumpy**]

The one happening right now? Its snowing like crazy as I type this

[**grumpy**]

Ok..new info. this is the first time Ive had 5 minutes to work on my truck in awhile..
So today I got it up off the ground and finally pulled the front tires.

The rotors are 1.25"

So does this help with the above info to determine exactly what I have?

I already bought 72 drop spindles from summit, CPPs which I believe are western...
but I can easily run back to Summit to exchange them for 73+ if thats what front I have.

Thanks guys

[lolife99]

Your '72 drop spindles will work fine with your 1-1/4" rotors.
(IF they had been 1" rotors,... the spindles would be 73-87 for sure)

When you get your new '72 drop spindles check the upper ball joint.
If they fit you will be fine.
If they don't,... just buy '71-'72 upper ball joints and outer tie rod ends.
(or exchange them for 73-87 HD spindles)