quote:Originally posted by 1973 Pantera:
I was just curious if anyone had ever personally had or heard of a failure of a Pantera spindle.
BTW, the Ferrari 308/328 and Porsche 911, 930, and 944 use the same front bearings as the Pantera (TIMKIN: LM67048 inner, LM11949 outer).
I had a spindle failure on a 1969 Mercury Cougar. Thankfully it happened as I was just backing out of a parking space. It sheared right in half. If it would of happened just a minute later I would have been zooming down the interstate at 70+!!
It isn't common on a street car, but who knows for sure? Certainly Detomaso or Ford never felt there was a need to upgrade it like the Mustang.
The od of the thick part of the spindle on the Pantera is 32mm. Exactly the same as the 65 through 69 Mustangs. In '70 ford increased the OD to 35mm.
When you put them side to side, it is like night and day.
Interestingly enough the OD of the bearings was kept the same so the likely answer was the spindle was too thin.
The weight distribution is the oposite in the Mustang vs. Pantera. 40/60 and 60/40.
I suspect you would have to speak to a serious Pantera racer for the answer on this but apparently the Pantera factory race cars use the same spindle.
While I had everything apart I thought I would see if I could increase my knowledge here.
I find the Pantera unusual also in the size of the brakes. The front rotors are 10.5" od just like the Mustangs. The Mustang vented rotor fits right on the Pantera hub. You do need to mess with the wheel studs though.
If you wanted to mess with the wheel studs you could swap a Mustang front hub right onto the Pantera.
The odd thing about the brakes on the Pantera is that the rear discs are 11" in the back but have a little pad. So what's with that? The small pad cancels out the bigger rotor? Very strange if you ask me.
