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Boogyman,
What I meant was...if I tighten the spindle nut as much as I can, there is enough threads available to go further with spindle nut if I could. I observed where the washer stops when tightened, then removed the nut, washer and bearing without disturbing the rotor and could see more threads available. Something is stopping me from being able to go further to get resistance on the rotor. When tightened, no in or out play on the rotor. Forgot to mention the inner bearing race was not seated completely in the rotor, so I used a punch and hammer to set it in completely in its seat. Otherwise everything appears correct. Just a reminder,,,this is a 78 Cougar spindle on a 61 Galaxie, not a OEM 61 spindle, Thanks again.
Believe you me...if you were closer, I would drive to your place for you to take a look.lol
Last edited by dan_6776 (August 6, 2016 10:25 am)
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It doesn't matter what year, 1961 or 1968, they all work the same way. Some even use the same bearings for drum and disk. I would check the outer bearing to be sure they are the correct ones, also make sure the bearing slide over the spindle. If possible have some one else check things out. Sometimes one can look and look and never see the problem were another person will see it right away!
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Okay Dan, understood on the thread thing. I assume you marked the threads with a light file mark or something to go by?
I'm running out of ideas, but there's still a couple things you might try. Take the bearings out of the rotor and slide them onto the shaft in the proper order, then install the washer and spindle nut. Run the nut down as far as it will go and observe whether it goes past the file mark you made when the rotor was installed. If it doesn't, then something on the spindle shaft or inner bearing races are hanging up, and you should be able to pinpoint it with a little bird-dogging. If it does tighten further, the problem is in the rotor somewhere/somehow, anything from the wrong races to the wrong rotor.
The fact that the inner race was not seated all the way tells you one thing... whomever did the initial installation screwed it up, which means there could've been other mistakes made.
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Ok, after further investigation I have come up with a conclusion. I have confirmed that the rotors, bearings and races are correct. I cross matched part numbers for the bearings that I have and new replacement ones and they are a match. I used a digital calliper and the bearings I have are the exact size they should be. I tried two washers on the spindle to ensure I was not running out of threads as I tightened the spindle nut and it made no difference. I could not get tension on the rotor. I then put just the bearings on the spindle to confirm that the inner bearing rests against a shoulder on the spindle and the outer bearing moves easily on the end of the spindle. There are wear marks on the spindle from where the outer bearing sits and I can move that outer bearing past the wear marks until it hits the taper of the spindle. I am convinced that all is well, no bearings binding or getting hung up. The races are completely seated as they are up against shoulders in the rotors.
So, I am now going to buy new bearings and races and tighten according to what my Motor repair manual states which is what JWSpeed posted.
I have been getting lots of opinions from some very qualified people here and i appreciate all of the help. I just want to give the Motor repair manual method a try as I have tried everything else you guys have suggested, I am just running out of options.
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This is interesting and a real head scratcher. If the bearings can't be pre-loaded then something is wrong, or these are super-special spiffy race bearings designed for minimal preload for minimal rolling resistance. 
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Perhaps I need to be educated on pre-load. It has been my experience that with enough tightening of the spindle nut, it takes a lot of effort to spin the rotor. I recall on some trailer bearings, too much tension and you can lock the rotor up and make it almost impossible to spin the rotor. I am not familiar with these old Fords. If I get slight drag on the rotor with maximum tension on the spindle nut, is that all I am going to get or should I be able to freeze that rotor with maximum tension?
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These old Fords are no different than most others, including trailer bearings. You should be able to tighten the spindle nut enough to make it nearly, if not completely impossible to spin the rotor by hand.
Don't be mad at me, I'm sure you know better but I have to ask; you are doing all this with the calipers removed, correct? Also, the rotor couldn't be bottoming out on the caliper bracket or you'd have a pretty obvious scraping sound going down the road... right?
Sorry Dan, just trying to think of everything even remotely possible. 
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dan_6776 wrote:
There are wear marks on the spindle from where the outer bearing sits and I can move that outer bearing past the wear marks until it hits the taper of the spindle. I am convinced that all is well, no bearings binding or getting hung up.
Sorry again Dan, but I just re-read this and I have a question; did you actually put the washer and spindle nut on and run the nut/washer down against the outer bearing so the bearing went past the wear marks?
Again, no offense, just trying to cover everything possible. 
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Hey Boogyman....relax brother! Lol. No offence taken, and I would never get upset. I am grateful for the time you are spending on this.
To answer your questions: yes the calipers are off. Yes I did put the outer bearing, washer and nut on the spindle and tightened it down. I observed the bearing go past the wear marks until it stops. The reason it stops at that point is because the washer hits a shoulder. The shoulder is the start of the taper on the spindle.
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Hmmm... I know this sounds like I'm grasping at straws, and at this point I am. 
But is there any possibility that the spindle is not correct and doesn't match the rotor assembly? Perhaps the washer is hitting the shoulder with the rotor installed, because the spindle is too long?
There is a way to check this... simply measure the distance from the 'root' of the spindle to the shoulder stopping point. Then with the bearings installed in the rotor, measure the distance between the outside edge of the inner bearing to the inside edge of the outer bearing. It should be greater than the spindle measurement.
The only other straw I can grasp at is the amount of torque you are applying to the spindle nut when tightening. You really have to crank it down to get the rotor to freeze, that is, without a torque wrench using a BF pair of channel locks.
You're very welcome on the time I'm spending on this, but to be honest it's a puzzle, and I can't stand not being able to solve a puzzle! 
