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Author Topic: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub  (Read 14070 times)

grantduffield

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Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« on: March 28, 2014, 09:02:56 PM »

Interchangable with ours? (same model year and such).  I'm looking at an 1988 and 1994 Tracer in the salvage yard and trying to decide if they'd work.  What does the brain trust think?
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This is a very complicated case (car), a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of what-have-yous.

Rocketman

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2014, 11:41:11 PM »

Im pretty sure the Tracer got nothing but the "Small" rotors that some of the N/As have.

Pretty sure the knuckle forging is the same piece, but the brake dust shields are going to be too small if you have the larger rotors

It would be 1988/1989 only. the 90+ tracers were a different chassis, the capri lagged behind one generation in chassis design compared to the Mazdas
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grantduffield

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2014, 09:49:44 PM »

Matt -

Once again - thank you very, very much!  But honestly, HOW DO YOU KNOW ALL THIS STUFF??  Amazing..   :)

the hub and rotor don't seem to want to come free of the knuckle, so I may have to go track down a shop press. 
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This is a very complicated case (car), a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of what-have-yous.

grantduffield

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2014, 10:14:14 PM »

btw - I went to the salvage yard, bought the hubs and knuckles off an 88 Tracer (with 43,000 miles on it).  I figure I'll use these hubs as the platform for the Big Brake upgrade.  If all goes well, I'll just swap the knuckles/assemblies.  If it doesn't go to plan, I'm not dead in the water waiting on parts, etc. 
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This is a very complicated case (car), a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of what-have-yous.

Rocketman

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2014, 01:05:37 AM »

Matt -

Once again - thank you very, very much!  But honestly, HOW DO YOU KNOW ALL THIS STUFF??  Amazing..   :)

the hub and rotor don't seem to want to come free of the knuckle, so I may have to go track down a shop press.

You can gently tap it free - see my bearing guide.

November will mark one decade of continuous capri ownership for me. Stuff builds up over time, lol.

New dust shields should be able to be had from Mazda, theyre pressed on
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Chicken

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #5 on: March 30, 2014, 10:47:19 AM »

The splash shields can swap over.  Measure first, since it may not be necessary.

* I would use the whole 40k knuckle without upsetting the low mile bearings and avoid that stuff until the other brakes are actualy going to be done.
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azgtx

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2014, 01:32:14 PM »

I just throw the shields away. I have never seen a reason to leave them on here in Az but then again I don't know what the snow will do. Seems to me the crap will just get stuffed up in there with them on. If you are doing the Galant brake upgrade you will not be using them anyway. I do not think the Tracer knuckles will accept the upgrade either as they use the smaller rotors and the caliper mounts will be off for the 14-22V calipers and larger rotors. The guys that came up with the upgrade were from down under and it was done on a BF GTX which does not use the same knuckle as the N/A BF stuff. You will need to use XR2 or Mazda 323 GT knuckles. Regardless, those 40k hubs are a good start but might be better to use new ones since you will be turning the ears down...putting time and money in the older parts might be a waste down the road. Remember to keep the spacer with the knuckle it came in.
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Rocketman

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #7 on: March 30, 2014, 07:38:32 PM »

I use the stock dust shields with my Galant rotors, it's tighter than stock but no fitment issues with them.

Do we know for sure that the caliper ears are in a different spot? I was under the impression that they were the same? idk. I'd like to see a comparison with measurements.

The XR2 came with the larger rotors but so did many of the N/As, so they're not specific to the XR2. I believe the GTX knuckles are the same in every way except for the steering arm where the TRE attaches, it's different location/angle as the steering rack is higher on the GTX. I've seen a comparison in FWD/AWD knuckles before.

For what it's worth, Ford Aspire knuckles & brakes should bolt up too, but they use a 4x100 lug pattern. They do not use a captured rotor, though. And there are some Kia Rio parts that should bolt up as well, but again there's an issue with the lug pattern (and they use lug bolts vs lug studs) I will have to investigate these knuckles too
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azgtx

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2014, 08:58:34 PM »

I don't have a set of the N/A's here but I am thinking the mounts are shorter to work with the smaller rotor.... this needs to get cleared up.




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grantduffield

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2014, 09:48:05 PM »

Well - here's what I got thus far.  I engineered a knuckle/hub separating set up and was able to free things up.  The V22 caliper will bolt up to the stock Tracer hub will mate up to our stock spindle, I have no idea.  I am planning to put he angle grinder to the ears of the hub and see what happens.  Here are some pics. 

As overview, I drilled holes in a couple of 24" sections of 2x4s, mounted the knuckle/nub assembly to the 2x4s; suspended the appatus between a couple of cinder blocks; slide a long bolt with a nut on the end into (on top of) the hub bearings; introduced the long bolt to a single pop with a sledge hammer and - bingo - the knuckle let go of the hub. 

http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af15/grantduffield/IMG_1889_zpsff7beaec.jpg
http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af15/grantduffield/IMG_1890_zps902c5cbb.jpg
http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af15/grantduffield/IMG_1887_zpsb6f761c0.jpg
http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af15/grantduffield/IMG_1894_zpsfaa4d2e3.jpg
http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af15/grantduffield/IMG_1893_zps8cda97b1.jpg
http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af15/grantduffield/IMG_1895_zpsf9893492.jpg
http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af15/grantduffield/IMG_1886_zpsd349d4fe.jpg

http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af15/grantduffield/IMG_1897_zpse0ca3ad1.jpg










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This is a very complicated case (car), a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of what-have-yous.

grantduffield

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #10 on: March 30, 2014, 10:01:21 PM »

Clarification:  It looks like the v22 caliper will bolt up to the Tracer knuckle/hub assembly.  I have no idea if the Tracer knuckle/hub assembly will bolt up to the Capri spindle/strut. 
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This is a very complicated case (car), a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of what-have-yous.

Rocketman

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #11 on: March 30, 2014, 10:48:15 PM »

It will bolt up to the strut/LCA/tie rod end. The 88 tracer is a BF chassis as well, just neglected

Nice jig. I managed to get a hold of an original Ford Special Service Tool kit and it's really useful for dis-assembly, not so much for re-assembly. It uses a bar that bolts where the strut does, then a hook into the ball joint hole. A threaded rod and a small button is used to force the hub out of the knuckle
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grantduffield

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2014, 11:04:38 PM »

Cool!  Thanks a bunch.  The v22 caliper bolts up to the Tracer knuckle.  I slipped the new rotor into the caliper (w/o hub) and it seems to fit.  Not a lot of room left over, but if the hub sits as it should everything ought to work.  There will be no bolts binding the hub to the rotor, correct?  Just the wheel studs. 
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This is a very complicated case (car), a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of what-have-yous.

Rocketman

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2014, 11:10:48 PM »

Correct, the galant rotor just slips over the studs.
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grantduffield

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Re: Mercury Tracer knuckle/hub
« Reply #14 on: March 31, 2014, 06:07:57 AM »

A couple of picks confirming that the hubs and the rotor lug stud holes line up properly.  Also shows the amount that the hub ears have to be trimmed back.   

http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af15/grantduffield/IMG_1899_zpseb01a660.jpg
http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af15/grantduffield/IMG_1900_zps584da0d9.jpg

I put plastic over the bearings to keep any funk out while grinding the ears, etc. 

The rotor is a Brembo and is significantly heavier than the stock rotor. 
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This is a very complicated case (car), a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of what-have-yous.
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