Drop Spindlesw/ 12 inch brakes....

[bareroots]

I was thinking of going with the front top tubular a arms, 12 inch brakes in the front and drop spindles. Currently i dont know if belltech or anyone else makes drop spindles for this conversion. Would f-body drop spindles work (if they even make them)Anyone have some input.

 

[Hot Air]

The 12" brakes that I'm familiar with come off of a GM "B" car...Late 70's to early 80's (rear wheel drive) Impala, Olds 98, Buick Electra, etc. You will not find dropped spindles for the B car. I had a set custom made for my 74Z28 and they work fine. VERY expensive! It would be cheaper to go with G body dropped spindles and Baer 12" front brakes. BTW, the B car spindle moves the wheel outboard some 1/2" or so per side.
Conrad Carter

 

[Hot Air]

The 12" brakes that I'm familiar with come off of a GM "B" car...Late 70's to early 80's (rear wheel drive) Impala, Olds 98, Buick Electra, etc. You will not find dropped spindles for the B car. I had a set custom made for my 74Z28 and they work fine. VERY expensive! It would be cheaper to go with G body dropped spindles and Baer 12" front brakes. BTW, the B car spindle moves the wheel outboard some 1/2" or so per side.
Conrad Carter

 

[bruce]

Originally posted by bareroots
I was thinking of going with the front top tubular a arms, 12 inch brakes in the front and drop spindles. Currently i dont know if belltech or anyone else makes drop spindles for this conversion. Would f-body drop spindles work (if they even make them)Anyone have some input.

It's all a trade-off.

The drop spindles, if you could find them, would fubar the chamber gain.
Cutting the springs, gets the height right, but you wind up with some bump steer.

With the cut springs you have to run a higher spring rate, and then helps to min the bump steer.

I'm more then happy with the stock B Body spindles, and cut springs.

 

[CopGn]

What springs did you go with Bruce and how much did you cut? What rim and tire are you running up front?

 

[bruce]

Originally posted by CopGn
What springs did you go with Bruce and how much did you cut? What rim and tire are you running up front?

5660s
I did the cutting in several steps so as to not overdo it. I wound up at 1 loop being cut of.
8x16 rims, 225/50x16 tires
I used the Jegs Coil over conversion for the rear. I didn't like the cut stocker type springs not having any preload on them.
9x17 rims, 285/45x17 tires

http://home.woh.rr.com/brucesgn/

 

[CopGn]

Bruce I am sorry to be a bother Bruce but I am have the same springs and will be doing some cutting soon and only want to do it once. By one coil I assume you are referring to at the end of the spring and cutting directly underneath?

 

[bruce]

Originally posted by CopGn
Bruce I am sorry to be a bother Bruce but I am have the same springs and will be doing some cutting soon and only want to do it once. By one coil I assume you are referring to at the end of the spring and cutting directly underneath?

Yes, but, if you plan on doing it in one shot, leave a little room for disappointment, since you can't undo taking off too much. There's just a enough difference in car to car, that I go in steps.

 

[bareroots]

alphaenvirmgt- Do you have pics of the rear coil overs. How do they ride. Pretty easy to install? Where did you get b body drop spindles made at. How much $. Which rear disk braked did u go with?

 

[Hot Air]

I do not have rear coil-overs on my car. One of the other posters does so look above.

I have Baer Touring rear disk brakes. Bought them from Jack Cotton (413-789-0531). Give Jack a call. He will be happy to talk to you. His Baer prices are GREAT! Tell him I gave you his name.

Dropped b-body spindle for my 74Z28 was made by Independent Technologies Inc in Mineral Springs, NC....near Charlotte. 704-843-2473. I don't remember how much I paid. Call them.
Conrad

 

[Ormand]

Curious as to why the drop spindles would affect camber change. The upper control arms from Global West or Hotchkis are shorter than stock, changing the shape of the "camber curve". Not sure about Robert Adams arms, but I think they are similar. The new spindles are taller, from ball joint to ball joint, also affecting the camber curve. The drop spindles just lower the wheel, parallel to the original spindle, so the camber curve should not be affected, should it?

 

[bareroots]

bruce-Any pics of the coil overs, good or bad ride?

 

[87GN&98VET]

Bell Tech does offer drop spindles for the B-body. I actually thought about going with OE B-body spindle and the Baer track kit. They no longer offer it in their catalog because of the bump steer was too bad, so they didn't want to recommend it. So I went with a G-body spindle and track kit.

By the way, cutting coils off the spring will increase the spring rate, making it stiffer and hence making the bump steer worse.

 

[bruce]

Originally posted by bareroots
bruce-Any pics of the coil overs, good or bad ride?

http://home.woh.rr.com/brucesgn/minitubs/

I really like the ride alot more then the stock setup.
The Springs are 175-350#/in, they seem to work really well.

 

[bruce]

Originally posted by 87GN&98VET

By the way, cutting coils off the spring will increase the spring rate, making it stiffer and hence making the bump steer worse.

How do you figure?.
The higher spring rate lessens the amount of suspension travel, that will normally be used, and hence min to the same degree the bump steer, as I see it.

The less travel, the less bump steer, as I see it.
Since it's toe change per inch of suspension travel.

Actually changing springs has nothing to do with the amount of bumps steer, they just set the amount of travel you'll use, and thus the amount of bumpsteer you'll have to deal with when actually driving the car.

If I was road racing I might bother with it, but for a street car, I'd much rather have an affordable set of good brakes, with a little bump steer then miserable brakes.

 

[87GN&98VET]

Not sure. I figured the stiffer spring would increase the transient response from the bump steer. I'm going to have to go back and look at my vehicle dynamics books and re-familiarize myself with bump steer.

 

[bruce]

Originally posted by 87GN&98VET
Not sure. I figured the stiffer spring would increase the transient response from the bump steer. I'm going to have to go back and look at my vehicle dynamics books and re-familiarize myself with bump steer.

Wouldn't it be decreasing it?.

I've run the B-Spindles with several different springs, and the stiffer the better, has been my experience. About, the only time I can even feel it now, is when accidently going way too fast over a sudden drop in the road. And then I probably could cut back on that with taller bump stops. I have mine trimmed so that I still have some travel even thou the car is lowered.