PLENTY strong, you need to see these arms. The bolts that attach the steering arm to the upright are 7/16 fine thread and attach on either side of the ball joint. A majority of the loading is between the LBJ and steering linkage which makes this arrangement better anyways (all the loading is in a one-piece solid link). These links hold up fine after banging against concrete retaining walls and other cars for 500 miles at 190MPH, they should be fine for a few potholes on the street.

Hmmm. I wonder how often they change them out. Are you getting aluminum or steel steering arms?

Aluminum

Make sure you get the correct ones. Not all Full size hubs used the same inner bearings. You'll need ones that use the larger BR5 inner bearing found on the 69-76 Impala/Caprice. 78-93 used the smaller BR6 bearing. The '85 Caprice hubs that I'm using will not work with the Coleman spindle.

Already have the rotors and the bearings, they work great. 1975 Impala parts for those interested.

How are you going to adapt your steering linkage to those steering arms?

I use rod ends for outer tie rods and washers for height spacers with steel tubing for an adjusting link...no problems

Dennis, i've been reading all the post about this coleman spindle swap here and on PT.com, it definitly sounds like a swap i want to do rather than "so-so" ATS spindles. Once you work out all the snafus of the swap could you please make a complete parts list for everyone interested. BTW, who far along are you with the swap, i remember seeing you start talking about it in what, november??? Just wondering on the progress...

.Stay tuned to this station

68-GTO,as Denny pointed out there`s nothing so-so about the ATS spindles. The geometry may be less aggressive than Denny`s franken setup he`s working on but we`re not building race cars here. What works great on the track can also be miserable to drive,wear tires fast (note how often they change them on race cars),or require non off the shelf swaybars,shock rates or spring rates to get the car balanced and both ends working together properly. Ask me how I know? ;) I`ve done more than one custom suspension over the years that looked awesome on paper(or the computer) but required a huge amount of tweaking and tuning on it and the rest of the car to get it to all work well together.
Now don`t get me wrong I`m NOT saying that Denny`s setup won`t work well and I`m not saying it`ll have any of those problems. What I am saying is that more radical systems cause more development and tuning issues. Really if you want to build a street legal race car why not just cut the frame off at the firewall,replace it with a Howe or Coleman front stub frame that the race parts are intended to work with and gain a R&P,coilovers with a better motion ratio,mounts for adj. swaybars,room for bigger tires and save a bunch of weight? Mark SC&C

Den, I'd get dimeensions for the GN hubs before I would buy them, pay particular attention to the wheel register diameter versus the diameter of the hub in that area, I have to lathe down the drive plates and the covers on the floater rear, to fit inside the wheels I was using. Also, make sure you get 1/2" studs installed, Coleman will do the custom drilling for a reasonable fee, they are super good to work with. If I recall, even their Impala hubs were too fat to fit inside a normal wheel, but I might be mistaken. It feels to me that the path of least resistance is to cut a stock impy/full size car hub like you had suggested before, lathe it down so a replacement type rotor will fit over it.

A super rigid spindle would be nice for my car right now, I still have horrible pad knockback, and it was not too confidence inspiring at Willow Spring's last weekend, that track is FAST.

Mark

I remember seeing on one of the aftermarket brake websites recently, "anti-knockback springs" or something like that - perhaps springs that go under the caliper pistons to keep them extended?

Aha, this isn't where I found it, but it describes them:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/glossary.shtml

"Knockback springs : Small coil springs fitted inside the caliper pistons of some brakes to prevent the pads from excessive knock back from flexing of the suspension system or run out in the discs. If the disc run out is within specification and the upright/axle assembly is sufficiently rigid, there should be no need for knockback springs. However, when operating conditions are severe with regard to either generated side force or bumps, they may be required on the best of designs. "

I have spoken in depth with Rory over at Coleman, I am going with Impala aluminum hubs drilled with a 5X4.75 pattern. The hub snout is 3" and the rotor drive plate is part of the backside of the hub. The studs are still 5/8" but McMaster has a solution to that...1/2X20 threaded coil inserts with stake in place drive pins.

They told me they dual dill the aluminum hubs now with both 5x5 and 5x4.75 wheel stud patterns. For an extra $25 per hub, they'll drill the second set of holes for 1/2" studs instead of 5/8".

Yes, they are drilled for 5X4.75, I hadn't discussed only drilling for 1/2" studs however. $50 for the pair with 1/2" studs or 15 bucks for McMaster inserts, both just as strong. In fact, I think the steel inserts would actually hold up better long term than tapped aluminum holes (assuming you run threaded studs as I do vs. press-in versions). Keith, you must be the guy he keeps insisting is me. Every time I talk to him he says "didn't we just talk about this".

Ya, I've talked to him a few times. :)

Rory and team are incredible. If you haven't used Coleman before, I can't say enough about their service.

PT: I have read and heard about the anti-knockback springs too. I should research this further, but it is clear to me that the issue is the flexure, and I really want to solve the issue rather than masking it with a bandaid. If it flexes, it probably isn't good, 'cause at some time it could yield, and I'd have to think that something like that wouldn't be good. :_paranoid

Ahhh, the joys of hot-rodding. Fix one issue (in my case, front brake capacity, I switched from the flaoting PBR twin piston, 13 x 1.1" rotor deal to a full Alcon six pot, fixed caliper, and big ole 13 x 1.25" rotors, and I still don't trust my brakes!!), and create another. We're a sick bunch I tell you.
M

I'll second that. I didn't put "addict" in my handle for no reason :)

What type of wheel backspacing would need to be run with this new spindle set up for a 9.5" rim in front?

I'll let you know as sson as I get them assembled. Backspacing won't be as critical as diameter will. 17" will be a must.

Cool, i already had 17's in mind, oh yeah also, what options do we have for brakes with these spindles, im interested in some wilwood 13" rotors for the front but im not sure if they'll work. Thanks alot dennis for going through the effort to get these spindles to work.

Any Wilwood brake option you want from 11.75 rotors to 13" rotors with anything from 2 piston to 6 piston calipers.

I here they should have set done in a few months for the 2nd gen Camaro s and will use all C5/C6 Corvette brake stuff

and they should have the 1st gen stuff ready go now