Anyone have first hand comparison of AFX spindles??

[Bill Howell]

OH, I forgot to mention this, they actually fit like they are supposed to. The ONLY modification we had to do to make them work was to remove the original steering stops on the lower control arm. The new spindles hit these. Nothing two minutes with a die grinder could not cure.

[Blown353]

Concerning the body lowering, you may run into a lot of issues so plan ahead. I thought about it then didn't do it.

Here's a few problem areas off the top of my head if you use short (or no) body mounts:

Steering shaft alignment (won't be able to use the factory pot joint & rag joint if you still are, so double u-joints it is)

Driveshaft to tunnel clearance

Tranny & bellhousing to tunnel clearance

Engine to hood clearance

Tranny crossmember to floorpan clearance (the x-member is almost touching the floor with factory body mounts)

Exhaust to floorpan clearance

Fuel line clearance over the RH rear shock/spring perch (if you're still running factory-routed lines)

You'll need to trim the bottom edges of the front inner fenders to clear the frame

Inner rear wheelhouse to frame rail clearance (the frame rails are "sucked in" a bit at the top to clear the pinchweld on the wheelwells)

That's just a few I can think of, not to mention you may run into actual frame to body interference when you try it-- I never got that far!

It can be done but it's a lot of work just to drop the body by 1/2" or so-- the gains just don't seem to outweigh the effort required. If you're gonna do it, go all out and just cut out the floor completely, flush the frame even with the bottom of the rocker pinchwelds, and re-fab from there.

[ScotI]

Originally Posted by Bill Howell

OH, I forgot to mention this, they actually fit like they are supposed to. The ONLY modification we had to do to make them work was to remove the original steering stops on the lower control arm. The new spindles hit these. Nothing two minutes with a die grinder could not cure.

Bill,

If you wouldn't mind sharing, what's the diameter, width, BS'ing, & tire size you're going to use?

[Bill Howell]

For a temporary wheel, just because I could not get what I really wanted before the event here in two weeks, I went with a TTll, 17x7 with 4 3/4 bs. HOWEVER, TTlls are odd wheels and require a 1/4" spacer to work with the C-5 set up so really a 4 1/2 bs would have worked with any other wheel. I have two 17x9 fourth gen camaro wheels on it now to get it around, but they are too wide to turn all the way. They are 17x9 with 7 inch bs. They look good on there though, it is a real shame they are too wide. My plan is the boze protouring wheel though. Great looking over all wheel and will look good on the boo.

Sorry, forgot. Tire size will be 255x45x17

[nitrorocket]

I have had my body off twice and I can not think off any more issues. I figure I have to re-align the body any way when I do the cage, I might as well try, I will see how it goes. I would think 1800 lbs would surely make some difference another 1/2" lower, especialy on the track. Anybody with software to figure this out?

[Derek69SS]

Originally Posted by nitrorocket

I have had my body off twice and I can not think off any more issues. I figure I have to re-align the body any way when I do the cage, I might as well try, I will see how it goes. I would think 1800 lbs would surely make some difference another 1/2" lower, especialy on the track. Anybody with software to figure this out?

I put some serious thought into this too, and also decided not to do it. My main reason was that I would have to fab up new front inner fenders or run without them to have any gain. The front-tire to inner-fender clearance is the limiting factor for getting the maximum drop from the car, so in reality, with stock inners, and running as low as you can go, rather than dropping the body 1/2" you would just effectively be raising the chassis 1/2". This would be nice for gaining a little ground-clearance, but you would be moving weight higher, rather than lower... of course, custom inner fenders would solve that problem, and allow you to take advantage of the body-drop.

[USAZR1]

Originally Posted by Derek69SS

I put some serious thought into this too, and also decided not to do it. My main reason was that I would have to fab up new front inner fenders or run without them to have any gain. The front-tire to inner-fender clearance is the limiting factor for getting the maximum drop from the car, so in reality, with stock inners, and running as low as you can go, rather than dropping the body 1/2" you would just effectively be raising the chassis 1/2". This would be nice for gaining a little ground-clearance, but you would be moving weight higher, rather than lower... of course, custom inner fenders would solve that problem, and allow you to take advantage of the body-drop.

Just how low do you want to go,guys? My El Camino is definitely lower than both your cars and if I had my 17x9 fronts re-backspaced from 5" to 5.5",I could probably take the car down another 1/2" to 1",with ease.
And,my car still has the inner fenders.

[ScotI]

Originally Posted by Bill Howell

I went with a TTll, 17x7 with 4 3/4 bs. HOWEVER, TTlls are odd wheels and require a 1/4" spacer to work with the C-5 set up so really a 4 1/2 bs would have worked with any other wheel.

I was under the impression that the ATS spindle on a G-body would only allow 3.5" BS'ing (that's the info I got when I inquired about them). They said any more BS'ing & the steering arm would interfere w/the wheel lip on the inside.

Hhmmm . . .....

[Bill Howell]

Originally Posted by ScotI

I was under the impression that the ATS spindle on a G-body would only allow 3.5" BS'ing (that's the info I got when I inquired about them). They said any more BS'ing & the steering arm would interfere w/the wheel lip on the inside.

Hhmmm . . .....

The wheels I have on it right now (corvette wheels) do hit the tie rod. I will have you an answer tonight about the new ones. It will be close, but I think we are ok.

[ScotI]

Originally Posted by Bill Howell

The wheels I have on it right now (corvette wheels) do hit the tie rod. I will have you an answer tonight about the new ones. It will be close, but I think we are ok.

Please post your findings when you get the chance.