G-Body Spindles: How tall is too tall?

[ElkySS89]

I'm seeing a lot of different ways to increase spindle height and improve the camber curve but is there such a thing as going too tall? I'm running stock height spindles with .5 tall upper ball joints. I want to switch to .5 tall lowers as well. I know the B-Body spindle used to be a popular option which are way taller than a stock spindle with both tall ball joints. Can some one dumb down this issue for me? Should I just find the tallest combo I can put together?

[stab6902]

There is a point at which the spindle gets "too tall." If you go nuts and end up with very high camber gain, when your car dives under braking, you'll only be using the insides of the tires.

I've seen 0.7 degrees per inch published as a ballpark camber gain target for pro-touring type cars. I don't know off the top of my head how much spindle height you'd need to add to a G-body to get there.

The ideal camber curve for you depends on at least the following:
- How the car will be used (track vs autocross vs road trips)
- What tires you'll be using (compound and width, and even rim width)
- Static camber
- Roll rate (depends on sway bars, springs, roll center height, center of gravity height, etc)


Like everything else in suspension design, camber curves are a tradeoff. Adding spindle height alone will also impact bump steer and roll center height. That said, I bet if you asked around you'd find that other G-body guys have done what you're considering with no obvious negative affects.

[stab6902]

You may also find this thread helpful if you haven't read into it already (not my car): https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/95192-My-1985-Monte-Carlo-SS-Barney

From what I remember they get deep into the weeds regarding suspension setup / optimization.

[ElkySS89]

Yea, I've been through that thread a few times. It's a great write up.