67 68 69 Camaro Drop Spindle Warning/problems

[David Pozzi]

We are seeing more and more drop spindle problem posts in this forum.
PLEASE use the "Advance Search" feature and read up on drop spindles before purchasing.

First Gen Camaro owners have been VERY unhappy with drop spindles when using wide front wheels. Nova and it's cousins up to 1974 use the same subframe as the early Camaro and have the same problems.

If you run across any good links to drop spindle discussions, please post them here.
Here is a search result link searching on "Drop Spindle" https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/search.php?searchid=193564

Here are some drop spindle discussions:

https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16486

[Jerry Hobgood]

Reviewing your comments I am concerned about the above and if they WILL work on my 68 Camaro. Will have Wilwood 12.1 discs all around, 18x7 frt
and 20x9 Coys on rear. Please advise asap. I hope very much to place order today. Wysco will be product supplier unless someone suggest otherwise. My newly bought drop spindles don't work w/ Wilwood braces.
Thanks for any response. Not too sold on the cut sprong route and don't really work to re-eng. the whole steering geometry as it all seems to be getting WAY over my head!!!
PS some of the comments against drop spindles seem to go back three yrs. Perhaps improvements have been made. I think Wysco or seller should stand behind proper application requirements, period. IMHO.

[derekf]

Jerry, welcome to the site. When you get a moment, pop into the Welcome forum and introduce yourself, if you would.

As for drop spindles - please keep in mind that we, as a whole, are a small subset of the target audience for the drop spindles. Since they're perfectly fine for the type of use that 90+% of their customers would put them through, it's unlikely that they're going to rework them. I'd expect that the concerns from 3 years ago remain the same.

Here's one post that goes into better detail than I ever could. https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showpost.php?p=145433&postcount=14 -- if they move the steering arm to prevent the interference, then they're changing the bumpsteer characteristics of the car.

[yownhouse]

I also have a concern to a different question on the drop spindles. I'm not going to be running a real fat tire on the front of the car because I don't have it mini-tubbed in the back. will having a 17-18 on the front of the car with a more narrow tire not have this problem with the tie rod? Also, I haven't really gotten to see what 2" drop spindles in the front look like on a '69. Would anyone have a picture they could show me? Thanks in advance

[Jasons72]

I just sold the hotchkis springs off of my nova and i will be going with coilovers front and back and building a custom 4 link for the rear. The springs that i had up front were 2 inch drop springs and i plan on going a tad lower than what the front was but i don't want to just slam the car down on the coilovers and take them out of their operating range. I am on a very low budget but i plan on going to spc adjustable uca's and some kind of lower arm as well as the g mod. Would something like the hiedts drop spindle work well or are they all junk except for the ats ones that i can't afford? I'm also going to 17 inch wheels that should help with any clearance issues with the tie rods correct? I do plan on autocrossing this car and driving fairly aggressively but it will see a good amount of street time.

[Jasons72]

Thanks for moving this, the few that i were reading were not getting me anywhere.

It seems that in my case it probably would be a better idea to get a set of true coilovers and fab up a mount above the frame for them to mount to that would allow them to be lowered the desirable amount by raising the upper mounting point so that they are still in their operating range but also lower the car and get the suspension into the better camber curve.

[Danksta14]

So...for a 69 Camaro what would be the best set-up I would need if i were running 18x8 up front..... ( afx spindles or L&H tall spindles)? I want a lower stance with the best possible ride quality for aggressive street driving.? i have QA1 coilovers w 12" wilwood disc brakes? after doing some research it says that the AFX spindles would give the front suspension a 1"inch drop,,,,,,,would this 1" cause any rubbing fromt he balljoint and the rim/tire?

[NYTRANSAM]

Im restoring a 68 Firebird and I purchased the Hotchkis TVS front and rear suspention. The kit includes 2" Lowering springs and upper and lower control arms. I plan on having 18" rims and big brakes,"Kore 3 or Wilwood". What spindle can I use? Will 2" lowering spindles drop the car 2 more inches making it 4"? Is that too low? Will my stock disc brake spindles work? Please help

[MCB Matt]

We can set you up with a wilwood kit for the stock spindles since the upper arms you have will not allow for a tall spindle.

[SR71]

I own the fatman fab tall 2" drop spindles that seem to be the most feared of the drop spindles since they also lower the steering arm an additional half inch to correct the bumpsteer issue. my car has 19x8 Rushforths with a 245 tire and a 4.875" back....THEY CLEAR THE DROP SPINDLES JUST FINE. it is true that the same backspace would NOT work with 14", 15", 16" and 17" diameter wheels. 18's are a gray area, but I believe that they would clear on my car at the stated backspacing. large diameter wheels (19"+) are a whole new ball game with drop spindles. I will say that 5" of backspacing is the limit though.

I'm glad that I didn't let the naysayers scare me into dropping ALOT of extra cash for ats spindles. my fatman spindles do the job just fine and I spent the extra cash that the ats spindles would have cost me on my spring and shock combo.

[David Pozzi]

Thanks for the added info on the Fatman spindles. Have you checked bump steer to see if the steering arms are in the right place? I had to add 15/16" of spacer on a Baer Tracker type setup in order to bumpsteer the ATS spindles when using a Heim joint instead of a tie rod end. At some point, the wheels will be large enough to clear the tie rod ends. I think a 19" or 20" wheel would clear, not sure on smaller wheels. It seems an 18" X8" wheel is max on the Camaro I worked on.

I would run a wider tire than a 245 up front. A 67 or 68 can clear a 255, a 69 should clear a 275 which would be way better. We have seen 1/2" of rim deflection side to side Autocrossing with an HRE wheel, so allow some room for flex to any tie rod ends.
David

[ArtosDracon]

1/2" of Wheel Deflection? Seriously? Are you talking ultra light weight aluminum wheels?

[ProBell]

My tie rods rub my rims. I have a 1/4 " space with no load. I do not know if the steering arm is bending or if the rims are deflecting? I am running C6 Z06 rims. I would not think they would be deflecting. ( That is with the slicks) Thanks Randy

[David Pozzi]

Balljoints & wheel bearings probably contribute the most, but the spindle & rim can deflect too. Then if you put on a treadwaar 200, 100, or 35 tire on it and autocross or open track it, - you will see up to 1/2" of deflection.
The front weight of a Camaro is around 1900 lbs & most of that is pushing sideways on the outside front wheel when cornering hard.