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11-22-2019 #1
Front suspension money about to be spent
New to the forum, hello!
A little about my car:
1966 Pontiac Le Mans, KRE Headed 455 with Holley EFI, TKO 600, 373 12 bolt, 3550lbs, F-17x7 245/45/17 - R-17x8 275/40/17 , BFG Sport Comp 2s
Primary use is spirited street driving with some friends who have Vettes/M3s and some moderate, say 3-4x a year, road course driving just for fun at our local track.
Rear suspension - UMI adjustable uppers, braces, UMI Lowers w/ roto joints, Hotchkiss 1" drop springs with matched shocks, 1" hotchkiss sway bar between the lowers.
Front suspension - It is getting redone this winter and so far my pile of parts is 1" drop hotchkiss springs with matched shocks, OEM C6 calipers and hoses, OEM C7 hubs, OEM C5 rotors and powerstop carbon/ceramic pads. Car already had a 1 5/16 sway bar on it.
I am pretty set on using the C7 hubs. I have little interest in packing bearings anymore or using my fatigued stock spindles with 50+ years of hammer marks from ball joint and tie rod end changes. They have been hammered on a lot in 6 decades and it shows. 1" Taller ball joints with taller lowers that further drop my car, drum hubs, special brackets and tapered bearings I'd rather all stay away from honestly.. Anyway..
I have read COUNTLESS debates on the ATS/Speedtech and CPP spindles. Democracy and free market can be unfair sometimes I guess I don't know what to say beyond that..
I have also had an hour long talk with Mark at SC&C, very informative discussion.
I understand the CPP part is made in China and cast from ductile iron, not forged. I worked for a shop in the early 2000s here in northeast ohio where we dropped dozens of full size 5000+lb pickups with cast in china ductile spindles from Belltech without a single failure. That said I am not opposed to saving for the Speedtech units from Mark but damn are they pricey after you buy the needed arms too... If the CPP spindles are truly junk by design then someone by now can surely post a link to a failure. Its been what, 7+ years and they have sold a ton of them I'm sure. Are the CPP spindles trash because of proven examples of failure or just negative hearsay? I do not want an unsafe part but I also do not want to pay 6x as much just because folks are bias against anything "made in china." Heck the Chengdu J-20 is "made in china" too!
Option 1: $1,400 needed
CPP spindles, SPC upper and lower a-arms with stock height Howe ball joints ordered from Mark
Option 2: $2,400 needed
Speedtech spindles and arms, SPC uppers and howe ball joints from mark, leaving stock lowers for now that have fresh Moogs in them.
Option 3: $1,500 needed
SPC upper and lowers from Mark with Howe tall ball joints, new drum hubs from OPGI, brackets from Kore3. ( Taper bearings not my nice OEM C7 hubs, HATE this idea )1966 Pontiac Le Mans - owned 19 years
UMI rear suspension - front is pending...
455/TKO600/12bolt
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11-22-2019 #2
Most importantly, here is a pic of my car!
1966 Pontiac Le Mans - owned 19 years
UMI rear suspension - front is pending...
455/TKO600/12bolt
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11-23-2019 #3
No input or real experiences out there? Nothing...? I guess the search contiunes!
1966 Pontiac Le Mans - owned 19 years
UMI rear suspension - front is pending...
455/TKO600/12bolt
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11-23-2019 #4Registered User
- Join Date
- Oct 2018
- Location
- San Jose, CA
- Posts
- 523
Front suspension money about to be spent
Sounds like option 2 is your best bet.
Personally I’m fine with tapered bearings and recommend using the Kore3 hub which looks nice. I would go that route. Call it option 4. Talk with Tobin to decide if the race hub makes sense or the standard one for your setup.
But if you hate the idea of tapered bearings don’t do it ! They use them in NASCAR and many many race classes. It’s not hard to pack bearings IMO and doesn’t have to be done very often. You are creating a problem where one doesn’t exist.
If you want the C7 hub get the ST setup tho.1971 Camaro - 406 / T56
2016 Camaro SS convertible
2018 Colorado 4x4
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11-24-2019 #5