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    Results 1 to 15 of 15
    1. #1
      Join Date
      Jan 2007
      Posts
      139

      F-body Spindle Swap To A-Body

      Were getting ready to swap in the A-Body Hotchkis Suspension kit into our 68 GTO and while cleaning out the storage unit I realized I have a pair of 75 Camaro Spindles. I thought if they would work, this is the time to try and find out.

      It would be nice to change out the GTO's front drums with the Camaro's disc brakes.

      Has anyone done this? Or a can better question is. Can this be done, or is the geometry all wrong with using the stock GTO control arms with these spindles?

      Shay
      ____________
      Semper Fortis

    2. #2
      Join Date
      Sep 2002
      Location
      San Jose, CA
      Posts
      1,793
      The swap will work - but it does require a special upper a-arm and a special lower ball joint
      This is the setup you need make it work.
      1971 Camaro, 383 stroker ~500HP,M21 Trans with lightened flywheel. All Sorts of Auto-x Goodness in the Suspension. 12" Brakes ->SOLD

      But ask me about my 2004 STi Auto-x car...

      Just call me Brett

    3. #3
      Join Date
      May 2002
      Location
      Northern California
      Posts
      10,715
      Country Flag: Bosnia Herzegovina
      don't do it or Sinned will come out and mess up your lawn.
      MrQuick ΜΟΛ'ΩΝ ΛΑΒ'Ε

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    4. #4
      Join Date
      Jan 2007
      Posts
      139
      Thanks lowend. That works for me.

      I don't have spindles in front of me right now. anybody know of some online images I can look at and compared the 2 types to each other out of the car.

      At this point I'm curious to know where F-body Spindle's bearing hub shaft(correct name?) sits in comparison to my GTO's Stock spindles. Higher or Lower or Same?

      Shay
      ___________
      Semper Fortis

    5. #5
      Join Date
      Sep 2002
      Location
      San Jose, CA
      Posts
      1,793
      The f-body spindle is 1" taller so will lower the car.
      1971 Camaro, 383 stroker ~500HP,M21 Trans with lightened flywheel. All Sorts of Auto-x Goodness in the Suspension. 12" Brakes ->SOLD

      But ask me about my 2004 STi Auto-x car...

      Just call me Brett

    6. #6
      Join Date
      Apr 2001
      Location
      La La Land, CA
      Posts
      2,240
      Country Flag: United States
      It will also double the bumpsteer and slow your turning raduis.

      Tyler

    7. #7
      Join Date
      Dec 2006
      Location
      Los Angeles
      Posts
      334
      Tyler, is that true of the F-body, or just the B-body spindles?

      Shay, I did the swap years ago...around 1988..as H-O Racing Specialties used to tout them as the thing to do. I also purchased Hotchkis tubular arms, as the swap moves the arms in too far with stock arms (hit the headers with a 1" shim stack).

      I recently changed out to the B-body 12" setup in my '65. I say this because I am contemplating buying some different equipment, so I may be selling my arms and 11" brake setup.

      I never pushed the car hard in the turns, as the front tires are a bit skinny and the 11" bias plys in the back just make is squirrly (sp?).

      Good luck.

    8. #8
      Join Date
      Apr 2001
      Location
      La La Land, CA
      Posts
      2,240
      Country Flag: United States
      Yeah, B body/F body are the same spindle, different brake sizes. They will royally screw up the front end from where it is now.

      Tyler

    9. #9
      Join Date
      Dec 2003
      Location
      lost
      Posts
      2,607
      OK, real quick overveiw. All GM tall spindle arrangements use the same basic specifications. They all also suck big time when used on an "A" body. You could probably find no less than a few dozen threads that discuss this in depth. Search is your freind.

    10. #10
      Join Date
      Sep 2006
      Location
      Southern Indiana
      Posts
      4,699
      Country Flag: United States
      Strange I have done several and especially when we did them on dirt burners it really made them hit th corners. Drasticly lowerd cars yes had problems and I believe we had one of the kits and aftermarket tie rode to flip to tid rod to the other side, I may be thinking of a different car but I think we worked the bumpsteer out pretty good, not that the Aboy has any chance of being a corner burner.
      Besides you can use tall ball joints and do same thing and I dont think you have to use control arms if you dont want to.

    11. #11
      Join Date
      Jan 2003
      Location
      Arizona
      Posts
      5,388
      Country Flag: United States
      Just get a set of Tyler's spindles. They don't call 'em AFX for nuthin. A body F body X body And they rock! Probably the coolest invention since the Cragar SS. No, cooler!
      ________________
      Steve Chryssos

    12. #12
      Join Date
      May 2002
      Location
      Northern California
      Posts
      10,715
      Country Flag: Bosnia Herzegovina
      Quote Originally Posted by MonzaRacer
      Strange I have done several and especially when we did them on dirt burners it really made them hit th corners. Drasticly lowered cars yes had problems and I believe we had one of the kits and aftermarket tie rode to flip to tid rod to the other side, I may be thinking of a different car but I think we worked the bumpsteer out pretty good, not that the A-body has any chance of being a corner burner.
      Besides you can use tall ball joints and do same thing and I dont think you have to use control arms if you dont want to.
      They can be made to handle very well.

      Also its not fair comparing a road car to a dirt runner since a majority of the turning is done with the rear.

      We did a lot of tall spindle swaps in the early 90's. They seemed to work well but we also had to bend and redrill the steering arm to get better numbers...all mods I do not recommend for the street. Flipping the tie rod compounds the problem even further.

      For the same amount of money and better results, the ATS tall spindle and stock a-arms is the way to go.
      MrQuick ΜΟΛ'ΩΝ ΛΑΒ'Ε

      https://www.pro-touring.com/image.php?type=sigpic&userid=4&dateline=1323422564
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    13. #13
      Join Date
      Sep 2021
      Posts
      1

      64 GTO drawing board .. suspension

      64 GTO convertible I wanted to improve performance and handling in. Was thinking the old F-body spindle disc brake conversion. Actually have a disc brake 3.08 10-bolt from an F-body was wondering whether could be converted to A-body. Have several F-body parts cars. See mention of "Tyler's" and ATS spindles and was wondering how full conversions go using those parts. I have good a-body and f-body control arms and would prefer to keep factory pieces. Suspension is for a factory 390HP car .. +200HP for me to street drive all summer and occasionally race .. still not sure whether 2,3,or 4spd automatic. Fresh factory paint and interior, nothing added.

    14. #14
      Join Date
      Sep 2006
      Location
      Pacific Wonderland
      Posts
      67
      As all the previous comments have indicated you can gain an improvement in handling but with a number of draw backs as well. This was a popular conversion 30 years ago as it was pretty much the only bolt-on upgrade available. The bump steer issue is real and a eye opener if you haven't experienced it. The problem was helped by using HO Racing's 1 3/8" front sway bar. A band aid fix you won't find with more today's well engineered upgrades.
      The loss of turning radius is in the neighborhood of 20 to 30 percent. Definitely a noticeable loss for a street driven car.
      Using the 79 and later spindles would allow you to gain larger brakes as the 1990-1 Capri rotors can be fitted but, they come with the big car bolt pattern.
      I ran this type of conversion on my GTO back in the 90's for at least 15k miles but, I have since replaced those components with newer better engineered items. The results are a car with fewer drawbacks and an improvement in vehicle performance.
      If it breaks I didn't want it in the first place.
      69 GTO
      72 FIREBIRD
      64 BONNEVILLE FUNERAL COACH
      70 JAVELIN
      52 F1 FORD PU
      29 FORD PU
      85 ALFA ROMEO
      ASSORTED DUCATI'S
      91 BLAZER LOWRIDER

    15. #15
      Join Date
      Oct 2004
      Location
      IL/TN
      Posts
      909
      Country Flag: United States
      Pro-Touring F-Body introduced new spindles based on the B-body 12" spindle a couple years ago, it allows the use of 89-92 F-body 1LE 12" rotors and has revised steering arms that are closer to matching the stock A-body and they are only $389.00 pair.

      https://www.protouringf-body.com "doing what they say can't be done"






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