I'm installing 69/70 disc brakes on my '65 wagon. I'd like to slightly lower it and drop spindles are always a better choice than simply using drop springs (if my '69 C10 drop project is any indication).

Anyway, my question is: is there a source to buy 69/70 disc brake drop spindles by themselves? I've seen disc brake conversion kits with drop spindles but I'd like to just buy the spindles since I have all the other hardware already.

TIA.

Heres one place - http://www.mpbrakes.com/mp8.htm

Have you simply ruled out pulling some B-body's from a yard?

Originally posted by Midnight Marauder:
Heres one place - http://www.mpbrakes.com/mp8.htm

Have you simply ruled out pulling some B-body's from a yard? Will B-body spindles in and of themselves provide a ride height drop? Do I have to replace or modify my front control arms to make the swap? I've heard both good and bad about the B-body spindle conversion and at the time decided for my purposes the a-body parts were the better choice though for the life of me I can't now recall what that deciding factor was!

Originally posted by Rich-L79:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Midnight Marauder:
Heres one place - http://www.mpbrakes.com/mp8.htm

Have you simply ruled out pulling some B-body's from a yard? Will B-body spindles in and of themselves provide a ride height drop? Do I have to replace or modify my front control arms to make the swap? I've heard both good and bad about the B-body spindle conversion and at the time decided for my purposes the a-body parts were the better choice though for the life of me I can't now recall what that deciding factor was! </font>[/QUOTE]My guess was probably the bumpsteer debate being the deterring factor. Maybe they dont need the turned down balljoints like the b bodys do. B-body spindles will drop your ride height about an inch and a half. If you look for Chads car you can see before and after pics of the swap and change in height. I think Dave Reineke did the conversion without upper or lower control arm mods, I think he just flipped his control arms around and it came out great. BC helped with that one but the web page detailing the conversion is down - see here ---&gt; http://www.chevelles.com/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=006921. You can email Dave and ask specifics, I am sure he would be quite helpful. I am not sure if he pulled a coil off of his springs though. I would have gone with the dropped spindles from MP but budget was my deciding factor and I got the b bodys out of the yard w/ backing plates for under 50 smackers.

I am sure someone will offer up more insight into the drop A body spindles, I am sure there are advantages to using them but I cannot elaborate on them as I have no experience.

I can say that our fellow TC'er Alan just finishded the B-body conversion with hotchkis springs up front and the stance is MINT. Additionally, he can steer that sucker on the street with a finger and the wheel just stays put. No bump steer. We took it out and hauled arse through the twisties after he finished it and it handled like an absolute champ. I was very impressed with the car doing 90 MPH through the hills and such.

I suppose I'd have to use the b-body bearings & rotors and such? Is the swap basically putting the b-body spindle/hub/rotors in on a-body control arms and ball joints? My a-body disc brake spindles/hubs/rotors are slightly used so I have to refresh whatever I used. Those drop spindles are rather pricy. The drop spindles I put on my truck were 1/3 less than that and were high quality stuff.

If I recall correctly, budget was a factor for me but bump steer was an issue. I was also concerned with what the taller spindles do to the suspension geometry. My first attempt at lowering my '69 C10 used modified drop lower a-arms and drop springs. It looked great and drove okay but I got tired of banging the front end into parking curbs and scraping the frame crossmember in large dips or center of the lane pavement heaves. That CAN'T be good. I swapped back to stock lower control arms with drop spindles and drop springs. I only lost about an inch of drop and it handles and drives much better.

I was also concerned with what the taller spindles do to the suspension geometry.The taller spindles IMPROVE the suspension geometry (I think both caster and camber, but might depend on the upper arms used). The "supposed" negative aspects are in the steering geometry. But every one I have know (personally known) that did the swap, not one person has expressed any concerns over increased bumpsteer, etc... It is my opinion that, while bumpsteer might be more apparent than with stock spindles, it isn't too bad with the tall spindle conversion.

Budget being a deciding factor, tall spindles might be out, because of the upper control arm situation.

The stock uppers will work sometimes, using offset shafts. But I have never seen a Big Block car that was able to go this route (you are putting a 427 in the wagon, right?). I think the BB exhaust is too close to the upper control arms to work without using aftermarket arms... And figure at least $400 for the pair of upper arms...

I suppose I'd have to use the b-body bearings & rotors and such? Is the swap basically putting the b-body spindle/hub/rotors in on a-body control arms and ball jointsNo, the swap uses the B-body spindles, bearings, balljoints and outer tie-rod ends (from 70's or 80's A or G body), and either Camaro or B-body rotors. The ball-joints and tie-rods are different due to the taper of the studs...

Lower control arms can remain stock, with just a new outer tie-rod and machined lower ball-joint...

I think Hotchkis/Summit and Global west carry the modified lower balljoints, and the correct uppers are usually included with the upper arms, but stock B-Body replacements might also work...

The B-body/Tall spindle setup (12-inch) will also need Camaro 1LE rotors to retain the 5-on-4&3/4 bolt pattern. These are a little more money than standard rotors, but shouldn't be too bad.

And as Beaux was saying, the tall-spindle lowers the car slightly.


As for dropped spindles for the Chevelle: I haven't looked lately, but I had only seen dropped spindles that use the small S10 pickup disc brakes, and not the stock Chevelle disc pieces (although I don't know how much difference there is in those components)...

I know the website that Beaux listed (MP brakes) indicates that those drop spindles use "Metric" calipers and 10.5" rotors... Aren't stock Chevelle (1969-1972) 11" rotors? I think its odd that a company would go through the trouble of creating a drop spindle and NOT have bigger brakes...

Rich,I guess I'm going to go against the grain so here goes. My suggestion would be to contact Coil Spring Specialties at www.coilsprings.com (http://www.coilsprings.com) and talk to the owner. I've run drop spindles and don't care for them because they require you to change to lesser quality brake parts,moving the spindle up almost moves your wheels closer to the A-arms with obvious results,and they cost too much. Lowering an A-body with springs helps the camber curve,keeps your bigger brakes,and is relatively inexpensive.

Originally posted by Clint44:
Rich,I guess I'm going to go against the grain so here goes. My suggestion would be to contact Coil Spring Specialties at www.coilsprings.com (http://www.coilsprings.com) and talk to the owner. I've run drop spindles and don't care for them because they require you to change to lesser quality brake parts,moving the spindle up almost moves your wheels closer to the A-arms with obvious results,and they cost too much. Lowering an A-body with springs helps the camber curve,keeps your bigger brakes,and is relatively inexpensive. It's coming back to me that my motivation away from b-body spindles was more budget oriented than anything. That makes sense now when I'm reminded that the swap also requires different upper arms, modified ball joints and different tie rods. The bumpsteer can be solved with special tierods from Baer but those too are expensive.

You say using lowering springs improves the camber curve? My one concern for using lowering springs with a pure a-body setup was that the suspension geometry would be adversely affected so if that's not the case I feel I can still do a fairly effective budget set up. Heck, I've got most of the parts so if I don't like it I can always spend the bucket of money to upgrade later.

Thanks for the info everyone.

Just dropped spindles? Yes, Heidt's Hot Rod Shop in Wauconda, Il.,very knowledgable and reasonable.800-841-8188, ask for Mike Limberg. I wanted to drop my '70 longroof the correct way with out butchering the coils, drops 2" sweet. Good L ;) UCK