Cool - Super Kev to the rescue!!

Good news... I talked to a foundry this morning and they said to bring a set by so they can give me an estimate. So, here comes the hard part:

I'll need a unmodified set of Bell Tech's 2" dropped spindles. I'll pay for shipping to TN (where I'm at right now, and where the foundry is) and return shipping, and will probably need them for a month (probably less, but I'm not real sure). At the very minimum, I promise to return them along with a set of dropped spindles from the new production run as a thank you.

If, for some reason, these don't go back into production, I'll return your originals along with $75 for the hastle. I'm sorry if this sounds cheap, but it's what I can promise right now without knowing a whole lot about how much things are going to cost. For those who don't know me, I've sold many parts over at ls1tech and also have 100% feedback on the 'bay.

Who's up for it?

Edit: Just remembered something... does anyone know if there's a patent on belltech's dropped spindles? I don't want to go through all the work of making them and end up getting into legal problems.

I do not think one could get a patent on a twenty (or so) year old item. Besides a long time ago there was more than Bell Tech who made dropped spindles for third gens.

One thing to consider that I found out. I found two foundrys that would supply a dropped spindle for us ( most others I contacted just almost laughed). The first company wanted $100,000.00 to produce 200 sets of the spindles. The second company, Western Foundry - the guys that bought all of the dies and prints from Bell Tech - Wanted $29,250.00 for a run of 150 pairs ( these guys were the cheepest, and our cost was to be $195.00 per set). I searched for months for any and all sources for production of dropped spindles. No one would run just one or even ten sets - The smallest was Western Foundry at the 150 sets price.

So you can immagine how elated I was when Alvin Rocha, of Bell Tech, said he would put them back into production. Then to have hin blow smoke for months with out any action. Now I can not even get ahold of him - not even a message of any thing. BOOO- I think Bell Tech sucks.

Western Foundry doesn't sound too bad. I don't know what everyone else thinks but 200 bucks is very cheap for an item that a lot of people want.

Abviously, there is no way we will be able to organize a group purchase of 150 items and I am sure Western will not be happy shipping them to 150 different addresses. What if we could get one of board's sponsors TDS, Spohn, Hawk's... to purchase the entire batch from Western and then sell them to us marked up. I am sure they can sell entire batch of 150 in about 6 months and if they sell it at $300/pair, that would mean they get 15 grand in revenue for themselves.

I would rather buy two sets and try to get rid of the second pair than give the other half away. I have two Camaros myself and could use both if i couldn't sell the other.
Two competing factors with the dropped spindles are the lowering springs and the coil over set ups that allow the car to be dropped. Anyone buying the entire batch would know this and have their doubts. But on the other hand if even some of the people with springs converted to spindles then there would be more demand for them.
I also think if this is proposed again that having them set up for the C5 conversion would be an added advantage to selling them. If you combined this with a bracket then there would be a complete package in one purchase. It's a more bold approach but may have more appeal beause of the added benefit.
I'm not looking for an argument but just stating my view to try to find the best way to approach this since it seems to be starting from the ground up.

Is there a way to find a different contact at Bell Tech?

I spoke with Eric a salesman at BellTech and he said he would talk with the Vice President and send him a link from ThirdGen.org. We'll see.

any new news?? I've got the money to burn

I'm still working on trying to find a set of unmodified spindles.

any new knews?

I've found a member on the forums that might be able to loan me a unmodified set of spindles. I'll update this thread once I know more. In the meantime, if you or anyone else knows of someone with a unmodified set of dropped spindles, please let me know.

should i keep my hopes up on these? i want a pair by end of winter early spring time to finish off my car.

I have tried for over a year to get the 2" dropped spindles (BEll Tech #2200) back into production, and I am still trying - but it is a hard road to grind. I am still trying to get into contact with persons in production engineering of a higher status..lots of luck,Ed

I just found this thread and am interested....is there a "probably" column that I could be put in. It is going to depend on the price. My project vert is gonna take close to a year to get on the road, so I don't mind the wait, but updates are good.....

Update:

I've found a member on these boards who is willing to loan me his set of spindles within the next 2-3 months so I can get some production drawings and see how much a run of these will cost. I know it's 2-3 months away, but there's some hope for those who are still interested.

Luckily I have nothing but time and patience. Keep up the great work SuperKev!!!

I would definately be interested in a set! If anyone is wanting to have some fabricated, it might be cheaper to have them built similar to a 4th gen (with the hub assembly setup). That would be good for those, like myself, who want to run HUGE brakes...since bigger brakes are offered for the 4th gens.

The Spindle design will remain the same whether you are running a hub assembly or just straight rotors. A hub assembly will require an adaptor for larger brakes. Stock, OEM style with rotors will not require the adaptors for the OEM brakes. According to what final rotors you use just go with the correct adaptor for the assembly. With OEM spindles or dropped spindles their design will be their design. For larger brakes on the dropped spindles an adaptor is always required. Unless one would want a specific size cast in. Then though they are limited to that size only. They are then limited for others who might want a different size or style.

My 2cents worth. Ed.

We will be releasing a fabricated version in Jan. The first ones will require a aftermarket brake. The spindle is also designed for a rack but we will have a option to use the factory steering.

$999?? I think thats around the price of the SSBC spindles. What kind of aftermarket brakes will you need for the AJE spindles? Do you mean like retro-fit C4HD/LS1/C5/1LE aftermarket or do you mean Wilwood, etc?

Wilwood, Aerospace, ETC.

The new dropped replacement spindles will sale for $449.00 a pair. The dropped spindled struts are $1099 and come with the coilover and cc/plates.

Except that you can't buy the SSBC spindles (at least, last time I called them) because they were BellTech's spindles.

so wait, you are not going to use a standard strut mount on it? what sort of strut mount will it be using?

any one have pic of these spindals?

yeah, a pic would be cool.

Guys, you can find pictures of the spindles on AJE Racing's website. The 4th gen pictures that are there are just like the 3rd gen setup, or so I was told by AJE.

We have finished the design and will have pics posted in 2 weeks. The pics on the website are of the struts!

cool. thanks!

I know that 82-92 Camaro Drop spindles are available from Lordco where I live in BC Canada. Maybe you should research that and other canadian producers.

Thought this may help you in your quest

The Dropped Spindles that Lordco has in their catalogue are Belltech p/n 2200 - They have never sold any, and do not know if they can even order them. This is when I talked to them approx a year ago. ~Ed~

We now have pics available for the 82-92 Camaro dropped spindles. E-mail aje@gte.net and we will send pics

can you post the pictures in this thread? I also have emailed aje for pics and info too. If the pics were in this post it would help us all out in making our decision.

Please reply to this ajeracing

thanks

pic 1

Sent 2 pictures from AJE. Here they are:

pic 1

pic 2

They also sent me this info in the email:

"CF-3950 ($449.00) is designed for a rack but we have an option for the factory steering ($59.00). The spindles will except the factory replacement strut or use the Strange adjustable struts for the Mustang."


Wow these are expensive. Any comments?

In my opinion that is very expensive for 4-5 piece of flat stock steel welded together. If the price was a bit lower I would consider getting them. I would also like to see pictures of the other side and from a "front" at the spindle shot.
I couldnt find any pictures on the site of the 4th gen spindles. I would also like to know if ANY aftermarket strut will work on these.

It also looks like they are not modifiable to use aftermarket brakes, which takes it out of the running for me.

These spindles will only work with aftermarket brakes (Wilwood, Aerospace,ETC.) We are looking at factory style brakes but haven't finished them!

Does this include C-5 brakes? These are the best value and likely to be the most popular.

and how much will they cost per set for ones that are capable of using stock brakes?

Also what is the pirce per set if we get between 5-10, 10-15, 15-20, 20-25 and 25-30 people in on a Group Purchase?

Please Reply asap as im trying to find out what mod i want to do next...if im waiting too long i may just go buy umi adjustable lower control arms instead.

Which caliper did you use? Most of the wilwoods have diffrent mounting demisions, AP is diffrent yet, Brembo diffrent still.

If these new spindles are to be manufactured to the old 1LE specifications they will need adaptor brackets to use several different caliper/rotor combinations. The old 1LE spindle modification to the OEM spindles were done by GM for high performance upgrade. These consisted of cutting off the mounting arms for the backing plates, and drilling larger holes (1/2" or 12mm hole size) to mount adaptor brackets in place. One then could make a choice of LS1 Camaro Calipers, and rotors (12" Rotors, and dual piston calipers). With a different bracket one could use the C5 Corvette brake system (13" Rotors, and dual piston calipers). I wound up using the LS1 brackets, and LS1 12" Rotors with C5 Calipers (C5 calipers being a better pressure casting)...There are several places on the boards here where one can get the diagrams for the modifications to the OEM spindles for using different brakes. Along with several fellows here that make and sell the different brackets for our use.

~Ed~

Add me to the list.

If the price goes down from ($449.00) per set i may think about it. I am not willing to fork over than much cash, especially since i dont want to replace my stock brakes.

Give me a reasonable price

I'm still planning on producing the belltech 2" dropped spindles... just waiting for a member on this forum to ship a set to me. So that's another option that shouldn't cost as much.

It was hard enough for Bell Tech to sell their Dropped Spindles at $259.00 (Of course that was three years ago), so I think these AJE Spindles are about $100.00 to $150.00 to high...so they may not sell many of them...not selling many keeps the prices high also. Just my 2cents worth. ~Ed~

If they were like 200 or something Id mostlikely be in. This is a GP isnt it???

I'm in for at least one set if it ever gets put together...

Pricing on a group purchase! I ask that one person be the contact.
One set $449
5-9 sets $410
10-14 sets $380
15-19 sets $350
20 plus $335