I understand how it's easier and cheaper to install drop springs vs drop spindles for the front end however some of you guys seem to have the cash and be pretty serious about your suspensions but not use drop spindles still... I've searched quickly and only noticed one person that uses drop spindles on the boards. Are drop spindles not a far superior way to drop the car??? Is there some big hassle to installing them???

 

The drop spindles arent made anymore. Bell Tech used to make them for our cars but has stopped production of them for reasons I'm not aware of. Thats why I think most people use drop springs rather than spindles.

 

hmmm... after doing a more thorough search on the net you seem to be correct. Belltech mentions drop spindles for cars however it doesn't say anything specific. Guess I'll have to call tomorrow and ask for specifics.

Now if I could just stop staring at that wicked hot chick on the home page...

 

belltech discontinued their drop spindles due to the lack of intrest. To be truthful? drop spindles are a better way to lower you car...why? because you dont affect the suspension geometry. The lower you drop your cars suspension the more you screw up the geometry. Using spindles pretty much raises the wheel into the body. Lowering the center of gravity yet at the same time keeping the stock suspension geometry. My suggestion? get stiffer springs in the front that are of the same height. Otherwords performance springs that wont lower your car. I forgot what company makes. Then use hte drop spindles. That way you get the good lower center of gravity, you dont mess up your geometry, and you have stiff springs. Win win!

 

It's not entirely true that drop spindles do not affect your suspension geometry. They do affect your suspension geometry. Whether it's a more or less drastic affect then drop springs is another question, but your caster angle, camber angle, and steering axis inclination are all set based on your wheel being in a specific location with relation to the rest of the suspension. For example, your steering axis inclination is set to place the pivot radius 1-1.5" inboard of the wheel centerline. If you raise the wheel itself, you are increasing this pivot radius. Similarly, your caster angle is set so your wheel centerline trails the steering axis swivel line by some amount. Raising the wheel will decrease the trail provided by a given caster angle. Adjusting caster and camber is readily done without replacing parts, but steering axis inclination and swivel line are determined by the control arm dimensions and mounting points, and are not adjustable.

Again, drop spindles may or may not be a better method of lowering your car, but it isn't because they have no impact on your suspension geometry, because they do. There are pros and cons to both options.

 

I think he was refering to the changes in the geometry that greatly affect your handling. Of course any change in ride height will require you to realign your car, dosnt matter if its a drop spring or a drop spindle. Revlimit is right that the drop spindles are a better way to lower your car when compared to drop springs. Drop springs will greatly affect the angles of your tie rods and its very possible you can get bumpsteer. You are right that the steering axis inclination will change nomatter what, but its not as bad as the tie rod angles changing. The drop spindles wont affect your tie rod angles like the drop springs do. Theory aside, I think Revlimit knows because he has pushed his car to the limits with both setups and he strongly feels the drop spindle / spring pertch setup makes the car handle alot better than the spring pertch setup itself (at full drop). Tuning suspension is always a compromise.

 

Drop spindles will lower your car without changing any suspension geometry. They simply move the wheel 'farther up' and nothing else. The control arm location does not change. Drop springs 'move the wheel up' by actually moving the whole lower control arm/strut upwards some. Suspension does not move straight upwards as it compresses, but rather it swings upward in an arc. So by moving the entire suspensio up, the tires are now at a different angle to the ground, known as camber. Without an alignment, the tires would wear on the inside. Negative camber, which is where the top of the tire is farther inboard than the bottom, can actually help cornering ability. However, you don't want too much negative camber, especially on a street car, because it will just wear out tires too fast. The other problem with moving the suspension upwards is bump steer. This is caused when the tie rods no longer angle downwards, but are paralell to the ground. The same arcing action of the tierods during suspension travel can actually steer one tire or the other, which is known as bump steer. The only way to correct bump steer is to make the tierods angle downwards like they should, either by A.) getting new pitam and idler arms which hold the centerlink up higher, or B.) getting a 'bump steer kit' which is just basically spacers for the outer tierod ends that move them down a bit.

Also, drop spindles can be used in combination with drop springs, to lower a car more than possible with only springs or spindles. This is commonly seen on lowered trucks, where a 4 or 6 inch drop is common. My buddy's Sonoma has 1" drop springs in the front as well as 1" drop spindles, and its still not really low, the top of the tires just barely tuck into the fenders.

Suspension is not as complicated as you might think. Everything about it is very straightforward and logical. If you ever had an erector set or something similar, then you can probably visualize how suspension components work together very easily. The best way I know to see how suspension changes affect cars is my R/C car... I've done a few suspension mods to it, all of which are home made due to the fact that theres no aftermarket for it (There is plenty of aftermarket for other models :P )

 

TOOL!!!!