I was looking at my friend's '88 Vette the other day and noticed that it has aluminum front spindles. Come to think of it, just about everything is aluminum on that car. All the accessory brackets, all the suspension pieces, driveshafts, rear diff housing, torque arm, heads, water pump, etc. are all aluminum. And the Vette still weighs roughly the same as a V8 3rd gen. Makes you wonder what our cars could weigh if GM made all the F-Body components out of aluminum. Is there anyone who manufactures aluminum front spindles for our car? It would save a good bit of weight off our already front-heavy cars. Aluminum spindles along with tubular a-arms would be an ideal setup.

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1991 Z28 - 350 TPI, T56, McLeod street clutch, LT4 pressure plate, Pro 5.0 shifter, ported plenum & runners, AFPR, Hooker shorty headers w/o AIR, Flowmaster muffler, homeade ram-air, SSM subframe connectors, Kenny Brown STB, Global West steering box brace, Steve Spohn adjustable torque arm and T56 crossmember

 

I don't think there are any aluminum spindles, the drop spindles might be, but i doubt it. There is a company that makes aluminum a-arms for f-bodies though.. not cheap though.

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• 89 Formula 305 WS6
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• 90 Eagle Talon 2.0
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Aluminum is great for reducing weight. However, spindles need to be strong which requires steel.

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350 with stealth intake, holley carb, 470 lift cam. 700r4 with .5 boost valve, vette servo, tci lock-up kit, B&M megashifter. Richmond 3.73 gears, powertrax locker, timkin bearings, synthetic lube. Custom 3 inch single into 2 2.5 pipes. 1 1/2 drop springs, 1 5/16 solid front sway bar, 1 inch rear bar, custom subframe connectors, custom LCA relocation brackets. Kobel ground FX, current red metallic paint. Lots of other stuff...
82camaro

 

Well the Vette spindles are aluminum. I know in our cars, the strut attaches to the spingle but I really don't think an aluminum spindle would have any problems. I think braking forces on the spindle would be just as great if not greater than the force that is applied by the strut. If the Vette spindles can withstand the braking forces of that car, I think aluminum would be fine for our cars. Maybe I'm missing something though.

 

I work in a fabrication shop which makes parts for race cars. We sell spindles which are welded together except for the actual snout which is machined. The owners have made spindles out of aluminum for prototypes, but they said it required so much more material that they were just about as heavy as the welded steel ones. I've seen the vettes and I don't see why it would work on them and not f-bodys. I think cost is the biggest problem. Anything aluminum is expensive and if it's machined it costs even more. It could be done, but to really save weight you would end up replacing a lot of parts which would be a lot of money.

 

Yep, you're missing a LOT.

not worth it on a production car. I'd find other areas to spend mega cash and save an ounce (IF it were me).



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Clem
SCCA TransAm Series Race Mechanic/CrewChief
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1983 Z28 with LG4, 5 speed, and (unfortunately) T-tops
1983 Z28, NO T-tops, (unfortunately) Auto Transmission (hopefully not for long)

 

What do you mean it's not worth it on a production car? Is the Corvette not a production car? I'm not saying I want to go out and spend mega bux on a set of aluminum spindles for my car, I was just wondering if the option was out there. And I think It would be saving a little weight more than you say. Those cast iron spindles are very heavy. Any extra weight you can take out of our cars (especially in the front) is a good thing. I don't think it's that unreasonable. The cost to make them would not be that much more than the cost to make cast iron spindles.

 

they would have to be forged for strength too.

 

can you say "taking it out of context"?

I meant it's not worth the time and money it would require to engineer, build, and develop a set of aluminum spindles for a one-off application. Of course the corvette is a production car. it was apparently worth it to equip the corvette with aluminum uprights, so they did. And they made how many million of them?

The cost to make them wouldn't be much more...you're probably right...IF we're talking about one set of each. You're never going to produce a single set of cast iron uprights and if you did, it would cost WAY TOO MUCH. that's why you buy parts that are made in mass quantity.

I know you're not planning on actually doing any of this but if you did, you'd be better off fabbing up a steel upright out of .100ish steel. While you're at it, build them to use real brakes and bearings and stuff.

The factory pieces aren't that bad. And it's not economically practical to build an aluminum hub for a thirdgen f-body



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Clem
SCCA TransAm Series Race Mechanic/CrewChief
-------------
1983 Z28 with LG4, 5 speed, and (unfortunately) T-tops
1983 Z28, NO T-tops, (unfortunately) Auto Transmission (hopefully not for long)

 

"The owners have made spindles out of aluminum for prototypes, but they said it required so much more material that they were just about as heavy as the welded steel ones"
It takes more material to something out of aluminum to get the same strength--look at a wheel. Maybe the f-body suspension doesn't have the room necessary to install a bigger aluminum spindle. A vette suspension is way different than an f-body. Design material selection has to do with the amount of stress it will be under in a specific application. Maybe the vette suspension doesn't put alot of stress on the spindle, or it has the necessary room needed to add the bulk to make it strong enough, or the vette just gets better parts sinces it's the top of the line chevy, or etc...

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350 with stealth intake, holley carb, 470 lift cam. 700r4 with .5 boost valve, vette servo, tci lock-up kit, B&M megashifter. Richmond 3.73 gears, powertrax locker, timkin bearings, synthetic lube. Custom 3 inch single into 2 2.5 pipes. 1 1/2 drop springs, 1 5/16 solid front sway bar, 1 inch rear bar, custom subframe connectors, custom LCA relocation brackets. Kobel ground FX, current red metallic paint. Lots of other stuff...
82camaro

 

If you look at the spindles on the Vette, they are no bigger than ours, maybe even a little bit smaller. And the same amount of stress is put on the Vette spindles as the ones on our cars. I just recently got to look at a C5 up close and while I was at it, I checked out the spindles on that car. They're aluminum and are even smaller than the C4 spindles. So I don't think strength is an issue here, just cost. Just like you said, the top of the line Chevy gets the top of the line parts.