tp, and myself could use a little help here. i know this worked for a friend of mine. he swapped them side for side. they were heated then bent about a 1/2 " in a press, then he used fatman dropped steering arms. but the info i got was a little sketchy and he said he used an old magazine article that he cant find . anyone here familiar with this? the great deal i got on dropped spindles for my 51 wasnt such a deal. i think there for a shoebox!
Same for the shoebox. I did mine. Pretty straightforward. The 'long'side" when you flip them needs to be bent inwards,toward the car about3/8-1/2" Heat,and bend. Some grinding is needed for the steering arms to fit also. Sparky
I considered doing this once but I thought it would take more bending than 1/2". If you hold a spindle upright so the top and bottom pivot holes (for the a arm) are vertical. You can see the centerline of the kingpin bosses is leaned in about 5 degrees. If you flip the spindle, you have to bend the spindle upright enough to re-angle the kingpin bosses now 10 degrees in the opposite direction. So in answer to your question I never did it. I sure would like to see what one looks like done right though. <Correction, I just went out to look at one of my spares on the bench. Looks like bending it so the pivot hole moves about 1" would do it. Sounds reasonable to do afterall>
Thats the same thing I thought we contiplated it on my buddys car but since there canted we just ordered some fatman. How would you bend them to make them even on both sides and then theres still the fact if they dont like being bent and fail on you that would well worth just paying the money for some new ones. Suspension componets your life is riding on em.
Good point on them failing because of being bent. I hadn't thought about that. Here's a diagram I sketched up, it's exaggerated with extreme kingpin angles, but it helps explain what's going on. My contribution to flipped spindles 101.
I would try to bend stockers, before I would use the new dropped ones!! Have a look at them!! And who welded them!!!...........OLDBEET
im with you!!! the guy i know that did it had great results, his car was almost as low as mine and it rode fantastic.. thanks everyone for replying, im gonna give it a shot
I've always heard that with cast iron you can heat and bend once with no problem but twice is risky as with dropped axles.
Cast iron will break ,rather than bend,heated or not. Cast steel will bend,with or without heat. Spindles are forged steel,and will bend. Heat them only to a dull red,with a neutral flame. Let them cool slowly as possible. I did my spindles this way,over 10years ago,no problems.I still need dropped steering arms,'cause I get bad toe-in with chassis rise. Sparky
I have that article and will find it tonight I hope. I saw it a while back in my stash of books. Now I have to go through all the books again. Dave, when I find it I will make copies. That goes for whoever needs it. I went through about 30 books last night. down to about 200. It shows the guy doing all the work without pulling the spindles off the car.Be patient, i'll find it. I have a set of the fatman spindles but want to try this. TP
TP, Did you find the article? I want to try it on my shoe box, but am a little gun shy without knowing what I am getting into....
The Jalopy Journal
