Dropped a arms vs spindles

[crazy longhorn]

I need to straighten up the geometry on the the longhorn,& am looking at different options. I have already converted to disc brakes,& am running 1/2 ton parts(75 spindles). The cut coil drop has been a "temporary deal " for too long now! I have heard that a dropped a arm will give better ground clearance than a dropped spindle,& like the looks of the tube arms. If I go this route, I want to make sure to get a good set of arms.......any ideas on who has the best arms on the market,& any pics on the arms?

[yellowgmc]

i've been looking for tubular a arms and haven't found any. i was going to see if i could get the truck to handle as best as i can. that and tubular arms look very cool! i hadn't found and so i was going with spindles and coils.

[adamls]

I as well have never seen tubular a-arms for our trucks. Might be something one of the vendors on the board might look into for us though.

[Truckstr]

Whether the A-arms are tubular or not doesn't really matter. The weight savings wouldn't be significant enough to make that much difference.

I went with the dropped spindles (ECE 2-1/2 inch drop) because nobody could tell me what the dropped A-arms would do to the front suspension geometry. I'm looking to make my truck handle better, as well. I've been taking lots of measurements on the front suspension and trying to determine what changes could be readily made to reposition the pivot points of the A-arms at the crossmember to make it better.

I have an extra cross member that, right now, it looks like will be subjected to a frame notching and new upper A-arm mounting plates (taller).

Therear suspension needs attention too.

Please check the thread "making the 'old girl' handle" on the "Suspension" board for a more in-depth look at the thought process.

You're not alone out there.

[Smooth68]

I'd go with tubular a-arms over spindles anyday - looks, performance and overall personal preference. You can find some here for around $290

[jays68yak]

Ive seen the lower tubular aarms. My buddy had a pair on his truck, but they were custom made by someone.

[Low69CST]

LMC use to sell them. I always heard they were junky as hell. Tube a arms look cool, but probably won't help your truck handle any better. Plus it looks like you'd have to fab up mounts to make those work on your truck. If your that concerned with front end geometry you'd probably be better off to buy a hole cross member,a arms, and spindle set up. No matter what kind of a arms you put on your spindles you have now, they will still be plauged with the short spindle problem that all 60's and 70's models have.

[crazy longhorn]

I dont really have any issues with handling, anything the old truck will do at speed will be straight line. im lookin to drop just a little more,& keep good clearance on the bottom. The old truck has a tilt front clip, & i am also looking at the cosmetic aspect......the tube arms look pretty & are in plain site with the nose open. On the same note, I dont want to purchase a headache! I have looked at the mustang II, & the Jimmy Meyers set ups........both slick as hell, but still have a lot of work to do to "this old house", & those setups are out of the budget

[Smooth68]

Crazy Al - those a-arms are direct bolt-on repacements for our year trucks. I'd have to argue on the handling aspect - I've had a few sets of TCA's on different style trucks and I can say they definitely improve the handling. Also I know there are issues with drop spindles chewing up the inside of certain wheels with certain off-sets. Never had this trouble with arms - my $.02

[MikeB]

Assuming you have a 67-72 truck, whichever route you take, make sure it uses 71/72 tie rod ends and ball joints. Some of the lowered spindles require 73-87 ball joints, tie rod ends, and brakes. BTW, Early Classics has a list of reasons why you shouldn't use tubular arms, but I think those made by a reputable company like Fat Man or Heidt's should be OK.

[crazy longhorn]

Oops.....i didnt put that in the post! the truck is a 69, but is running 75 spindles. at the time I set it up , bell tech were the guys to deal with, & all they had was 73 up on the spindles......its been a few yrs back!

[Ackattack]

I'm using drop spindles with no problems, and the ran about $200 or so. You could just paint your a-arms to improve the looks a little.

[SCOTI]

What wheels/backspace do you have up front? If your running 15's w/alot of offset then control arms will work better. If your wheels don't have much backspace or are a larger diameter then use spindles.
I have personally used both on these style frames under our trucks. An old roomate of mine thought the dropped a-arms would give him a better ride + he didn't want to spend the extra $$ at the time to swap to discs on his 65SWB. They install just like stock arms but have a box that locates the arms & it bolts to the crossmember. The arms have later style bushings instead of the early factory style. He combined the arms w/3" drop springs from the same manufacturer. I used spindles & cut 1 coil from the stock springs + upgraded to discs on my 67SWB. They were both equally low but his was a bit 'bouncier' than mine & his hooked a city manhole cover that destroyed the frame. I've got the 67, 68, & a 74 that all have spindles but that's my personal preference. Either will work & the arms (except the cheesy cheap ones) would look better since your front tilts to expose them more than a stocker would. Geez. . . a fricken' novel, my apologies.

[alta-aj]

I was thinking of dropping my 2wd Jimmy by cutting one complete coil out of each of the front springs. I've heard that that's about a 3" drop. What's wrong with doing this? Why is it not a good approach?

As an alternative, I have a spare set of A arms that I was considering dropping the pockets a couple of inches and leaving the springs alone. The only thing I don't like about this is that those pockets will hang pretty low and I expect with kiss more than one curb.

Comments please.

[adamls]

Cutting the springs is good temporarily if you do not have the $$ to buy lowered springs. But you lose some ride feel. The spring rate gets much stiffer. Lowering the pockets may through the geometry out of whack, I am not sure, but it sounds like a good idea!?

[Dropt72Shortbed]

geometry wise.

if you lower the bottom coil bocket (what drop arms do) then the spindle has to shift upwards along with the upper control arm.

thats the way i see it.

i know tubular arms can make it look pretty but only the drop spindles are going to keep the geometry stock. a 3" drop arm will change the susp geometry pretty much just as much as a 3" drop coil does, however the 3" drop arm will ride better than the 3" drop coil.

also my experience on other trucks, my s10 blazer for example, i originally had 3" drop arms and tried to run a 2" drop coil with it, didnt work, the lower arm itself would bottom out on the frame giving me like 1/2" of susp travel. so i decided to run 2" spindles and 3" coils on the truck.

[crazy longhorn]

Alta-aj, I have a cut coil on the longhorn(1 ring off the bottom,for roughly a 3" drop). The old truck doesnt ride or handle bad,but the balljoints (esecially top ones) have some pretty wild lookin angles.....that has to take a toll on the parts. I think that a dropped pocket in a stock arm would cause the same situation.....& altho I have done a cut coil drop,I dont reccomend it. On the dropped tube arms, i beleive (not 100% sure) that they have been designed to correct these (weird angles) that happen with the drop. as far as dropped springs on the stock arms , I feel that 2" is about max to go & still keep good front geometry........crazy AL

[sbrban]

keep in mind...I have yet to find lca's that will allow you to use a sway bar,maybe you wouldn't have the clearance anyway but it's something to think about.

[crazy longhorn]

Im not running a swaybar with the current setup......theory is it lets the nose of the body lift a little quicker under a full throttle take off, to help get a little weight toward the rear on that loooong truck. The truck is low enough that i dont really miss the bar, it handles pretty good

[70 Jimmy]

The dropped spindles that caused problems by rubbing the rims are the old 3" drop. I think Western Chassis used to make them. You should have no trouble with a 2.5". Give Charley's Drop Shop a call in Portland. Talk to Charley, he sells a dropped A arm that he makes. He can give you a different take on them than, say, ECE.

[crazy longhorn]

70jimmy, do you have a web address or number for Charlies drop shop?

[Gene]

The drop A arms do not effect the spindle/upper A arm geometry, the way they work is that the spring pocket is lowered 2 or 3 inches depending on the drop you desire. And this simply drops a stock coil that amount, the spindle and upper A arm actually drop with the stock coil, the A arms are designed to keep spindle location the same. Now if you are using a drop spring in conjunction with a drop A arm yes you will see some front end geometry change. I used my stock springs on a 90 chevy 1/2 ton and when I took it to get it aligned the adjustments were minimal. Another advantage to the drop A arm is like a previous poster said, if you run a wheel with more than 3 inches of backspacing more than likely on a 15 inch rim it will clear the A arm. On a drop spindle you will have to do some trimming on the stock A arm itself. My .02 is that the A arms are your best bet. I have used both kinds...

[Dropt72Shortbed]

Originally posted by Gene
The drop A arms do not effect the spindle/upper A arm geometry, the way they work is that the spring pocket is lowered 2 or 3 inches depending on the drop you desire. And this simply drops a stock coil that amount, the spindle and upper A arm actually drop with the stock coil, the A arms are designed to keep spindle location the same.

i dont know if thats true.

the stock coil still is in the same top and bottom position as it was with the stock arm. so in theory the bottom coil pocket has to be in the same relative position as it was with the stock control arm. you can think of it as if the rest of the lower control arm is being lifted up around the coilpocket and bottom of the coil. if it goes up, so does the spindle, and so does the upper arm.

to prove my point, DJM offers upper arms for both the new 99+ chevys and 98+ rangers (i also think dakotas as well) when you use their dropped lower arms. if you try use their dropped lower arms without those redesigned upper arms then its pretty impossible to align properly.

i used the DJM arms on my s10 blazer at first, i was able to get it aligned but the adjustments were pretty much maxed out.

i may be wrong so please correct me if so.

[ChevLoRay]

I also have dropped spindles (2.5-inch) from Early Classic Enterprises. I have had zero problems. I have yet to replace the mounts for the front antisway bar, which will raise it up by one inch....to keep if from the occasional contact with parking curbs. I know that lots of folks have gone to the dropped A-arms, while others have used springs to lower their rides. Call me old, old-fashioned, or just plain stubborn, but I am not convinced that anything besides spindles will keep the geometry of the front end where it needs to be throughout the full compression and extension movements. My front end was aligned to factory (i.e. NEW) specifications, after dropping the front and the rear. I am happy with what I bought. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[crazy longhorn]

lots of good info guys! there are many ways to go on suspension drops. from what i can see on my cut coil drop, the top arms need to be addressed,as the spindles have moved upward it has left the top balljoints at a pretty wild lookin angle. Several yrs back before all the good aftermarket parts( i couldnt even find dropped springs for the 67-72.....had to cut em). There were a couple companies putting out modified (stock) lower arms. If I remember the had shortened the distance from the balljoint center to the shaft mounting point by 1/2 - 3/4 " to compensate for the shorter spring & still be able to adjust the front end. My guess is that the aftermarket arms are built with this in mind, but I havent used them......so Im not really sure?