Air Ride and Stock spindles..

[c10addict]

So I have a question.... Anyone out there running air ride with the stock spindles??? Any alignment issues?? Do the tie rods hit the frame when you blow the air out of the bags??? the truck i am now building is a 67 with a 73 to 87 front cross member.. I have air ride on my 68 with drop spindles as well and everythings cool.... My new project I am trying to pull off low buck or lower buck Lol..

[Scott68-93-97]

Bad things bro dont do this, tie rods will hit ball joins will be at a terrible angle lower a arms will hit the crossmember, chamber will be horrible, will not ride well at perfered height, just an all around bad idea, get the lowest possible I think that is 3.5 in for these trucks, again dont do this the spindles are cheaper than the cost of damage to your suspension and fender upon your first ball joint failure

[c10addict]

thats what I figured... Thanks so much for your feedback.. I havent pulled it apart yet to look at the geometry so I figured I would ask. I have 2.5 drop spindles with air on my 68 and suffer a bent left front tie rod occasionally.

My friend has a pair of 89 drop spindles.... I might grab them and see if they will work... Sunk TONS of money in the 68 and dont want to drive it everyday... Building something to drive from snow melt to snow fly..

Thanks Again!

[Scott68-93-97]

If you want to go cheap cut the frame at the firewall and raise in about 3 in. that way you dont have to drop so much to lay out plus all the geometry will be the same as stock at a 3 in drop height which is probably where you would drive it the most thats the cheapest way to git r dun without changing a lot of parts

[c10addict]

I thought about it but I an afraid to pull the trigger on that one... Do you have to raise the trans hump for tranny clearance running a th350??

[pissonNOS]

Originally Posted by Scott68-93-97

Bad things bro dont do this, tie rods will hit ball joins will be at a terrible angle lower a arms will hit the crossmember, chamber will be horrible, will not ride well at perfered height, just an all around bad idea, get the lowest possible I think that is 3.5 in for these trucks, again dont do this the spindles are cheaper than the cost of damage to your suspension and fender upon your first ball joint failure

i assuming the 73-87 is quite a bit different than it would be on my 69? I just did the bags and stock spindles thing a couple months and have none of the issues raised here I can even drive at fully deflated, granted its a rough ride but I have no binding or anything to speak of

[c10addict]

thanks for your input... My truck is a 67 with the 73-87 front crossmember bolted in. Have any pics??

[Scott68-93-97]

That could work havent tryed the 73-87 front end I just know the a arms will hit on the 67-72's sometimes with drop spindles, mine bind and I'm just dropped real low no bags, I wasn't the one that did the work. Check into that I know the crossmember does have a different shape to it, but they do bolt into our trucks.
pissonNOS, how is your ball joint angle even with drop spindles the angle usually isnt great, so I'm curios to nknow how it is with stock spindles, how much more do you have to drop once your top one is bottomed out, cycle it see when the ball joint bottoms out then see how much you have left to drop.

Ive seen and had ball joints go many many times so anything to help that angle out helps in my mind and I would never recommend doing anything that could potentially cause a serious accident to anyone, and ball joints are pretty important to hold your front suspension in place. Mine blew going 3 mph I could only imagine if it went on the freeway or somewhere your at a normal cruisin speed. I have bagged a lot of trucks at least 100 so Ive seen things happen and repaired a lot of issues like these people don't think about.

Safety is first longjevity of your mod is also important to safety so what works know may not work a year from know, just something to keep in mind when doing anything to a vehicle

[pissonNOS]

to be honest I havent ever really checked into the angles or anything of the balljoints. Im assuming it isnt the greatest, I efinately agree with what your saying I wasnt trying to go against you or anything hope u didnt get that tone. I still think tho that stock spindles and bags is safer that welding LCA's like they used to

[Scott68-93-97]

Originally Posted by pissonNOS

to be honest I havent ever really checked into the angles or anything of the balljoints. Im assuming it isnt the greatest, I efinately agree with what your saying I wasnt trying to go against you or anything hope u didnt get that tone. I still think tho that stock spindles and bags is safer that welding LCA's like they used to

This is a place for discusion of things automotive people wont always agree so no I didn't get that tone at all, I will never take anything personal when it comes to disscusion on stuff I haven't done it all will never have the time to so thats why I like this website so much you can give a little and learn a little and just bs in between

[c10addict]

Whats Up Guys??? Thanks for your input.... I did end up buying drop spindles off e-bay so It should lay out like my 68 does now.... My 68 would go lower in the front but the tires hit the fenderwells.... I am not ready to throw away my inner fenders though.... To much time and energy spent under the hood!! My friend owns a Hotrod shop and helped with the Airride kit on my 68 and is going to help me with this one as well.... I know it will lay frame by the time we are done He has a bad way of making things grow in to much bigger projects... After I had this low buck shop truck idea he bought one too.... I stopped today and his is on the frame table with a porterbuilt drop member,airride strong arms and drop spindles up front, A four link and scratch built frame out back.... it will lay rocker on 20's and 22's when done... REALLY DIDNT NEEDTO SEE IT!!!! Mo Money Mo Money Mo Money!! Luckly my 68 was done when I met him so all we did was add the airride... Check out www.rpmpgh.com and www.goprorides.com to see some of his work... He loves big wheels and low rides and horsepower.. You may have seen the 56 Olds sell at Barrett Jackson last year..

[snacob14]

So you are saying that a guy can't run fully inflated bags w/stock spindles?

[Scott68-93-97]

Originally Posted by snacob14

So you are saying that a guy can't run fully inflated bags w/stock spindles?

No that has nothing to do with it Im talking about when its dropped the drop spindle moves your spindle up so your a arms dont need to drop as far messing with some seriously crazy ball joint angles, Im not saying it wont work but the camber will be so bad when dropped only an inch of the tire will actually touch the ground and at some point the ball joint just cant go any further and the a arms still need more travel, after a while it will break I promise seen it happen a lot.

[Spray-Bomb]

I have no problems with bending my tie rods, but my balljoints are prolly starting to bind at dump

I have no fear of them breaking, as I think they're just starting to bind when my lower A-arm is touching the upper plate where the bag bolts to
So it's already bottomed out, it can't put anymore angle on the BJ's

I'm not run'n drop spindles

[Scott68-93-97]

Originally Posted by Spray-Bomb

I have no problems with bending my tie rods, but my balljoints are prolly starting to bind at dump

I have no fear of them breaking, as I think they're just starting to bind when my lower A-arm is touching the upper plate where the bag bolts to
So it's already bottomed out, it can't put anymore angle on the BJ's

I'm not run'n drop spindles

You also already have five shims on your upper A's and your camber at drop is still bad. I like to ride real low so having those type of alignment issues are important to me, know if you like to ride around like a 4x4 and drop it in a parking lot thats fine everyone has there own preference, but I like to ride 2 inches off the ground, Its only a matter of time if you ride with a ball joint at that angle before it snaps, Im speaking from experience of my own and others Ive been installing air ride for 8 years now Ive seen it happen. #2 your truck isn't fully laid out either my bumpers that high off the ground and Im not even bagged on my 68, you do have a good work in progress but I want drivability at a low height without replaceing tires and a ton of chassis maintenence every other month

[sittininttown]

HERE IS MY 79 WITH STOCK SPINDELS AND IT LAYS HARD ON THE GROUND... THIS IS THE 3RD TRUCK I HAVE DID AND I HAVE NEVER BOUGHT SPINDELS. AND I DRIVE IT AS LOW AS I CAN ALL TIME...



PS NOW I DO HAVE A "Z"ED FRAME. 4"S

[Scott68-93-97]

Originally Posted by sittininttown

HERE IS MY 79 WITH STOCK SPINDELS AND IT LAYS HARD ON THE GROUND... THIS IS THE 3RD TRUCK I HAVE DID AND I HAVE NEVER BOUGHT SPINDELS. AND I DRIVE IT AS LOW AS I CAN ALL TIME...



PS NOW I DO HAVE A "Z"ED FRAME. 4"S

With the z'ed frame you dont need the spindles your suspension is already 4 in lower before you drop it thats better than a 2.5 in spindle, looks good by the way. And even with the z'ed frame look how close the lower a's are to the ground

[sittininttown]

yea they are really close to the ground.... u have to measure, measure, and then measure some more. but it all depends on how low u wanna go. im removing the pinch welding and setting the body on the ground w/ 22s. so i need all the travel i could get.

[BACKYARD88]

Originally Posted by sittininttown

HERE IS MY 79 WITH STOCK SPINDELS AND IT LAYS HARD ON THE GROUND... THIS IS THE 3RD TRUCK I HAVE DID AND I HAVE NEVER BOUGHT SPINDELS. AND I DRIVE IT AS LOW AS I CAN ALL TIME...



PS NOW I DO HAVE A "Z"ED FRAME. 4"S

If you don't mind my asking, how much did you cut off the bottom of your frame?

[Spray-Bomb]

Originally Posted by Scott68-93-97

You also already have five shims on your upper A's and your camber at drop is still bad. I like to ride real low so having those type of alignment issues are important to me, know if you like to ride around like a 4x4 and drop it in a parking lot thats fine everyone has there own preference, but I like to ride 2 inches off the ground, Its only a matter of time if you ride with a ball joint at that angle before it snaps, Im speaking from experience of my own and others Ive been installing air ride for 8 years now Ive seen it happen. #2 your truck isn't fully laid out either my bumpers that high off the ground and Im not even bagged on my 68, you do have a good work in progress but I want drivability at a low height without replaceing tires and a ton of chassis maintenence every other month

Dude, chill out

I never said my way was the best way to go, just that thats what I did
My truck is dumped all the way, what do you think I meant when I said "my lower A-arm is touching the upper plate where the bag bolts to" Yeah, it used to go lower when I had little tires on it, what size tire are you running ???

About the camber, it's a work in progress i never said I was done or that I liked the camber or that it was a good thing

I like to ride low too, my truck just isn't capable of that yet

And last, WHO ASKED YOU !!!

[Twistedsteel]

c'mon guys can't we all just get along... Geez

[sittininttown]

hey backyard88 i cut about 2 1/2 inches of the bottom... the reason i did such a big Z and 2 1/2 inches off the bottom of the frame is because i cut my pinch molding off to lay rockers. heres a pic before i cut the frame off...

[Spray-Bomb]

Originally Posted by Twistedsteel

c'mon guys can't we all just get along... Geez

Sorry, I just can't stand people who have to come into a thread & bombard it with there opinion

I didn't ask him to nit pick my truck, nor did I pick his or what he said & I never said that my way was the only way or the best, just posted what I did to my truck

Sorry to jack the thread

[killthewabbit]

Anybody ever try using the "unbreakable" ball joints you can get from lowrider shops? I know those guys still pop ball joints every now and again, but it seems like those would last longer.