FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

Technical Board => Modification Help => Topic started by: blacky on April 19, 2006, 09:08:38 PM



Title: Drop spindles
Post by: blacky on April 19, 2006, 09:08:38 PM
 I have just fitted a pair of CRS drop spindles to my car and now I have a drama with the calipers. The car had HQ front spindles in it , with the calipers mounted at the front of the car. The drop spindles are marked left and right , and the calipers will only fit on the back of them which causes me problems with clearance and brake hose interference.
Is it O.K. to swap them from left to right ? Or is that going to bugger up the geometry of the front end ? They look like they are the same either side , but maybe they have small differences which affects camber , etc when the wheels are turned. Anyone else had this problem ?


Title: Re: Drop spindles
Post by: Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius on April 19, 2006, 09:23:34 PM
I have had a bunch of other issues with my drop spindles, so much so I am considering going back to normal stub axles.
Steering arm spacers were required for tie-rod clearance, this results in poor lock and no more adjustment in the tie rods. Going to shorter steering arms may help, but the steering is a little heavy as it is.
I would also like to run the 13" Tasmans that I have stored away, but 14" seems to be the minimum with the CRS setup.


Title: Re: Drop spindles
Post by: mcl1959 on April 20, 2006, 07:01:30 AM
Blacky, the spindles can be fitted the other way round.

Ken


Title: Re: Drop spindles
Post by: blacky on April 20, 2006, 12:21:34 PM
 Thanks Ken , it has HX steering arms on it , should I fit HK-T-G arms to maintain the correct geometry ? The tyres on it when I got it were worn on the inside , perhaps because of these arms ?
I was going to put HQ steering arms to quicken up the steering but the steering stops interfere with the lower control arms.


Title: Re: Drop spindles
Post by: mcl1959 on April 21, 2006, 08:13:45 AM
You should fit the original HR steering arms if you are using a steering box.  

Ken


Title: Re: Drop spindles
Post by: blacky on April 21, 2006, 08:24:30 PM
 Ken , it has a shortened Commodore rack in it.


Title: Re: Drop spindles
Post by: mcl1959 on April 22, 2006, 08:17:40 AM
Front mounted rack I assume?  Is this a CRS kit or another one, or have you made your own?
The problem with front mount is that you just cant get the tie rod ends in the correct place geometry wise as they need to be further out.
CRS kit has bent HR arms which give the best approximation of geometry but dont allow a great choice of tyre selection.
Rear mount rack can be set up to use HQ to WB power steer arms as this will improve turning circle considerably.  But the rack must be positioned to suit the steering arm you intend using.  Changing to a different steering arm after you have set the rack up upsets the geometry.

Ken


Title: Re: Drop spindles
Post by: blacky on April 22, 2006, 09:07:41 PM
 Ken , its a rear mounted rack , is a V6 Conversions kit , after having gone through the pain of setting up and living with a CRS front end the V6 Conversions setup is far superior. It drives beautifully , has a normal turning circle , no bump steer , etc. The only thing is the steering isnt as direct as I would like it , hence the experiment with HQ steering arms. I had a set of drop spindles lying around the shed so I thought I would throw them in  at the same time. I have swapped the spindles from left to right and refitted the HX steering arms and it is now all sorted. Thanks for your input :)