Heidt's drop spindle and A-arms

[Dads502]

Does anyone have experience in using the Heidt's 2" drop spindle and their tubular A-arms on a 69 Camaro? I'm using a stock subframe and most A-arm manufacturers require modification to the subframe, but Heidt's claims theirs is an easy bolt on. On the drop spindle, I am currently using Hotchkis 2" lowering springs in the front with stock height spindles. If I go with the 2" drop spindles, will the front end drop even lower than it current is, or will it just change the geometry of the front suspension components?

[Teetoe_Jones]

Who told you that other tubular control arms require frame mods?
They should all bolt on with no issues. My personal recommendation would be Global West, Detroit Speed, or Speedtech arms, as they will actually give you increased caster from factory. The heidt's, fatman, and similar brands are nothing more than a tubular emulation of a factoy arm, offering no benefits other than looks. Heidts and Fatman both offer narrowed arms which is the opposite of what you'd want to get better handling.

On the spindle- Are you talking about their standard 2" drop spindle, or their new 1.5" taller two inch drop spindle?

The taller spindle will increase the camber gain, which is a great thing as tubular control arms by themselves will not give you much in terms of increased feel.

The bad news-

A 2" drop spindle causes lots of tie rod to rim clearance issues, especially if you go over 6.5" wide rims.

An alternative is our new AFX spindle. It onlys has 1" drop, uses a C5 sealed hub with wheel speed sensors, and is made from 6061 T6 aluminum. It was designed for handling in mind. You can find more info about that on our website, www.t56kit.com

Tyler

[Dads502]

So between the DSE, Global West, and Speedtech upper A-arms, how would rank these in terms of performance and quality, starting with the best one first?

[Teetoe_Jones]

Performance wise, GW is at the top with the most amount of initial caster settings, followed by DSE then Speedtech.
Quality, DSE can not be beat, GW is second, with Speedtech third.

Tyler

[Dads502]

Thanks Tyler. Do you have a 69 Camaro, and if so which ones are you running on your car?

[Teetoe_Jones]

I have a 68 Camaro, and I'm running none of them.
Most of the cars that come out of my shop have either Global West or DSE arms on them.
Tyler

[68RS350]

I have the heidts tubular A-Arms and they have more caster built into them. I talked to the guys there quite a bit. They are good guys helped me out alot and the arms look great.

[Teetoe_Jones]

I have the heidts tubular A-Arms and they have more caster built into them. I talked to the guys there quite a bit. They are good guys helped me out alot and the arms look great.


They do? How much exactly?

Tyler

[68RS350]

They claimed it had 3 degrees of added caster. The guys at the alignment shop didnt believe me and I had to call them to verify. But its about 3 degrees.

[x-tream]

A 2" drop spindle causes lots of tie rod to rim clearance issues, especially if you go over 6.5" wide rims.

How do you sugest lowering the car 2 or even more then 2 inches with wider wheels??

[Derek69SS]

How do you sugest lowering the car 2 or even more then 2 inches with wider wheels??Spring Drop.

[Teetoe_Jones]

How do you sugest lowering the car 2 or even more then 2 inches with wider wheels??

The pin drop on the Fatman and Heidt's spindle is the issue here, which leads to the inability to run a wide tire. Lowering a car with drop spindles as severe as these will cause outer tie rod/steering arm to rim issues. A factory or AFX spindle does not suffer from this.

Think about how low the attachment point on the steering arm for an outer tie rod is in relation to a factory spindle and pin height.

Now put that same pin 2" higher up on the spindle and that steering arm ends up well below the rim. Once you start getting wider than 6.5-7" you hit that attachment point. You can lower a car with springs and still go under 2" of drop and not have a wide tire issue. Take a look at CarlC's Camaro.

They claimed it had 3 degrees of added caster. The guys at the alignment shop didnt believe me and I had to call them to verify. But its about 3 degrees.

Are you sure the alignment guys didn't use shims to set it at 3 degrees? The Heidt's arms are still no where near the three brands I mentioned earlier. Most have around 4.5 degrees of caster built in, with GW coming in at the highest with 6 degrees.

Tyler

[68RS350]

No the guys tried to set it at the stock setting had an inch worth of shims on one side. i called heidts and they said taht they had 3 degrees built in. im sure those other brands are better im just answerin the question im happy with them and would do business with them again.

[x-tream]

If i was to use the AFX spindel and go with a coilover shock with an air spring from air ride technologies would that be the same as a spring drop??

[Marcus SC&C]

The Heidt spindles were a nice idea but they missed the mark. As mentioned they have too much drop,they`re a bit too tall and they didn`t do anything to improve the factory bumpsteer. I talked to Gary Heidt about this and he said according to their computer simulation the Camaro didn`t have any stock bumpsteer. Yeah... Translation,they never put a bumpsteer gauge on the car or even looked at the toe change when they put it up on a lift. Sigh.
They also claim you can run stock sized arms (like theirs),which you can,technically but you`ll be limited to crappy alignment specs. They were using stock specs on their cars last I spoke to them. Again..sigh.

The ATS spindles are an excellent choice if you also want big C5 brakes just bear in mind you`ll also need 17" wheels. You get lighter weight and huge C5 hub/bearings assys. in the deal too. We offer them as part of packages with our adj. tubular arms (which also don`t require any frame modifications).
Performance wise ALL of the fixed arms are exactly the same. The only difference is that some have more + caster built in. What the final alignment and performance ends up as is still up to the individual performing the alignment. Once set even our adj. tubular arms have no inherent performance gain,the difference is that they allow you to run a larger range of alignment specs with no compromises. Mark SC&C

[x-tream]

how would sugest i lower my car without drop spindels?? keep in mind i woukld like to make it as low as possible and plan to use air shocks for the adjustable ride hight and so i can drop it lower at car shows