Need help selecting spindles 84 C10

[D13]

Plan is to upgrade the suspension for a summer driver, probably close to 20 000 miles a year. Intent is moderate drop, axle flip in rear, rebuild front with lower arm caster mod, HD Moog coils trimmed either 1/2 coil (if under the 6.2 diesel) or 1 coil (if under the inline 250). I run close to stock tire sizes, fond of Rally rims, not into 20's or low aspect tires (rocks and potholes are harsh on that type of stuff). I drive 5 miles dirt, 10 miles city, 25 miles highway, and 30 miles paved county roads of decent quality every day. Potholes in dirt and city make big drops impractical, and I'm not interested in air ride. Given all that:

I'd like to use a 2.5" drop spindle, and just bolt on my existing hardware and go. Where I get confused is the selection and quality reports. All of these are in the $240-$280 range except as noted
I've heard a lot of iffy reports on DJM so took them off the list. .
Ground Force 6001's - about $70 more than others, no particular reason given
Classic performance CP4S4
Classic performance CP30106-4 appear to have less drop but claim to have greater fender clearance, are modular, and have adjustable steering stops
Summit SUM-G703 - Chrome moly spindles
Western Chassis 13200 - appears to be an older design
ECE #911-7387HD

Any guidence, any of thise have improved geometry, or anything else I should be aware of?

[lolife99]

Whatever spindle "brand" you choose,... just make sure you get them for the correct WIDTH rotor.
There are two different spindles for the 73-87 trucks.
1" rotor width.
1.25" rotor width.

I always use Belltech for 73-87 trucks.
Western Chassis, McGaughy's, and ECE are also good.

[D13]

All of these are for the thick rotors.
I looked at the Belltech ones but their all for 3" drop which is a little more than I want.

[chevyrestoguy]

I primarily use Belltech spindles, but have used Western Chassis in the past. Both are excellent products. McGaughy and ECE also make a quality spindle.

I have never ran CPP, Summit or DJM spindles, so I have no input on those. Just remember that a lot of the inexpensive spindles are made outside of the U.S. (China, Mexico, etc), and there's no guarantee of quality control.

[Pro Performance]

Also, with the CPP modular spindle (CP30106-4), they don't come with caliper mounting brackets, and will need to be purchased separately if using your factory brake setup. Those caliper brackets are about $75 extra.

[D13]

Ah, not interested in race brakes, so that takes them off the table. So far Western is looking good. Seems i have seen issues with McGaughy rubbing on wheel weights - like to avoid that.

Like I sid, a lot of conflicting / confusing / unclear info.

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by D13

Ah, not interested in race brakes, so that takes them off the table. So far Western is looking good. Seems i have seen issues with McGaughy rubbing on wheel weights - like to avoid that.

Like I sid, a lot of conflicting / confusing / unclear info.

Wheel choice has alot to do with rubbing issues.
Any 15" wheel will more than 3.5" of BS will be close to the lower a-arm.
This is true for 3" OR 2.5" drop spindles.
This is a fact since the late 1980's.

Tie rods are close to the 15" wheels also.
But most companies cast the tie rod arm inward to prevent interference.
The CPP Modualr spindles (that require the $75 dollar bracket) are an "advertised" 2" drop.
CPP also make an old school spindle with the caliper mount cast into them.

Don't expect any of the spindles to be a direct bolt on.
All require you to tweak your caliper brake hose to clear the upper balljoint.

I installed my first set of drop spindles (Belltech C10),... in 1986.
Not much has changed since then,...
and I'm 100% sure it's all been discussed on this forum.

[ksbrktracer]

As Lo-Life was saying the rubbing issue usually arises from to much backspace or to small of a diameter wheel. We havent had any problems with the Mcgaughys spindles when used with a properly sized wheel , same as the bell tech. I have bell techs on 2 of my personal trucks and a set of Mcgaughys on another one as well as Mcgaughys on my 57 Belair. I just put a set of the standard drop spindles from CPP on a 70 and it looks like they will be fine as well.

[D13]

lolife99, you are 100% correct, it's been discussed and probably beat to death on here. I bet I've looked at 50 threads about dropped spindles. Unfortunately, 49 of them are about problem installations, and the other just said 'installed dropped spindles'. I was looking for better inputs from ones that went well. While I've been messing with vehicles a long time, this will be my first attempt at suspension modification, and I wanted fo have some comfort that this was within my capabilities. My wife has limited my budget and my kids have limited my time, so it needs to go right the first time.

I tried to be very specific as I know how hard it is to evaluate something without ever seeing it ( I used to be in a call in tech support center). As a result, I now know that I need to be careful with my wheel selection (since I plan on 15's, I need to do some measuring), can expect to mildy trim the lower arm, need to plan to rework the brake hose, don't want the modular units, and have a couple of different vendors that others have used with no issues.

Based on the feedback I'll have to look at Belltech again. The only reason i didn't go with them at the start was the 3" drop... but mebbe if I don't trim the springs they would be OK.

Thank guys! The list now is much shorter, and I suspect I can make a good decision.

[Clyde65]

I have CPP 2.5" drop spindles ( with 1.5" springs) and I run 15' Ralley wheels. I used to run 15*8 up front but had the rubbing issue so I found some 15*6.5's and use them, no issues with rubbing now. BTW, I had 235*70*15's up front and had to change to 225*70*15's because it would bottom on dips and rub the inner fender. Good luck!

[1977cheyenne_C10]

Sorry to steal you thread but i have a question about drop spindles will any drop spindle have problems with 15x8 truck rallies?

[ksbrktracer]

Originally Posted by 1977cheyenne_C10

Sorry to steal you thread but i have a question about drop spindles will any drop spindle have problems with 15x8 truck rallies?

Good chance you will ...... do to backspacing on that wheel, wheel weights will rub on most spindles and eventually knock them off. That size Wheel also is prone to hitting lower controlarm as well. Go to a narrower size rally and it helps stop those problems.