stude drop spindles?

[benny_64]

do they exist? i have looked around a bit, i am wanting to drop my lark about 2 inches, does anyone know where to find these or a easy way to drop the front a few inches?

slow64

[Danarchy]

In my quest for a LARK, I have run across a few Low Riding Larks.
I don't know how it was done??? Drop Spindles, Cut Springs, or Total Air Bag System??? They looked kinda Cool though!

Dallas,Texas

[JDP]

Never heard of any, might have to do it with just the springs.

64 R2 4 speed Challenger (Plain Wrapper)
63 R2 4 speed GT Hawk
55 Speedster
50 2R 10 truck

[PaulDriver]

You could check out http://www.fatmanfab.com

They have a nice MII clip kit that allows for drop spindles.

Their hub to hub kits also have disc brakes, with prices starting at about $500.00

[benny_64]

i am sure you could mess with the springs but wouldn't that set the camber way off? and putting in a new front clip is WAY too much work.

slow64

[Roscomacaw]

While it isn't something I would do, folks cut a coil or two off the springs all the time on Studes.[:0]

Miscreant at large.

[benny_64]

i have heard of plenty of people cutting springs but will that set the camber off? i don't want the front wheels rubbing all over from being angled in so bad.

slow64

[64Avanti]

I would not recommend cutting the springs to lower a Studebaker. This does in fact lower the car but it changes the suspension geometry. If you look at a Studebaker with new springs you will notice that the lower control arm angles down (from the inside to the outside). If you look at one with sagging springs the front end has dropped and the lower control arm is fequently close to horizontal. The difference in geometry is that the car with the new springs will have a greater change in camber than the one that lowered either intentionaly or by age. The decreased camber change will have a detrimental impact on handling. I hope that is clear, I may need to draw a picture of this.

Anyway one of the interesting things about the real R3 cars is that the suspension was modified. Most people think that the change was to use the metalic inner bushings on the upper A-arm. In face that was the case but the most significant change was to lower the inner pivot point which increased the camber change while cornering. This actually improved the handling. If you look at a real factory R3 you should see this change. In fact I have only seen it on two cars (except for a couple I modified).

Anyway what is the point of all of this? I have designed a modification that lowers the from between 1 and 2 inches (you need to specify) and changes the geometry to improve the handling. The other benefit is that you don't loose all of your suspension travel.

I will have this relatively inexpensive and easy to make modification available later this year. You will need to be patient since all of my spare time is going into the Bonnevill car.

David L

[Kdancy]

When I picked up a Hawk from Bob Hughes in Canton Ohio a couple of years ago, he had a set of modified dropped spindles that he had made up. They looked really nice. Maybe you can contact him and see what the status is for the spindles. I don't have an e-mail address.

53commander HDTP
53 Champion HDTP
64 Champ long bed V8
64 GT

[Mike Van Veghten]

64Avanti,

Your take on camber is interesting...to say the least.
If what you say is true.....how come, from the factory hot rods to all out race cars (even drag racers!) do their "BEST" to ELIMINATE, both caster and camber changes as the car goes through it motions while traveling down the road?

The more expensive the street car and in most forms of racing the more time (money) is spent to figure out a way to package everything properly to rid themselves if this thing that angles the tire with respect to the road while cornering. Going straight...no harm to "driveablity" at all, (except to wear the tire a little funny).

[benny_64]

the back of my lark is sitting about 2.5-3" higher then the front so i am going to just settle for lowering the back. i would really rather not cut the springs.now if 64avanti comes up with this mod soon, i would definatly be intrested in that. how much would you be asking?

slow64

[64Avanti]

I don't have too much time to explain in detail but there are a couple of issues.

1. You would like the tires to be as flat on the ground or a little bit negative camber while cornering.

2. You don't wan't the tires moving in and out (scrubbing) just goin down the road over bumps. Even worse you don't want the toe angle changing as you go over bumps since that not only scrubs the tires but introduces bump stear into the system.

If you have no camber change while cornering then the outside tire leans out at the same angle as the amount of body roll (lean). This introduces positive camber which is not what you want for good traction.

One of the reasons that stiffer springs or sway bars on the front end of a car improve the handling is that the body roll is reduced and the therefore the amount of positive camber due to this roll is reduced.

Yes race car designers go to great effort to make sure than all unwanted tire movement that produces scrub, unintentional stearing, and undesirable camber angles while cornering. Frequently this means you will have more camber change than the typical auto built in the 50's - 80's in order to keep the tires flat or slightly negative while cornering.

When I was working in Belgium I helped an Alfa team that was involved in the sedan endurance racing serries. And although this design had quite a bit a camber change built into we ended up incrasing it to improve the handling. This is not uncommon.

The ideal suspension whould keep the tires at a fixed camber while running straight down the road and the tires at a slight negative camber while cornering. This however is not possible.

David L