This is a portion of “Altitude Adjustment” featured in Classic Trucks Magazine Aug, 2012, tells you everything you need to know about the history of the drop spindle, first developed by Western Chassis. The article also feature a Q & A with Western Chassis. The whole article is available at CustomClassicTrucks.com
The custom classic truck movement has been around a long time and over the years a variety of trends have emerged. One of the most popular has been a lowered stance and it really took root in Central California with Fresno as the epicenter. By the mid ’70s, it seemed everyone in the Central Valley had a lowered Chevy truck, and many of them were closer to the ground thanks to old-time tricks like hacking a coil or two off the front springs or heating them with a torch. While it made for a cool-looking truck, the ride and handling suffered.
In 1981, Western Chassis was formed to address problems associated with lowering Tri-Five Chevys. They produced the first reproduction drop spindle for those cars and it didn’t take long for them to figure out the truck guys would want them, too. Western soon introduced a drop spindle for the C10 Chevy pickup and the rest, as they say, is history. Almost overnight, dropped Chevy pickups were everywhere. In fact, a few enterprising dealerships were selling new trucks equipped with drop spindles and lowered rear suspensions.
Western Chassis
Its development of the drop spindle made it possible to lower a truck and still retain the factory ride and handling qualities. Today Western Chassis continues to supply suspension components through a large dealership network. Over the years, the staff at Western has heard it all. Here is a list of frequently asked questions they compiled for us.
Q. Why is a drop spindle a better choice than using a drop spring?
A. By using a drop spindle you will be maintaining a factory ride quality. Lowering springs are usually rated higher than stock springs depending on the amount of drop, taking away from the factory ride. We try to have our spring design as close to a factory ride as possible.
Q. Are drop spindles as strong as OEM spindles?
A. There are many aftermarket drop spindles and most of them are made as strong as factory spindles. We designed our spindles to meet or exceed factory strength.
Q. Can I use my stock brakes when I change to a drop spindle?
A. Many if not all aftermarket manufactures design their spindles to accept all factory brake components. Western Chassis does have a design that will convert some drum brake applications to disc brakes.
Q. Will I have to use a different wheel size with a drop spindle?
A. Depending on the application, some drop spindles do require that you use a larger wheel than factory. Western Chassis does have some applications that require larger wheels. This is due to the position of the bearing pin or bearing on the spindle that
could interfere with wheel clearance.
Q. Do I have to modify my frame or chassis if I install a drop spindle?
A. The majority of drop spindles on the market may require some slight modifications to the lower control arm. This is due to the offset of the wheel that the consumer may be running. Trimming will allow clearance for the wheel to roll freely when making any right or left-hand.
Western Chassis always suggests that the consumer lower the vehicle first before purchasing or ordering wheels for their truck. Wheels can be very expensive and we would not want anyone to run into a problem after the fact. Offsets and backspacing are important to consider when purchasing wheels. In some cases you may not need to trim the control arms depending on the size of wheel. For instance, a 15-inch wheel will have less clearance than a 20-inch wheel due to the larger diameter of the wheel. CCT