Pretty self explanitory, A step by step on how to swap spindles and flip the balljoints for a approx 3 in drop.

A little disclamer tho. My picture sequences are of me taking the drop spindles off and bringing it back to ride height. But they will be in proper order.


First of all this is what kind of drop your looking at. (My sway a way bars are cranked ALL the way up for this whole deal, unchanged.) I could have dropped it 3-4 inches more by loosening them..

Before....


After....


First jack up the truck (use stands) and take the wheels off. Then unbolt your brake caliper....


Remove the dustcap, safety pin, lockring, nut and outer bearing and then take off the rotor/hub....


Remove the tie rod pin and nut and hit here HARD with a hammer. This is how you break balljoints loose without damaging them...


Couple whallops...


Ok, then loosen the upper balljoint nut (dont take it off), and take off the lower nut....

 

Hit them in the same sorta spot you hit the tie rod one. Do the lower first!...


Then the spindle is off. Here is the difference between the drop and factory spindle...


Time to do a BJ flip. Factory should look something like this...


Unbolt it...


Reattach here...


Put the new spindle in. Attach the bottom, and use a floor jack to lift the LCA up to start the upper balljoint nut...


Tighten them up and safety pin...


Grease the spindle...


Install the rotor/hub, outer bearing, washer and nut then tighten to spec. (I tighten to a feel) there is a measurment....


Safetey lock and pin...


Put some grease in the cap and bump it on...

 

Reattach the brake caliper. (dont mind my Lexxus hardware )...


And here...


Reinstall tie rod end, nut and pin...


All done. No sweat and then do the other side...



Remeber the alighnment!!!!! Toe change (and slight camber) will eat your tires pronto! But this install makes lowering static much more streetable, because the torsion bars have a good preload on them.






Any questions??

 

the only thing wrong i see is 1 safty issue. you dont have anything underneath the lower arm, so your shock is the only thing holding your torsion bar tension. if the shock fails it explodes and the arm swings down very violently. ive had other people have shocks go pop on them in the shop before, its pretty nasty. you should have a jack stand or some wood under the arm supporting it.

edit, the sway bar is there too, but the ones that went pop before ive seen still had the sway bar on too. other then that great write up, hopefully this will kill all the BJ flip threads.

 

good write up. Are those my drop spindles?

 

Yep, gettn ups'd out tomorrow.

 

I think you loosen the torsions completely before getting to the spindles. That way they dont slam down from the preload

 

I was wondering if you (or anyone) happened to know the make of those drop spindles? I have a set that I picked up in brand new condition that had been sitting in someones garage for years that I got no information about. Yours is the first time I've seen another one exactly like it. Thanks!

 

Chassistech.

I bought them at air-bag-it.com a year or two ago.

Belltechs makes spindles too.

 

Yeah, mine aren't the Belltech ones. Mine are exactly like the ones pictured, I could see the markings in the castings (nice pics, btw!). Somehow I missed your reply until now but I was still curious about who made my mystery spindles. Thanks for the helpful info!

 

after the drop on the spindles could you still loosen the torsions for more low or is it maxed out?

 

In the pics, the torsions are cranked ALL the way up tight. I could loosen them and almost put the crossmember on the pavement.

 

drop spindles for me it is then lol

 

great how-to thank you

 

Hey man great job very self explanatory great pics. Was planning on carrying my truck to a friend to have this drop done but I guess I don’t have to anymore. Going to save me some bucks will invest it in something else on my truck. Thanks man.

 

Cool! I haven't worked on my truck in forever, but glad to help.

 

what about the upper bracket for the tie rods?

 

So, what does the balljoint flip do ? I can see that it repositions it on top of the lower control arm, but what does that do ?
Brad

 

It moves the spindle, and therefore the wheel, upwards in relative space away from the lower suspension, thereby making the vehicle sit lower

 

I get it, I wasn't looking at it the right way.
Thanks, Brad