welded drop spindles & tolerances - houston I have a pro

[baron]

I bought a set of drop spindles from the us to lower my van, but i think they are made too badly to do the job, but I'm no expert, so can i have some views please?

so there is like an original bit, which attaches to the beam and then a bit welded on with the spindle sticking out

one of the welded on bits is flush to the original bit, but the other welded on bit is raised 2-3mm at the bottom, but flush at the top

I dont reckon this can be any good, as:
1 - surely the spindle needs to be horizontal, so a 3mm raise at the botton of the welded bit is gonna translate to the end of the spindle being 6-10mm higher, and thus not horizontal - great for that tucked in look huh?! surely this can't be good?

2 - if it's raised up, won't that mean there is a gap underneath hiddenby the weld weakening a fairly crucial load bearing part?!

I don't really see how there could be this 2-3mm gap, as surely to do the weld the 2 flat pieces of metal would have been clamped together, wouldn't they?

I'm pretty resigned to the fact that the spindles won't do the job, but maybe someone can tell me otherwise?

it'll be loads of hassle sending them back to the US, but I'm not fitting substandard parts to the van

 

[pete nice]

Post some pics up so we can see the problem.

 

[slammedkustom]

pics would help. it may be that the spindles are "off set" to counteract any built in camber/castor?

 

[baron]

this was the response from the manufacturer, which reassures me

I was guessing they must have some template/tolerances etc

"Th e spindl e s ar e tru e , you can’t m e asur e against th e flat bill e t b e caus e it floats all th e oth e r parts ar e jigg e d and ar e within a r e asonabl e tol e ranc e , w e hav e built and us e d v e ry many of that sam e spindl e put it on and you will s e e that th e y work gr e at."

so I guess it's a case of suck it and see....

 

[slammedkustom]

"The spindles are true, you can’t measure against the flat billet because it floats all the other parts are jigged and are within a reasonable tolerance , we have built and used very many of that same spindle put it on and you will see that they work great."

thats better, im not sure what they mean by flat billet? i know they weld reinforcements into the spindle, they wouldnt be so critical... but "floats"?

 

[andewilson]

sucking it and seeing could also translate as nose diving into the floor and snow ploughing a pile of tarmac off the road. be carefull mate i know they cost a mint but you'll end up killng your van at best and yourself at worst.
bang them on ebay and put it down to experience

 

[Justin & Muttley]

...bang them on ebay and put it down to experience...

You mean pass them on to some unsuspecting buyer - nice! :evil:

If there's some sort of safety concern over them then send them back and get a refund - personally, I wouldn't feel happy to sell them on if i wasn't sure they were 100% safe.



Edited for the sake of forum harmony!

 

[slammedkustom]

i wouldnt pass them on if your unsure, stick some pics up.
they sell shed loads so unless you have a duff set i wouldnt panic yet.

 

[baron]

i wouldnt pass them on if your unsure, stick some pics up.
they sell shed loads so unless you have a duff set i wouldnt panic yet.

who's this 'they'?! I deliberately didn't mention, but no doubt you can guess :wink:

and nah, not selling, I'm sure they will be fine, just got a bit worried at first, but it's not like they are just going to knock out dodgy goods for the sake of it, and as you say they sell shedloads

it's cool

 

[slammedkustom]

im guessing wagonwest,there isnt many people making welded dropped spindles
i have a very good memory and we discussed this a while back, you decided to import as it was cheaper (before the import tax fiasco)

so am i right?

 

[Scott-Westy]

just stuck wagenswest DS's on mine, was v impressed with them and quality etc..