*Check your spindle gussets for cracks with B/S talk

why would people pick the non sway over the sway version? the sway version looks beefier.

 

I already have the non sway welded on but not installed yet

 

That's what I was planning.. With only a grinder they would be a pain to cut off lol

 

Leave them if you have them. If you 'work' them in the elastic region of the strength of the combination - Great. If not (meaning the metal is bending into a plastic deformation - bending past the point it will comeback - think a leaf spring - leaf springs are designed to stay in the elastic region - hammers, not so much ) and you find that over the years you end up losing your alignment, and it turns out that the spindle is bent (lay the spindle down on a flat surface with the hub out, outboard down, and measure the distance from the hub mating surface to the center of the hole and compare that with a known straight one), then you may want to switch it out to the other ones. It is much less about the steering tab bending and more about the spindle itself bending (in the up and down axis). Without going into a physics class, it is about having a rigid member from the face of the hub mating surface to the top part of the spindle. The two 90 degree bends combined with the outer most flat portion is what gives the combination it's strength.

 

I think my current non gusseted spindle is bent..one side I have 3.5 degrees castor and the other side was pretty much negative with the lower cams in "max" castor position. If I put the lower cams is "least" castor position I gained a total of 1.5 degrees castor

 

Before you replace them, you may want to get a known one (you could buy one from a dealer to get a good baseline for the measurements and return it). They may wack you with a restock but at least you would know what baseline is +/- the factory tolerance. Otherwise, your coil buckets could have been bent inward at the top - and the sad news is that the stronger the gusset, the more likely you will bend the bucket next. Engine cage is one solution or get a UCA that allows you to adjust the UCA out so that you can get the alignment you want. You will change some of the suspension dynamics a bit but nothing that you will ever notice.

 

I have a spare spindle with a tc gusset that I plan to replace it with. If it was the coil bucket wouldn't I have neg camber?? The camber was fine

 

So, Paul - do you feel the spindle is the "best" thing to bend to save other components from damage?

 

Would rather bend a spindle than a coilover tower!

 

I thought it would be good enough for the type of things I was doing with my truck. Also did not understand how much flex the spindle goes through while offroad and what happens when that flex isn't adequately braced. Learning shit the hard way is expensive.

 

Maybe I haven't searched hard enough, but wouldn't a stock length fabbed spindle solve all these problems with gusseting and re gusseting? It just seems like a waste of time and money.

 

If you know of a 4x4 compatible aftermarket stock sized spindle a lot of people would be interested.

 

That's why I asked, I dont know lol Has anyone contacted TC or say, DirtKing to see if they are working on something like that. I know DK does stock length UCA's and LCA's, so I bet they would be willing to at least take a look at fabbing a spindle or two for testing...

 

I've got The Truck Shop gussets on mine. Not sure what my opinion on the matter is worth since I am one of 2 people that have broken a spindle, but I'm not 100% impressed with it. I'd be happier if the boxing was 3/16" instead of an 1/8" and if the welds were a bit prettier since I was paying someone else to weld it. I have no doubt its stronger than stock, just I was expecting a little bit more paying someone else to do the job. Once again, not sure what my opinion on the matter is worth since my choices/actions broke mine out no-where-land in Death valley, but there it is.

 

I think its been brought up before with fab companies but there may not be enough of a market for them. Catastrophic bending of the spindles seems to be rare and I would guess anything they would come up with would be cost prohibitive for most.

 

Yey but if you guys had to make a thread called "check your spindle gussets for cracks" then something ain't right in the first place. If companies aren't willing to fab because they don't think there is enough people willing to purchase, than TC needs to redesign the gussets to even stress out on the entire spindle rather than at the point you all are seeing cracks, I mean you all bought the gussets to help prevent spindles from snapping, so why aren't they working as intended. I understand there are freak accidents where even gusseted spindles snap, I've seen it too. You know what, I might as well just get a spare spindle for my own testing and see if I can do better. Not trying to call out TC by any means, it just doesn't make sense.

 

Fuuuuuuu just realized thanks to @anthony250f that my spindle is cracked. I have identical crack to the OP with non sway bar version