Are our spindles supposed to be straight?

[Blue85]

I was reading somewhere that sometimes a slight bend or taper is built into spindles to give a little bit of camber. Is that true with our trucks? That means they could be clocked to change camber and caster slightly. In fact, I don't think that I've ever made it a point to put them on in any certain orientation. My camber (front) is slightly positive and I think that perhaps it is supposed to be. The drivers side a little more than the passengers side, which I've heard helps you track better on a crowned road. That may be fine for skinny stock tires, but I want to maximize the treadwear of my pricier tires by setting camber to 0. I have been planning on buying some shims to go between the knuckle and spindle, but wondered if anyone had any other ideas. BTW, ball joints are good and tight and wheel bearings are set correctly. I have considered an offset ball joint adjuster. Is there any advantage to them over shims, because clearly they are harder to install.

 

[HarryH3]

The spindles themselves should be straight. As you said, the tapered shims can be mounted between the spindle and knuckle to make adjustments to the camber. Keep in mind that these settings affect not only tire wear, but how the truck handles. Messing with the camber can affect how well the truck goes around corners. The combination of caster and camber create a compound angle when the wheels are turned. When everything is just right you can take curves at speed with the rear end just kicking out. (The too-much-fun Four Wheel Drift!) /forums/images/icons/cool.gif

Get it wrong and either the front end pushes (you have the wheels cranked, but the front tires just slide sideways as you careen into the ditch, or worse), /forums/images/icons/shocked.gif or it's too twitchy (you crank the front wheels just a little and the rear of the truck comes around in front of you). /forums/images/icons/shocked.gif GM didn't pick the suspension settings at random. They're the best compromise between handling and tire wear. So setting the camber to zero may help tire wear but have a negative effect on handling.

 

[Blue85]

Obviously it will have some effect on handling to change the camber. Of course, so did the lift springs, the longer shackles, the wider wheels and the bigger tires. A k5 isn't designed to handle good, so I'm just trying not to get it very far from it's own optimum (land barge)

 

[m j]

the bolt spacing on a 60 is one way fit only.
I believe the caber is built into the knuckle not the spindle