Freeing Spindles and now Raising Spindles - How Muc?

[Stophos]

I decided that raising your own spindles was a straight forward enough project. I spent about two hours trying to grind out the welds on my Bilsteins today without going through the strutt housing. A Dremel is a nice tool for this although I'm sure there is a better home method. It seems no matter how much I ground I could not free the spindle. I finally followed another Pelicans advice and simply cut out a 3/4 inch area around the weld. The big problem that you cannot see is that the pieces are rusted together. Cutting alone did not free the spindle but a bit of WD-40 and a 6" x 2" diameter pipe, 911 jack plate and a sledge hammer solved this problem.
Now the question part. I've searched and read but do not seem to find any agreement on how much to raise the spindles. It seems to vary from 17 mm to whatever.
I currently have 17" wheels. This car will mostly be for the track but I would like to keep it streetable. Assuming I will never go smaller than 16" wheels how much should I raise the spindles?

Thanks - Chris

[Zeke]

There is a thread that contains all the information you need with respect to brakes and wheels and spindle heights. I'll bet Bill verburg was on that thread if you want to search the subject and his name.

The max with 15's is 19mm using Fuchs, so if you're never going to use less than 16's, add a half inch. IIRC, that comes close to 1 1/4" for the 16's.

Here's some reading for you:
Raised Spindles VS. Big Reds = collision?
raising spindle height on struts
Raised spindles with 15 inch wheels?

[rlh930]

Don't forget that someday you may get a flat and need to mount the safety spare. Mine are raised about an inch, and the spare fits, barely, but raise the spindles any higher than that and you may be hiking back to town after taking a nail.

[Stophos]

Milt and Roger, thanks for the links and insight. Baring any unforseen additional enlightenment I will probably go the 1.25" route. As for the spare I may have to take my chances. Maybe grind a bit or carry a spacer for the occasion. I will post the results.

Chris

[randywebb]

Dremel is a nice tool for this

I often find them too fast and too small with too little torque. You can move up to a die grinder, various attachments that look like dental drills that can go on drills, etc. And the next step up would be a Roto-Zip or Roto-tool (right name?) or a thing that looks like it -- based on laminate cutters and look like small routers.

Also, be careful not to heat the metal up too much ...

[Randy Blaylock]

Don't forget that raising the spindle also moves it in relative to the control arm.

If you have large rotors, you may end up with an interference problem betweeen the rotors and the outside edge of the control arm in the ball joint area.

Depending upon how much you reduce the clearance, you may need a spacer under the inner hub seal collar, but there is limited distance you can space out the hub assembly before the caliper is no longer centered on the rotor, depending upon your caliper mounting provisions.

Lots of packaging question marks that need to be checked before final welding. Might be worth mocking everything up a few times to ensure no unforseen issues.