Rocket spindle to raise RF

[RacerX10]

I've just heard there is a spindle available to ameliorate the issue of dragging the cross member on a blue front / wide rocket.

Anybody know anything about this part ?

[billetbirdcage]

I've just heard there is a spindle available to ameliorate the issue of dragging the cross member on a blue front / wide rocket.

Anybody know anything about this part ?

The snout is lowered on the spindle to increase the overall ride height of front end of the car, IIRC it is lowered a 1/2" on the spindle. Ask for the "drop spindles", as that is what most refer to them as.


I'm not a big rocket guy but believe that to be correct someone else can't verify to tell you I'm wrong but pretty sure I'm correct

[talclipse]

Billet is spot on. They help the cars with the old style cross member with dragging the cross member. The new style cross member cars shouldn't 'need' them.

[clintenyeart]

I have a set for sale . $250 plus shipping 814 599 5431

[RacerX10]

Seems like making that change would do a *lot* to the front end geometry .. anybody actually running those spindles ?

[phenom08]

They help but not enough. Put that money to changing the cross member

[RacerX10]

They help but not enough. Put that money to changing the cross member

What should I expect to pay to change the crossmember ? I got what I thought was a pretty high quote this morning to do it.

[phenom08]

$700-1000 last year rocket was charging $995

[RacerX10]

I guess the quote I got wasn't that high then ... Was quoted $1,000 - $1,500

I was expecting 300-500 :( ... seems like I saw post here in another thread and 300 is what they had paid.

[Jim11h]

How can just changing cross member cost a grand? They putting car on jig too? I'd think you could order one and cut and weld one on yourself. Somebody in area I'm sure has their own rocket jig

[RacerX10]

How can just changing cross member cost a grand? They putting car on jig too? I'd think you could order one and cut and weld one on yourself. Somebody in area I'm sure has their own rocket jig

I dunno. Guy that quoted it (prefer not to name names) does great work, but is never cheap. He does have a rocket jig.

I'm going the drop spindle route instead. Probably suit my needs just fine and I can do the change myself. I'm too far away from Rocket Central to justify dragging the car all the way there.

BTW, the guys @ Rocket were also surprised how high the quote was that I got locally. He suggested that the spindle thing might be a suitable solution.

[phenom08]

Dealer that did mine did put it on the jig.

[RacerX10]

When I talked to Rocket about it this morning, he said sometimes they do it in a jig, and sometimes the do it on a forklift.

That's what he actually said :)

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

When I talked to Rocket about it this morning, he said sometimes they do it in a jig, and sometimes the do it on a forklift.

That's what he actually said :)

Nice! I wonder how they locate the rack plate?

[25drtrkr]

When I talked to Rocket about it this morning, he said sometimes they do it in a jig, and sometimes the do it on a forklift.

That's what he actually said :)

Surely, they are replacing the whole clip for that price! Are they not?

[RacerX10]

Nice! I wonder how they locate the rack plate?

If you look at the new setup, I believe it would kind of locate itself, assuming the car is straight and they sent it partially welded. They send the parts out to do it to whoever wants them for around $300.00

That's the way I understood it, but I could be mistaken.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

If you look at the new setup, I believe it would kind of locate itself, assuming the car is straight and they sent it partially welded. They send the parts out to do it to whoever wants them for around $300.00

That's the way I understood it, but I could be mistaken.
I can't quite picture the Rocket deal. To do a Rayburn, it is easiest to just cut off what is lower than the control arm mounts and go straight across with tubing. Then put rack plate back.

[TLCT1]

I paid just shy of $700 for the raised cross member, and I thought it was worth every penny, personally that's the route I'd recommend, I believe it will give you more clearance than the 1/2" drop spindle.

[RacerX10]

I paid just shy of $700 for the raised cross member, and I thought it was worth every penny, personally that's the route I'd recommend, I believe it will give you more clearance than the 1/2" drop spindle.

For $700.00, that's what I'd do.

I've been quoted $1,500.00 for the job, so I'm not going to do it that way. I'll try the $250.00 spindle fix first.

Raising the cross member gives you an additional 1" of clearance. Doing it with spindles gets you 1/2" more clearance.

[phenom08]

Spindles are gonna be closer to $400 you have to change both sides can't mix them

[talclipse]

You can save yourself a good bit of money if you have everything cut out and ground down clean when you take the chassis up to them. The actual work of replacing the cross member isn't difficult, but going through and getting the old cross member out as well as the old strut tube cross member out takes some time.

Another factor you have to keep in mind is that they are WFO with production on this new car (meaning jig time is at a premium). I believe we saved a couple hundred bucks by cutting everything out so that when we took the car up they just had to put it on the jig and weld it up.

[RacerX10]

Spindles are gonna be closer to $400 you have to change both sides can't mix them

Got some 8 races old for $250.00 delivered, so from where I am it's $250.00 vs $1,500.00 .. almost a no-brainer, esp. given that I'm about as casual a racer as they come :)

[JustAddDirt]

Got some 8 races old for $250.00 delivered, so from where I am it's $250.00 vs $1,500.00 .. almost a no-brainer, esp. given that I'm about as casual a racer as they come :)

I don't want to offend, but if you do not get the same result, then you have wasted that $250.00 + and you are putting used stuff on your car, albeit only a couple races old.

I believe you will probably find that, the spindle change will reer another problem, like the increased ride height on the front of the car will not allow the car to get on the RF as easy as before. and the car will more than likely not steer as well.

If the spindles worked so good, then why did Rocket raise the cross member, instead of pumping out a bunch of ride height raising spindles for the fix.

just my observation.

[3wheelinphotos]

We are around $500 to put your car in the jig an put flat crossmember in any car 2007 or newer that don't have it...it's never done in the floor or on a fork lift always on the jig.

Mike Nuchols @Warrior Race Cars

[RacerX10]

I don't want to offend, but if you do not get the same result

No offense taken, but I had to stop you right there.

What if I do get the same result ? Reputable people here have said that raising the front end 1/2" isn't going to make any handling difference based on experience they have. Your argument goes both ways ... if simply bolting on a new set of spindles doesn't do any good, why does rocket even make them ?

In a conversation with Rocket's tech support people, they indicated that it's entirely possible that I may never even have an issue with the cross member dragging the ground. He said it depends entirely on the sort of track you run at.

Thanks for your comments either way :)

[phenom08]

Where are you gonna be racing at? I can tell you after we went to the drop spindles it fixed the cross member hitting on flatter tracks, but still buried if we ran anywhere heavy or high banked.

[RacerX10]

Where are you gonna be racing at? I can tell you after we went to the drop spindles it fixed the cross member hitting on flatter tracks, but still buried if we ran anywhere heavy or high banked.

Thanks for that info. I'll be running mostly withing 4-5 hours of central Arkansas. There aren't any tracks I would consider high-banked in this area.

[RacerX10]

Where are you gonna be racing at? I can tell you after we went to the drop spindles it fixed the cross member hitting on flatter tracks, but still buried if we ran anywhere heavy or high banked.

Thought of another question .. how soft were you running on the RF when it was dragging with the drop spindles on ?

[phenom08]

325-350 with a 1/2' bump stop to try and help it from bottoming out

[DK1]

Rocket quoted me $800 for crossmember and $1200 for rear clip. That was 2 weeks ago.

[RacerX10]

Rocket quoted me $800 for crossmember and $1200 for rear clip. That was 2 weeks ago.

I'd probably do that if Rocket Chassis Inc wasn't a 2,000 mile round trip for me :)

[RacerX10]

325-350 with a 1/2' bump stop to try and help it from bottoming out

good to know .. thanks !

[rakracing]

we had guys bottoming out, they started running 29" rr tires on the front instead of drop spindles. had to raise the rear frame heights also, the rocket I was running still bottomed out even with the cross member ,with soft spring on the rf something is gonna hit, blew out three berlin rf shocks also, believe you should keep enough rf spring to stop it and soften or stiffen lf to tighten or loosen.

[RacerX10]

325-350 with a 1/2' bump stop to try and help it from bottoming out

Seems like the bump stops that most guys are running are 2+ inches tall .. was your bump stop there only to keep it from bottoming ?

[phenom08]

Yea that's all it was for

[RacerX10]

Yea that's all it was for

Ah ok .. thanks for your reply !

[DEKconsulting]

Raising ur front end even .5 inch takes steering ability away bad