[Tigers] [Alpines] Drop Spindles

[Thomas Witt]

>>>I am waiting for someone to explain the term in layman's terms.<<<

Since I teach for a living I'll give it a try:

1. The purpose of the drop spindle is to lower the front end of the car.

2. To see for yourself how this works, remove one of your front wheels,
calipers and rotors.  You will see a tapered stub axle that is sticking out
horizontally on the spindle.

3. A "dropped" spindle has the stub axle mounted higher on the spindle.  It
is like when you put a hook on a picture to hang on the wall. Relative to
the nail on the wall remaining in the same spot, the higher you put the hook
on the picture, the lower the picture will hang. In the same way the higher
the stub axle is mounted on the spindle, the lower the car will sit.
  As someone already indicated "dropped" is an interesting term.  It is
derived from the fact that the car itself effectively "drops" closer to the
ground because the stub axle is moved higher on the spindle.  That fact can
create confusion in understanding what a dropped spindle is.

4. Commonly people cut, soften or have shorter springs created to lower the
car.  This causes the suspension (A-arms, steering rack arm attachment
points) to function in a less than ideal position.

5. Drop spindles leave the suspension in its original location, but still
lower the car.

6. The advantage of a dropped spindle is a lowered car without the
disadvantage of altered suspension geometry.

I can't explain it any simpler than that.
Tom