Belltech 3121 Spindle Help/Question/Rant

[N9nefingers]

This may be long sorry in advance...I've lurked for awhile, asked some questions, gave some help, but for the most part have been just reading on here, trying to learn. I've been building a 70 C10...build thread coming but short history...long to short bed, airbags, painting, etc.

Problem I'm having at the moment is with Belltech drop spindles #3121. They don't work. The 1970 balljoints and tie rods will not fit. I've bought brand new Proforged balljoints and tie rods. It's a so far 5 month long adventure dealing with Belltech, lots of phone call and emails. At one point they admitted to having quality control issues and that every single set of 3121 spindles they had in inventory was not only out of spec but not even within spec of each other. In other words, they do not work as advertised for 63-70 C10's. They said we will fix it, wait a few months and we'll send you another brand new, QA'ed, redesigned spindle for your truck. I waited, the spindle was sent...it doesn't fit. It actually has the same size tapers as they set before that. Measured with a digital caliper.

That's my rant...question is what do I do now? I have seen a lot here vouch for and use Belltech...did you run into these problems? How did you solve them? Or should I just throw the spindles away and go somewhere else?

[HO455]

Not to be unfeeling to your frustration, but you have posted this in the lonely Suburban section. You would get more responses if you have a moderator move your thread to the truck or the suspension section.
I had good luck with Bell Tech spindles years ago on my S10 Blazer. Still working after 105k miles. Wheres the wood to knock on?

[lolife99]

I’m subscribing to this thread.
I have a set of belltech 3121
spindles waiting to go on a ‘70 c10.
I checked the upper ball joint fit and it was fine.

Are you saying neither upper or lower ball joint fit?
And the outer tie rod didn’t fit either?

I remember years ago going through this same issue with another member.
Turns out the previous owner had swapped in a 73-87 crossmember to get disc brakes.
Can you post some pictures of your a-arms?

[N9nefingers]

I was hoping you would jump in Lolife...the lower ball joint seats and fits perfect. The upper seats but sits too far into the spindle...as in the castle nut is tightened down past the cotter pin. Its on though. Just don't really think it looks right. And the tie rod ends are nowhere near correct. They sink all the way into the spindle. They would have no room to move with suspension flex. I will post pics. And Mods please move this to the C10 area. I had no idea I posted in the Burb area. Sorry.

[lolife99]

I just checked my new outer tie rods and they do “seat” pretty deep in the spindle taper.
I got my Belltech spindles from Pro Performance.

[N9nefingers]

[N9nefingers]

Third pic in you can see the cotter pin hole and how far up the threads the castle nut is. Last pic is the outer tie rod end in the spindle without the boot on so as to show the zero clearance the tie rod has to move. The other pics are the a arms as requested.

[N9nefingers]

I will say this though...Sarah at Belltech has been great to work with. Now if I can only get this sorted out so I can drive me truck. Any thoughts?

[lolife99]

If my spindles end up being just like yours I will switch brands.
Probably switch to mcgaughys.
This is a shame.
I purposely bought Belltech because I got a good price on them through ProPerformance.
And because I always used their spindles on 73-87 trucks.
Keep me posted.
And thanks for starting this thread.

[N9nefingers]

I went with Belltech because I've read good things about them. At this point I'm not sure the good things are warranted. Just got an email from Belltech saying that their spindles are within specs for them. I'm getting a pretty far variance from their spindle to the stock spindle I pulled from the truck. Example...the top taper on the stock spindle for the tie rod is .581...Belltech 3121 is .633. The bottom taper stock is .506...Belltech is .513. I pulled up all the tie rod end specs from Napa for the year ranges on a C10...none will fit the 3121 spindle. The top taper for measurement for a 1970 C10 tie rod is .62...bottom taper .52. That pretty much explains why the tie rod sits all the way into the spindle that Belltech is putting out.

[lolife99]

I sent a message to Pro Performance.
They did say there was an issue with the Belltech spindles, but said it was sometime in 2019.
I purchased mine in March of 2020.
I still think the tie rod hole on my set has been reamed out too much.

[N9nefingers]

I have an email from Sarah @ Belltech dated Feb 28, 2020 stating that they have a manufacturers defect and that the "newly redesigned" spindles will not be available until end of April, early May. That actually turned into mid July. I just got my "new" set of spindles...they have the exact same measurements in regards to tie rod and ball joint tapers as the one with "manufacturers defects". Clearly the spindles I just got will not work and I am saying are not safe. With zero ability to articulate with suspension flex, that tie rod will fail. What's really concerning is that they knew there was a defect and kept selling the spindles. They figured out the defect because I kept calling about why my spindles wouldn't work and finally after sending 2 separate sets to me they went and measured their stock...they were not only all wrong but not even within specs of each other. Now they are saying that the "new" spindles are within spec...but I measured them side by side and they are in fact the same.

[N9nefingers]

So now I'm on the hunt for a new set of spindles...at this point I'm not sure I trust Belltech...don't wanna stay awake at night wondering if my wheels will fall off on the freeway at 70 mph. Question is...what spindle? CPP? McGaughys? Western Chassis? They all look the same. Actually pretty close to exactly like the Belltech. Just don't want to run into this again with another company. Anybody got any suggestions?

[N9nefingers]

And how do I go about getting this moved from the Burb section to the truck section?

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by N9nefingers

And how do I go about getting this moved from the Burb section to the truck section?

I reported it.
Should get moved to the suspension section.

I’m ordering McGaughys spindles.

[N9nefingers]

I’ve read a lot of what you’ve posted...you know far more about this than me. I’ll order some of those as well. Fingers crossed they are better than Belltech. Thanks Lolife. I really appreciate the info and help.

[lolife99]

McGaughys or Western Chassis or even the high dollar Wilwood spindles would all be good choices.
I refuse to buy CPP spindles, because of a previous problem that cost me money.

I just purchased McGaughys spindles from Summit Racing.
They price matched a cheaper price from www.grunionfabrication.com.
Summit has always treated me good so I send business there way when I can,... and their price match policy helps too.

I was hoping to buy the McGaughys spindles and report back in this thread.
But now you can see for yourself.

I painted my Belltech spindles,... so I doubt I can return them.

[lolife99]

Here’s my spindle and new tie rod.
Same as yours.
No room to articulate.

ProPerformance did get back to me saying they would place a call to Belltech and do whatever they can to help me.
I appreciate their response.

[N9nefingers]

AzProPerformance will probably have better luck than I did. The only one who really tried to help at Belltech was Sarah. They should give her a raise. But in the end even she was not able to help me. They refuse to see the problem. They told me to try different tie rods. I'm convinced that the problem is actually that the part that the tie rod seats to is too tall. I've been looking at a lot of other spindles and they all look very similar except were the tie rod is concerned. I think that if I took a 1/4 to 1/2 inch off the top it'll allow the tie rod to articulate plus also bring that top taper more in line with the stock spindle which is .581 inch from what the Belltech spindle is .633 inch. I think it'll work but with all that said I don't really trust Belltech anymore. I'll buy a different manufacturer so I'm not worrying about it failing as I'm driving.

[sweetk30]

so if this helps good . if not sounds like they need to help you one way or the other .

in the 4x4 world if the hole is boogered or the tapper is on the bottom and we want it on top we drill the hole and pop these inside and problem fixed .

https://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com...STEER-2PK.html

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by N9nefingers

AzProPerformance will probably have better luck than I did. The only one who really tried to help at Belltech was Sarah. They should give her a raise. But in the end even she was not able to help me. They refuse to see the problem. They told me to try different tie rods. I'm convinced that the problem is actually that the part that the tie rod seats to is too tall. I've been looking at a lot of other spindles and they all look very similar except were the tie rod is concerned. I think that if I took a 1/4 to 1/2 inch off the top it'll allow the tie rod to articulate plus also bring that top taper more in line with the stock spindle which is .581 inch from what the Belltech spindle is .633 inch. I think it'll work but with all that said I don't really trust Belltech anymore. I'll buy a different manufacturer so I'm not worrying about it failing as I'm driving.

That’s a great point.
If I get stuck with the Belltech spindles I’ll machine a little off the top of the tie rod arm.

[gmc684x4]

I stay away from Cpp see issues on there fitement of products on the forums here enough to want to stay clear seen several complaints on belltech lately too

When i get to that stage i will go with mcgoughys or western chassis

You should be asking to return the bell tech spindles having to fix both ball joint and tie rod taper holes what other messed up engineering has failed on them

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by gmc684x4

You should be asking to return the bell tech spindles having to fix both ball joint and tie rod taper holes what other messed up engineering has failed on them

I made the mistake of painting mine first.
Plus the box was destroyed in shipping.
I doubt they will take them back.
But I’ve NEVER had issues with any Belltech products and always thought they were worth the higher costs.
At least Belltech uses banding around their boxes.
That was the only thing holding them together.

[N9nefingers]

Just ordered McGaughys from Summit...I'll try those and hope that they work. I really do think the Belltech ones could be fixed, well at least the tie rod seat but then I'd still have to figure out the upper ball joint issue. But if I have to fix all that then there's something wrong with the part...it's not the correct one for a 1970 C10.

[lolife99]

Just a quick props for ProPerfomance.

They contacted Belltech for me.
Belltech is sending a call tag to pick up my spindles.
Once they receive them, ProPerformance will credit my account.
Excellent customer service!