This may seem as a dumb question, but I want to learn about and do all my mods to my truck my self. I want to know where are the spindles located on my truck, and what purpose do they serve?

 

they connect the upper and lower control arms and are what the wheels/rotors sit on

 

now i am going to sound really stupid, but what are the upper and lower control arms

 

black part on top is the upper control arm, then in the middle of that is the ball joint which connects the upper control arm to the spindle, the spindle then connects to the lower control arm, which is the part at the bottom that sort wraps around the torsion bar and is also what the bottom of the shock is mounted to.

 

Russ, look under the front of your truck, behind the wheel. Coming from the top of your frame, you should see a sort of wishbone-shaped arm that sticks out from the frame. That's your upper control arm. Your upper control arm is going to have a long piece of metal connected to it that runs vertically, and you can see your steering tie rods are connected to it. That is your spindle. It's basically what holds your brake rotor and your wheel on to the truck. At the bottom of the spindle, there is another arm that is shaped kind of like an A. It attaches to the front crossmember of your truck. This is your lower A arm or lower control arm. I'd put up pictures if I could, but I don't have a 2wd, so there would be lots of extra stuff in there that might confuse you. If you've got some more questions go ahead and throw them out. There was a time when I didn't have a clue what a tie rod or a spindle was either.

 

thanks for all the help! with the pic that Justin provided and the explanations by Kyle and Justin, I now know what I will be working with. =D

 

Here is a pic of the upper and lower control arms as well as the spindle.

 

^^^ much better pic, the one i posted was a lot of aftermarket stuff...

 

LOL thats the superlift spindle but factory upper and lower control arms.

 

my uppers look nothing like that...

 

Thanks guys for the help. Now do I need to get new shocks as well, or will the spindle work with out them? I am getting an add-a-leaf for the back. And how hard is it to change the spindles?

 

spindles werent too bad at all, the AALs were a PITA for me since my buddy and I didnt have any jacks to supprt the axle while putting them on...i have the OEM XLT shocks on the front and some OEM EDGE shocks in the back...probably nicer to get some new shocks..but i dont think it is necessary...but someone else will have more info than me...

 

Bro who makes the upper arm with the uniball???? Where did you get that?

 

^^^ PM Alon, he sent me that link...

 

you don't have to change your front shocks with a spindle, but it is always nice to upgrade. if you do lift the back you do need new shocks though.

 

If you've got the money, Bilstein makes great shocks.