The spindle assembly is the group of parts used to hold the wheel, uprights and the drive shafts of the car. It consists of five major components: the spindle, spindle back plates, stud pins, wheel lock nuts and a newly added part a bushing. The main purpose of the upright is to provide a secure mounting location for the control arms, wheel bearings, draglinks, and toe-links. This year the uprights underwent a major design change in construction. Contrary to years past the uprights this year have been constructed of aluminum 6061-T6 stock extrusions machined to size and welded together to improve load paths, reduce cost and reduce material wastage. Also a heat treatment was applied to recover material strength post weld.
Test coupons were also prepared and tested successfully to verify weld integrity and successful heat treatment. The newly added brass bushing to the spindle assembly has been added to reduce ware of mating surfaces that has been a recurring problem in the past.
