84 Spindle Swap to 86-91 Type

[Pinhead]

Hello,
I'm new to forum and have questions regarding swapping the front spindles on my '84 westy. I have been considering the bigger brake options from various vendors. The kits I'm interested in requires spindles from an 86-91. Well I have a good set of newer spindles from a van that had power steering. What special tools, if any do I need to remove and replace these spindles? Second question is will steering be intolerable at slow speed using these new spindles without power steering installed?

Thanks in advance for any help. I hope to some day to share any lessons learned for the benefit of others.

Mark

[rubbachicken]

welcome to the samba

do you have power steering currently, power steering spindles early or late differ stightly from non power steering.
to get them off you will need
a BFH
24mm wrench upper ball joint
27mm wrench lower ball joint, and the wheel bearing nut.
22mm socket and breaker bar, caliper bolts.
19mm wrench for the tie rod end.
chisel to knock off the bearing cap.

most likely you will need to replace the lower ball joint, they need to be pressed in.
and you should go get an alignment when you are finished.
personally i would install the late front brakes complete run it like that for a while and see if you really want the extra expence of running late brakes
if you were to change the booster to the BMW upgrade, you'd have pretty decent brakes, assuming that your rear brakes are operating correctly.
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[levi]

I'm just going to go ahead and guess that you do not have power steering.

So, there's 2 factors for sure.

First, do you have to do much parallel parking?
If yes, that's when you're going to notice the difference.
How aggravating that will be for you depends on the width of your tires.

If they're stock 185r14 then its noticeable but acceptable in my opinion, good for keeping the arms in shape.

If they're something like 55 wide, well then it's a pain in the ass.

Either way, once moving at more than walking speed it's a non-issue.

You could always have the holes filled in with metal and have a machinist run some new holes closer inboard, approximate to where they are for the non-power units.
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[Gnarlodious]

I just put on '87 spindles and PS rack and was surprised how easy it was to drive without the power steering pump running. Parallel parking and U-turns were tougher for sure but it gives you a solid feel on the road.

The big steering wheel is a factor, as long as you keep it the steering is pretty easy.

I also put on brakes from the '87 and they are a big improvement over the '83 brakes. At this time I have no desire for big brakes, but mine is a tintop.
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