Need help in spindle identification

[Ol'fogasaurus]

A couple of years ago I bought what I was told were Thing spindles and trailing arms. I started to clean the spindles and trailing arms up for a string I am doing and started to compare them with the stock items and I am not sure I got what I paid for (maybe I did but things do not look like things I have been told).

Here are some side by side pictures of stock sedan spindles and what I was told were stcok Thing spindles. Also, one of the spindles has the part mark as shown and the other has what looks like "S6" and under it "12" which seems right as even back then, ISO rules are similar enough to ANSI rules on part numbering.

[david58]

If the taper for the joints is in the same direction they should be for a thing.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

What is bothering me is 1) the gap between the two ball joint bosses on the spindles is quite different in their distance apart, sedan vs. Thing. I know that the Thing upper Ball-joint boss/spindle/threaded stud (or what ever it is called) is larger in diameter than the sedan’s is and that the two eccentrics are identical in size and diameter with the exception between them being the hole for the ball-joint boss is larger in the Thing eccentric (verified using a Thing BJ) to accommodate the bigger diameter of the Thing ball-joint. I also know that the sedan upper ball-joint and the Thing upper ball-joint mounts are the same diameter and will interchange properly with no changes necessary. Also, the arm that the tie-rods connect to are quite different and both longer and sit higher than the stock sedan’s are.

2) The lower trailing arms I got when I bought the setup have the BJ's pressed (only one was still pressed it but that is what keyed me to potential problems) in from the top like a sedan not from the bottom like a Thing should have. Marc said in his post that you can swap sedan arms and the thing BJs will press in correctly so that doesn't bother me too much other than it raises some red flags as to what I really got.

I'm doing the basic BJ build string on the off-road forum and I want to be as accurate as I can; without too many Ah $#%ts and major corrections. Before I go any farther, I want to know that what I am presenting is as correct as possible the first time.

Lee

[kyle_pc_75]

'fog, I'll take some pictures of mine tomorrow. I have two sets that I pulled off Things, so I know they're the right stuff. I can check the part numbers as well. Yours look like Thing spindles to me. If it helps any, I had a similar moment of panic when I tried to put my front end together like this:



...and nothing seemed to go together.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Thanks kyle_pc_75, saying that alone ("...Yours look like Thing spindles to me...") makes me feel better already. With the ball-joint being pressed in from the wrong direction (facing up as in a sedan, not though from the bottom) in one of the trailing arms and some other things looking different, this got me very concerned (they guy I got them from I consider to be very honest which was the worst part of it but he could have been sold a pig in a poke too. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_in_a_poke. Interesting reading I thought]).

With remembering that Marc had said that the trailing arms could be swapped from side to side with no problems, then the ball-joints being installed as they were became less of a concern as to the trailing arms (I still wonder about some things though).

All the conversations I have had seen or had, there was no mention of so many features of the spindles being different between the sedan and the Thing, only that they were interchangeable so I probably/naturally assumed that just the spindle spud was moved lower and that was the only real difference between sedan and Thing (and you know what “assume” means). The rest, like the upper steering arm being so high and longer makes sense, it was just a shock when I laid them side by side for photos is where I really noticed the difference in size and shape and then there is the (un-sprung) weight difference.

The off-set in you picture I have already been though so that doesn’t bother me. Going from beam axles with king pins and then through IFS in cars gets you familiar with some things, but the VW torsion system has had some surprises along the way.

Thanks for the comments and looking forward to the pictures,

Lee

[kyle_pc_75]

Not the greatest pics or the cleanest parts, but here you go. Mine has the same "12" marking on it as well. I think you're good to go.

Side by side:



Type 1 installed:



Type 181 installed:



If you're still unsure I can take some close ups or measurements.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Thank you sir!

I did go out and measure and the spindles between the two inside lands: the sedans spindle was ~2.715 whch is ~69mm, the Thing measured ~5.753 which is ~146.13mm.

Heading up Everett to buy a 20 ton shop press now (the wifie-poo is going to have a cow so watch Ripley's. I used the ~ symbol as the two castings pivots are slightly off-set for geometry reasons and that is as close as I could do without a lot of time and effort which is really not needed.

Thank you again for your time and effort, it is much appreciated.

Lee