Hey all,

Thanks for your help in advance. I have a 68 delmont 88 with a 455. The front suspension needs some work, I am at a lost as to what to buy for replacement parts. I would like to get everything needed but not exactly sure what to get. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think, based on the books there are two types of suspensions for the 68.

Raf

 

Rufi, you can get suspension rebuild kits from Kanter. Be aware that the parts are probably all imported, if that matters to you.

https://www.kanter.com/series-204-front-end-kits.html

You are correct that there are 2 options, Saginaw and TRW steering. To determine which one you have you need to measure the taper on the centerlink. Check it out!

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...65-88-a-19754/

 

You might find some of the parts here.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...846,suspension

 

Check the suspension or have it professionally checked to see what needs to be replaced. Replacing everything you can think of may miss something that needs to be replaced, cost money, take time AND many of the replacement parts can be wrong or of a lesser quality than the original components.

Good luck!!!

 

And, if you would prefer U.S.A. made parts, as opposed to parts that are not fit for a bicycle (Chineseum garbage), then I am The Man ......
T R W Design (.556 diameter ) VS Saginaw Design ( .587 diameter ) parts are indeed different, and N O T interchangeable....
The diameter is of the base of the pivot at the Pitman Arm, where it connects to the Center Link.....

I have everything for both systems / set ups..... Always best to simply call me --- 516 - 485 - 1935 --- Craig ..... New York .....

 

I rebuilt the identical front suspension and steering on my 1967 Delta. With a couple of exceptions, the parts are pretty much available from Moog. I got mine from RockAuto. The hard to find parts are the upper ball joints (which are RH/LH), the center link, and the idler arm. Those latter I got from Craig (mobileparts). There is only one suspension design. The difference is in the center link (Thompson vs Saginaw). The tapered studs on the center link are different diameters - the Saginaw is larger. This means that the parts these studs fit into (the pitman and idler arms) MUST match the center link. If you need it, the Thompson center link is only available from Rare Parts, and is priced accordingly.

 

Hey, Joe P.,
I --- D O --- have one pair of N.O.S. Upper Ball Joints, now, again.... When you got mine --- I WAS out of stock, for about a year !! And,
I --- D O --- have both of the Center Links & Idler Arms :
The DS 734 & 18652 for the T R W Design and
The DS735 & 18653 for the Saginaw Design....

I am always hunting !! Even a little while I was in the hospital --- I had some items sent there !!!

Craig.......

 

Thank you all for the info! I appreciate it.

I will go have a look at it today and see what type I have. I did take the car to a shop and they recommended replacing all the parts as its all (bushings and such) pretty rotted out but asked me to find, buy the parts and they will install them. I'll post some pictures later today, this is the first olds mobile I have and not too familiar with them but I love the car so I want to keep it on the road.

Thanks again for the quick responses.

 

Don't throw anything away until the job is 100% complete and the front end is aligned. Consider alerting the shop to the two different part size issue on the steering linkages so they confirm part fitment before tearing everything apart. You may also wish to provide the shop with aerosol chassis paint while the control arms etc. are removed.

Good luck!!!

 

On this site, Joe P., our most intelligent moderator, has printed out and placed in this category --- scroll down a few pages --- and you will see the Joe P. Circled chart on where to measure thatcritical
.556 VS.. 587 taper diameter....
I have those same charts --- I am more " old school " --- I would have to mail it to you....

It is nice of your shop to allow you to supply the parts , it is also prudent of them to not spend 40 hours or more to attempt to find the parts (if they don't know me !!!),
And I can be " your one stop shop " with Quality U.S.A.made parts, additionally!!!

Craig......

 

You will likely not be able to tell without disassembling the center link from the pitman or idler arm.

 

Joe P.s chart / illustration is --- In this category --- on page 3, 10 threads down --- in a previous question about T R W Design VS. Saginaw Design--- take a look....
and as Joe P. Himself just pointed out, you won't be able to just look at it --- it does have to be disassembled to measure ( and probably cleaned ) to measure the .556 vs. .587........
Craig.....

 

Here, I'll save you the search.

 

Joe P. to the rescue, of course, naturally.....
(See ya', I am planning, in a few weeks... )

 

Why did Oldsmobile use two different vendors with two differing dimensions? The inquiring mind thing...

 

They had more sales for these cars than they thought they would, Saginaw could not supply more fast enough to get Front Ends on cars to roll down the Assembly Line in time....
so T R W was summoned --- and came to the rescue....
They had been doing this since 1961, so they were used to the request.... they had no problem being " the hero " ......

They made money selling some .... you can figure out how much money they make selling - 0 - .....

Sometimes, the car number will tell you which system / Design a car has --- but that is N O T an exact science......
the exact size diameter as illustrated above, is the only means to guarantee absolute success.....

 

Thanks for providing clarity of reason. What you've indicated makes good business sense. Still, I'm curious why the delta between the sizes? Maybe T R W was already "setup" to cast (or mill/lathe) one size and didn't want to create the same size as Sagninaw? IOW, perhaps T R W was already producing/manufacturing for another auto maker?

 

Producing for the Aftermarket --- back in the day, the 1A and 1B was (that same) T R W and MOOG , with McQuay Norris as the distant 3rd, and other private label brands, such as
Hershey Chassis, Barcap, Columbus, Prime Products, and a few others... Andrew's was already out of business....

When you went into a parts store, back in the day, you could not even order " Saginaw " brand, even if you wanted to.....