A body K member
A. Conversion Mounts
B. 68-72 K-frame (my personal preference)
New idler
Reuse all other existing components
C. 73+ K-frame
New idler
New center link
New pitman arm
If you have a sway bar, new control arms, new bar.
At least that is the way I understand it.
Alan
The OP already has the ‘72 K frame in his car, it’s just for a /6. So he could just do conversion mounts and change nothing else. That will be cheaper than the ‘67 v8 K he’s looking at just on the cost of the ‘67 idler.
For the ‘73-76, you don’t need to change the pitman, idler, or center link. He could keep all of the ‘68-72 parts if he keeps his current steering box. You just can’t mix and match, if you use a ‘73+ pitman you also need the ‘73+ center link and idler. Those three parts have to match the year range, either ‘68-72 or ‘73-76. Change one and you need the other two. But you can use a ‘68-72 pitman, idler and center link with the 73-76 K frame as long as you don’t use a large sector power steering box.
The sway bar brackets on the LCA’s are different 73-76, so, if it’s a ‘68-72 factory sway bar car using the 73-76 sway bar would mean changing the brackets on the LCA’s too.
Say or believe what you want, I'd never cut off a 67 idler bracket to install the 68 sheet metal bracket. Neither would I go the other way. Not even close to the 9 in brake comparison.
235 wide long before compounds were rated. I was also one of the first to use Poly bushings back when you had to reuse the metal parts from your old bushings.
Not sure why they changed design, may have been cost also. You can think the newer design is stronger if you want. I would never bother changing a 67 idler mount. I look at them as the same. I doubt he OP would see any difference. You guys like to do a lot of work for little or no gain.
Hey I wouldn’t cut the bracket off a ‘67 K frame either! Of course, it’s because I wouldn’t ever buy a ‘67 K to begin with, the factory literally made them obsolete in 1968. The ‘73-76 sway bar provision is worth the upgrade to the ‘73-76 K by itself. Better ground clearance, better tire clearance for wide front tires (245 or better).
235’s aren’t wide, and if they pre-dated compound ratings then they were much harder than what you can get now. 275’s with 200 tread wear compounds are not even in the same ballpark as those old 235’s.
As for the 9” spindles, well, there’s plenty of people here that defend them. So they must not have seized up the undersized wheel bearings or sheared the undersized lower ball joint bolts. But hey, that doesn’t mean that other people didn’t. Much like your take on the ‘67 only idler. Awesome, you didn’t have a problem with it. Other people definitely have had issues with it.
And if nothing else, the ‘67 idlers are stupid expensive. The OP doesn’t have to deal with the ‘67 K or idler at all, and there’s no reason to even from just a financial stand point, let alone a performance one.
