Cunegonde limped over to Portland's Halsey Automotive (with a stop at
the restoration shop Always Vee Dub for a new speedo cable). I was
reassured by the dozen or so Vanagons, most of them Westies, neatly
parked around the building, along with older busses and some newer VW
and Audi sedans. "Tom" reports the front shocks are, indeed, shot, but
the real problem is the front driver's wheel bearings, which wobbling
wheel trashed the worn ball joints and control arm bushings. They, of
course, recommend also replacing the driver's front corner spindle
assembly, all four wheel bearings, plus all four shocks, at the same
time.

Wish me luck about their being able to recover the existing spindle.
If not , anyone have a good source?
My budget can't cover an all-four-corners re-bush plus bearings plus
shocks right now, so what does the list wisdom say about just front
bearings, bushings, ball joints, and front shocks (Konis or Bilstein
HDs?) now, with rear shocks/bearings in a few months, when I do the
rear drum brakes?

They say the springs look fine, so I won't be able to give a report on
Moog 5658 or 5660 springs. I also re-measured my ride height, and I'm
at 16.75" in the rear, 16.25" front  (the sagging corner is 15") with
two aboard and full tank fuel/water/spares.

--
Bretts

1983 1.9l WBX Ivory Westfalia "Cunegonde"