Date:         Wed, 23 Apr 2003 09:53:32 -0700
Reply-To:     laurasdog@WEIRDSTUFFWEMAKE.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Delanty <laurasdog@WEIRDSTUFFWEMAKE.COM>
Subject:      Front end misery... but done.
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I hate suspension work.
I've always hated it, and it's always hated me.

I managed to replace upper and lower ball joints,
upper control arm bushings, brake rotors and
bearings and new shocks on the westy.

I was going to do the lower control arm bushings
also, but after pushing and prying on them a bit
I decided they were still O.K. for awhile. Besides,
I was pretty much out of steam by the time I got
that far...  oh well.

Saturday (and most of friday) was a lesson
both in why I hate to do it myself, and in why I
never trust anyone else to do it for me...

The brake rotors were severely worn.
They wore flat and even, but the entire area
where the pads make contact was worn down
almost 0.1" on each side! The last shop to work on
It put a brand new set of pads on trash rotors. Idiots...

I knew I was in trouble to start with when I went to
dig my crummy old hydraulic press out and
assemble it and some of the critical parts were
missing. The jack and the frame were there all right,
but some of the assorted plates and attachments
seem to have wandered off in the 6-7 years since I
last used it. Rats...

I started on the left side and had no trouble getting
the brakes off other than not having enough room to
fit my breaker bar and extendo-pipe to bust the big
brake caliper bolts.
I highly recommend that folks doing front brakes get
the "hardware kit" that has the little rubber boots for
the slider pins and some silicone grease. The boots
on mine were toast, and the pins on the drivers side
were really rusty and jammed up. They were long
overdue for removal, cleaning and greasing...

The upper ball joint was a bitch. The 8mm allen caps
that hold the joint to the control arm were way stubborn
and I spent close to an hour getting those suckers out.
Repeated encouragement from a propane torch, lots
of penetrating oil, and an 8mm allen on a 1/2" drive
breaker bar finally did the trick. For a while I figured I
was going to end up ripping the centers out of the bolts
but they finally let go with a loud snap. The first one
surprised me and sent me over backwards when it let
loose...

The upper control arm came off easy. The first thing I
noticed was that the last person to change the upper
bushings hadn't bothered to spot weld the new ones
back in. Idiots...
The bushings pressed out easily, and the new ones
went in easy. I spot welded them in like they're
supposed to be.

The lower ball joint was a no go for my little press.
I ended up taking it for a drive to where I could use
a real press on it. Those suckers are in TIGHT.

The drivers side went back together fairly smoothly.
-----

The passenger side...
The first thing I noticed is that the nut holding the wheel
bearing on had not been peened in place to prevent it
from loosening. Maybe that's why the bearing on that
side was so loose.  Idiots...

I got the upper ball joint out with less trouble than the other
side because I soaked the bolts with oil the night before
and started by heating them a bit with the torch before I
tried to loosen them. Ahhhh... much better.

I got the upper control arm off and figured the bushings
would be fairly easy to replace like the other side. WRONG!
Whoever did the drivers side forgot to weld the bushings in
place, but the passenger side more than made up for it.
Whoever did this side was probably a welder at some
shipyard in the 40's.  These were welded in with welds that
were designed to last. A full inch of weld around the bushing,
burned in hot and deep..  Idiots...
I ground as much of the welds off as I dared, but I had to
grind quite a bit of metal from the control arm. Finally I had
removed as much as I felt comfortable with and they still were
welded in solid, so I ended up cutting the fat end off the bushing,
driving all the guts out, then using a hack saw inside the
bushing shell to cut it and peel it out with pliers. Then I used
the die grinder to remove the last weld bits from inside the
control arm. It took over 2 hours to get the 2 bushings out of
the control arm....  Aaargh.

Anyway, the rest of it went back together O.K.
It took most of 2 days to get both sides done.

Front end work is a nasty dirty job and I hate every second of
it, but it's always such a joy to have it done.
It feels a lot better on the road now. Friday I'll try and get it
in for a front end alignment.

I hope my knuckle feels better soon. I smacked the hell out
of it with the BFH and it still hurts after 5 days... Did I mention
how much I hate front end work? Oh well... it's good to have it done.

Happy motoring,
Steve