Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 23:13:54 -0600
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: clicks in the front end
In-Reply-To: <175acb340603092050p78215ddm5dd842eef1eb8ade@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Andy, I just went through this with my van. The upper left was gone.
Given that I have 160,000 miles on my van body, and i am planning a
10,000 plus mile trip this summer, I decided to replace them all - both
sides upper and lower. That may be a bit extreme for some vans,
depending on mileage, but in any case is is usually best to replace the
lower one on the same side, if the upper one is worn out. It's a wear
thing. The upper one is just bolted in, the lower one pressed in. The
upper can be done with just a few wrenchs, but for the lower you have to
compl;etely remove the spindle assembly so the ball joint can be pressed
out and the new one in.
regards,
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver x2
Andy Stalick wrote:
>I took a closer look under the van tonight and had some friends bounce it up
>and down. Its clearly the upper ball joint. I'm going to look around tonight
>to see if this is something I want to tackle myself. Otherwise, it'll be to
>the shop tomorrow morning.
>
>On 3/9/06, Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>
>>Check the shock mounts and bushings first. A clicking ball joint is not
>>a good thing. It is tough to get a worn one to make noise by bouncing
>>the van. The proper test is to raise the van, then with a big set of
>>groove joint pliers, (Channel Locks), squeeze the joint. If you can see
>>it move, it is on its way out. If you hear and see it move, it is shot.
>>Lower ball joints separating after a big bump is not a pretty sight.
>>
>>Dennis
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
>>Of Andy Stalick
>>Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 7:10 PM
>>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>Subject: clicks in the front end
>>
>>Just today and yesterday, I've been hearing a disturbing clunk fron the
>>right side. In bouncing the van up and down in the driveway, it sounds
>>like
>>its coming from the right lower ball joint. The joint looks okay at a
>>glance.
>>
>>The tie rod end is new, and looks good. The upper ball joint looks okay,
>>as
>>do the various bushings in that area.
>>
>>Any ideas? If I have to replace the lower ball joint, is this something
>>I
>>can do without special tools like a spring compressor?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Andy Stalick
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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