Mike, What you heard about the upper ball joints being "not particularly difficult" to replace is an understatement. They are a piece of cake. Why would you pay someone to change them for you? Now the lower ones are a different story altogether. At least the ones on my '84 that I replaced last fall were. On one side I literally had to COMPLETELY drill out all three bolts that hold the ball joint to lower control arm link in place. On the other side, all three bolts came out without drilling but they did put up a fight! Then once you have the steering knuckle out with the lower ball joint still attached to it, you need a press to remove and install the ball joints. I would not agree that you should assume lowers are shot just because the uppers are. Nor do I see this as one of those "as long as you are in there..." situations. Mike V. -----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 2:17 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Ball joints, upper / lower Mm-kay, I know I have to get Mellow Yellow's upper ball joints replaced on account of the clear wear on the tires that I described a couple weeks ago. Visual inspection revealed the joints are pretty gone. This kind of work I farm out to my local and trusty mechanic in Encinitas, CA, Charlies Foreign Car. I hear the upper joints are not particularly difficult to replace, so I reckon I'm not looking at a big bill for those. But I also hear that if the uppers are gone, the lowers may not be far behind, and they appear to be more difficult. Charlie's quotes $525 a side to do both. Kinda pricey. I'd like to hear from others about the "better do the lowers if the uppers are shot" recommendation. -- Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana") 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano KG6RCR |
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