Date:         Wed, 14 May 1997 10:24:40 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Randy Newell" <rnewell@epower.net>
Subject:      Front end noise

Hey all,
I was motoring around town last night when I made a right turn, about half
way round the corner there was a little bump. (not a big one at all) When I
went over the bump there was a loud clunk (passenger front wheel area). No
harm done, but the steering seems different, not really bad just, seems to
turn easier the before. I looked under right after it happened to see if
everything was OK, pushed and pulled on the wheel and it seems to have a
little play when pulling out on the top of the wheel. I haven't jacked the
van up to see how much play is really there, but I'm thinking top ball
joint and wanted to get opinions from you people. Can the ball joints be
replaced easily? Bentley shows a lot of VW tools required to  disassemble,
do I really need all of those special (and knowing VW, probably expensive)
tools? Do I have to replace both sides? top and bottom? and are these parts
expensive? I would think something like this should be available from
FLAPS, but all the parts stores around home usually have nothing in stock
for my Vanagon anyway. 

Thanks,
Randy Newell 
86 GL 142K
rnewell@epower.net