The lower ball joint has to be pressed in. The upper joints (bolt on) is the easiest and can be done in a few hours. Unfortunately, the entire hub must be removed to get to the lower ball joint (pressed in). Removing the front steering hub on a Vanagon is not something I want to do every day. I took almost 6 hrs to do mine, but I also did the front breaks and repacked the front wheel bearings. BTW, I bought mine parts from Ron. Pete peterz@gte.net 83.5 Vanagon -----Original Message----- From: The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM> To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM <Vanagon@VANAGON.COM> Date: Friday, July 31, 1998 4:36 AM Subject: Re: early Vanagon ball joint replacement
>> My '82 Westy needs all four ball joints replaced. I bought the parts from >> my import specialist FLAPS before checking the labor cost for >> installation. >> Some shops won't install customer parts, but the ones that will say it's >> about a 6 hour job, so about $300 labor. Has anyone had it done for less? > >Unlike a Bus, the ball joints on the Vanagon just bolt on. (I know this to >be the case on the two I replaced on mine - upper, I think- and believe it >to be the case with all four.) The two that I did on mine were incredibly >simple to do, and anyone quoting six hours is either amazingly slow or just >plain greedy. Take a look at the other two and see if it's the same. You >may be able to tackle this yourself and just bring it in for a realignment. > >- Ron Salmon > The Bus Depot > http://www.busdepot.com |
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