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Sun Apr 01, 2007 2:14 pm

Hi , im currently in the process of replacing all 4 balljoints . I removed the hub assembly and managed to get the lower torsion arm out of the axel but i am really struggling to remove the upper arm , it feels like it has a lot of downward pushing tension pushing on to the rubber stopper and no matter how hard i pull and tap it will not budge , surprising considering how much grease is in there . Also is there supposed to be a rubber seal where the the arm slides into the tube , not visible as it where , when the arm is in its fitted position ?

Sun Apr 01, 2007 3:53 pm

remove the upper stop, thenthere will much less preload on the arm.

the upper stops are easiest to remove before you take off the steering knuckle, then you can jack up the front end fromt below the lower arm. too late for you now.

you need a long prybar - about 3-4 feet long - to pry the bar up and secure it with a jackstand. remove the upper stop, the again with the prybar and drive the arm out with a hammer. be careful, it is quite possible to bend the arm when doing this if you hit it too hard. i use a copper hammer so the arm doesn't get ruined. this job is best done with a helper, noe to pry, one to hammer. once the arm is past the stop support it will come out by hand.

Sun Apr 01, 2007 4:21 pm

The ball joints need to pressed out with a special VW tool. I just orded the torsion arms with the ball joints aon them allread from here below.

http://www.bus-boys.com/

Saves a lot of head ache and hassle.

Sun Apr 01, 2007 6:36 pm

if you use 1" black or galvanized pipe from HD , then you can pry the arms off without any hammering. but you do have to remove the rubber stops first. the clips that hold them in place often break when being hammered off. you can get new ones form Wolfsburgwest. most other places dont have them.

Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:04 pm

dansvans wrote: most other places dont have them.

http://www.germansupply.com/home/customer/search.php?substring=torsion+stop

:)

Mon Apr 02, 2007 2:32 am

The upper torsion arm can be easily raised up if the lower torsion arm or the steering knuckle has allready been removed. push it straight up with a piece of wood on a floor jack. And it is easier than raising it up by the lower torsion arm if they are still connected. Because you are only working against 1 torsion spring and not 2. I tried yesterday to put the upper rubber stop back in with the steering knuckle installed and It would just raise the bus. When removing the upper torsion arm the only way I could do it was, like previously mentioned, raise it high enough to remove the rubber stop, then let it down as far as you can without it resting on the stop holder. Tapping on the side of the torsion arm helps work it out. Dont try to pry it out from the end of the beam where the seal is. It would be real easy to damage the seal and the seal holder.

It's all a fairly tricky and difficult job. Including getting the springs back in the beam or the arms back on the ends of the springs. The small weld bead on the ends of the springs to hold the leafs together had come off making it difficult to stab the holes. But eventually it all got accomplished. But a lot of it seemed like it was borderline. As to whether it could be done or not.

Also use some rust penetrant on the clip holding the pads before you try to pull the clip out of its engagement.

Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:00 am

Yes i just finnished removing the arms after reading that you have to remove the upper bump stop rubber , it came away relatively easy , thanks guys .
I also got back from my local dub shack , which was the 3rd place i took the arms to have the old balljoints pressed out and the new ones pressed in , the first two engineering shops said they tried and failed to remove the joints as there was not enough metal around the outside of the joint on the torsion arm to support it whilst pressing , i thought to myself , fair enough they are obviously not familiar with this particular setup . The third shop made it look easy . He cut the top sides of the balljoint away with a grinder exposing more meat on the arm which made it much easier to support under the 40 ton press .
I love learning stuff like this !

Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:17 am

Quote: arms back on the ends of the springs. The small weld bead on the ends of the springs to hold the leafs together had come off making it difficult to stab the holes.

when installing the upper arms, if the torsion bars are no longer welded at the ends, you can avoid skewed leaves while installing the 2nd arm by engaging both arms onto the torsion bar before lifting either arm onto the stop support.

Quote: the first two engineering shops said they tried and failed to remove the joints as there was not enough metal around the outside of the joint on the torsion arm to support it whilst pressing , i thought to myself , fair enough they are obviously not familiar with this particular setup . The third shop made it look easy . He cut the top sides of the balljoint away with a grinder exposing more meat on the arm which made it much easier to support under the 40 ton press .

there is a special tool for this. it supports the arm thru the two cutouts in the joint flange that was cut away on yours. let me ask you ... were you there in the shop when they pressed it out ? did it come out with a loud bang ? when using these special tools they always do. but i have, in the past, speculated that the arms distorts as a result of supporting in only two places, causing it to release violently.
.

Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:41 am

Yea Dan-
Skewed leaves are just a test of patience, dedication, and endurance. Kind of like reassembling a CV joint if you didn't know the proceedure. :lol:

Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:29 am

randysamba wrote: He cut the top sides of the balljoint away with a grinder exposing more meat on the arm which made it much easier to support under the 40 ton press . I love learning stuff like this !

This is how I've done them but still on the vehicle. Once the top is grounded off the ball joint itself and plastic sleeve will come out. I then weld one continuous bead of weld in the center of the inside of the ball joint body, the weld shrinks and makes the balljoint real easy coming out ..sometimes with just a BFH.

Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:16 pm

The balljoint popped out easy , not really the violent release i had expected .

Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:43 pm

You said it came out easily? You may need an oversize ball joint now. be safe. it is not uncommon