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Thu Nov 12, 2009 8:53 pm

yes sir, ive used cinderblocks as jack stands for almost a year and a half, guess im just lucky

ive used jack stands a few times actually and one of those times while it was on jack stands and blocked the jack stands slipped and the car crashed onto my shoulder

Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:33 am

Don't want to be a jerk, but when a cinder block fails, it simply disintegrates and the car drops instantly. No warning, just drops to the ground, crushing everything in it's path.

Blocks of wood are far more reliable if you don't have access to good jack stands. Even firewood is a better choice. Please, lose the cinder blocks. They have the potential to kill you.

Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:32 am

on a not cinderblock related topic
i still have this problem with my ball joint

i got my front end re-assembled and tried to back the nut back onto the end but looking at it i think when i tried to apply lateral pressure it flattened out the threads too much for the nut to go down even if it could.

what is the process of removing these ball joints?
i plan on going on a trip in this car this saturday, so do i have to order new ball joints that are vw specific or can i get some kind of semi-universal part, will autozone have it?
my friend does work at a machine shop so i have acess to a pretty beefy press, im just wondering about removal and acquiring a new one.

thank you

Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:30 pm

74vwbuglove wrote:

what is the process of removing these ball joints?
i plan on going on a trip in this car this saturday, so do i have to order new ball joints that are vw specific or can i get some kind of semi-universal part, will autozone have it?
my friend does work at a machine shop so i have acess to a pretty beefy press, im just wondering about removal and acquiring a new one.

thank you

they have to be pressed out and in and there are cheap to pricy ones specific for vws. lots of online houses carry them and i have never tried autozone but i thought in cali, they sold them at the corner stop and go stores. (just kidding)

Wed Nov 18, 2009 3:56 pm

oh so i can't use a ball joint puller of some sort?

i have access to a press, do they press out from the bottom? what is the process for removal and putting them back in.

well im gonna try pepboys and autozone. really dont wanna have to order anything else at this point i just need this car done even if its just a temporary fix.

thanks so much for your help! you made my day.

and to everyone who yelled at me, im currently using blocks of wood from a stump i cut up a year ago to hold my car up, happy?

Wed Nov 18, 2009 5:23 pm

Very happy! :D

Wed Nov 18, 2009 5:51 pm

74vwbuglove wrote: oh so i can't use a ball joint puller of some sort?

i have access to a press, do they press out from the bottom? what is the process for removal and putting them back in.

remove tierods and shocks.

you could have marked where the camber adjuster goes but i think you are past that point.

remove the spindle from the trailing arms/balljoints.

remove the trailing arms. (allen grub bolt with a locking nut)

the balljoint are ready to press out. if you pull up a picture of a vw balljoint, you will see a lip on the balljoint that sits flush with the trailing arm. you would press from the oppisite side.

the new balljoints are ready to go in after a quick wire cleaning of the hole. there is a small notch in the lip of the balljoint. this should point forward. some people scribe a mark on the trailing before removing the old balljoint to help get the new one in the correct position. i recommend doing one trailing arm at a time to make sure you press them in the correct way.

the trailing arms are ready to go back in. the reassembly of the spindles and stuff.

there is a c clamp type press that HF sells and autozone rents but i have had balljoints that have made big hydrolic presses sweat and they came out with a big pop sound.

Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:33 pm

okay that all seems fine except the nut is stuck on the ball joint (the ball joint turns with the nut) so i can't remove it from the spindle. should i cut into the ball joint's threads with a sawzall and make a depression deep enough to shove a flat head screw driver into to hold onto the threaded part of it while i try to unscrew it? or i could even just chop off the nut.

so i have to wedge something into the lip and just press it out?

also this is the bottom ball joint on the drivers side, i thought camber adjusters were only on the top one

also i refuse to take my car to a mechanic or dealership to have work done on it, the first guy i ever took it to (i knew nothing about vw's) charged me for new spark plugs and didn't put any in and for a carburetor rebuild which he didn't do.

Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:36 pm

also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZLxPyRdAbY

sorry i'm dumb, youtube was the last place i thought to look for vw answers but after enough googling this came up and now i get the general idea, im gonna get some wd40 and press the shit out of it :)

Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:47 pm

74vwbuglove wrote: . should i cut into the ball joint's threads with a sawzall or could even just chop off the nut.

so i have to wedge something into the lip and just press it out?

also this is the bottom ball joint on the drivers side, i thought camber adjusters were only on the top one

.

cut it.

press it from the opposite side of the trailing arm from the lip.

correct about the camber adjuster being on the top ball joint but from your pictures you have the top ball joint loose already. do you remember where it was in the hole or just do a backyard frontend/camber alignment to get you by.

Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:23 am

yeah im gonna do a backyard adjustment with a yardstick probably and thank you so much you have been so helpful. my friends uncle owns a front end shop about an hours drive away i think i might take my car there for its maiden voyage to get my front end aligned (i have a baja and i just did a cut and turn, im told i need to get my car aligned after that)

im gonna chop the nut off, take the whole arm down to my buddy's machine shop, press it out, wire brush the inside, put some wd40 on it and press the new one in.
see my confusion lied in a misleading picture i saw of how a ball joint works, i thought the backend of the trailing arm was built into the the trailing arm and not part of the ball joint itself. I thought it was an actual ball with a stud on it and you needed to just pull the ball out of the trailing arm. not that it could all come out. sorry about the confusion.

once again thank you, i am so grateful there are people like you willing to help vw noobs like me (okay im not that much of a newbie, i can take an engine apart but these ball joints are all new to me)