Replace ball joints

[Northof49]

[jasengine]

My method of removing the old ball joints. A 4.5" grinder fitted with a thin cutting disc, a hack saw, steel drift, nice big vise and a heavy hammer is all I used.

[The_Dave]

I just got ball joints and the little notches on the new ones and the old ones weren't in the same spots so now I don't know how to get them to line up right. Does anyone know of a way to line them up without the notches?

[alikatcraig]

Just pulled my Ghia ones out. Grind the back surface a little and then pound the shaft out through it. Pull the plastic liner and clean inside what remains. Apply a bead of weld with a mig all around the inside, drop in a bucket of cold water, and then one or two small taps with a hammer will have it drop out. No more pounding or beating on it or ridiculous press tonnage on home made tooling! Much safer.
_________________
1967 Ghia
1971 Deluxe Microbus
1974 Convertible Bug
1973 Standard Bug
1998 Mexican Bug

[quattroginger]

Nice info. just purchased my first air cooled. 67 beetle. starting ball joint replacement.


EDIT: got my ball joints replaced over weekend. ended up having to press them out with my buddy's 12ton Harbor Freight press.

i did run into a issue pressing in the front lowers. i used the "lowered cars" ball joint and the gold rings that hold the boot on do not fit through the control arm. i had no choice but to just push it through, it bent the rings and even left someone hanging out of the pressed side so i just clipped it off. the boot didn't rip so seems to be ok. i also had to use zip ties on boots to fit through hole.

i got stuck removing 1 of the camber adjusters for the upper front arms. in case anyone else runs into this or doesn't want to bang on these to break loose i rented a jaw puller tool from Autozone for free. had it off in less than 2 minutes.

[NorcalVW]

Completed Balljoints today......Without a doubt i will be buying a Hyd Press from Harbor Freight. A trip to the scrap yard to make all the adapters i can think of. Screw those stupid little tools from Autozone, it didn't have enough torque. I used the adapters (NICE) but had to get it done in my monster vise and even used a few impact sockets ....there was violence in the garage today. Ha!
20 ton Hydraulic press is only way to go, period.

[SkooobaSteve]

The OTC universal one still works well, I used one the other day didn't take long at all.
_________________
Jonathan
Romans 6:13
WTB 67 beetle rear seat belts.
59 Euro ragtop build with my dad
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=493553&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
65 dlx Slow build
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=391061

[johndl58]

Universal tool from autozone worked mint after I tried every other way to do it. I used a torch to heat as I went and they all came out with a bang. On re-installation, I put the new BJs in the freezer for a while and they pressed right in. Easy peezy.

[gargamel]

The FLAPS Universal tool worked for you?
Lucky.
I had to resort to a local club's press to get these beasts out and new ones in. If I could get that tool to work, I'd buy one and be more self-sufficient.

[johndl58]

Yup. The c clamp looking one with all the different cups and stuff. It took a little experimenting to get the right combo of cups but a little torque, a little heat, a little torque, a little heat, BAM! Out they came.

[20bugsys]

I am replacing my beam and putting in new ball joints myself for the first time so I had the control arms off the car. I have the HF 20 ton press but I had a hard time with the lower ball joints. The lower control arms are not flat on the receiving cup side to press the ball joints out. No matter what you really need to pull the grease boot off and a deep socket will fit over the threaded spindle part of the joint so I didn't need to cut it off or otherwise destroy the ball joint.
I originally tried a heat and hammer in the vise method using an air chisel and a big ass hammer with no luck. (now the ball joint is destroyed)
Eventually I just welded a small piece of 3/8" square rod about 1.5 inch long to the end of the control arm so that it would sit flat and square on the press. The heat from welding did wonders to break the rust and when I was done pressing the new ball joints in I cut the rod off and ground the welds down.
In the end, this method actually saved me a ton of time and saved me and the parts from a beating. Originally, I was going to just take them to a local shop but I persisted and I am glad I did.
Also, I did try to rent the ball joint tool from the local auto parts store, but the selection of cups wasn't great so I never used it.
One other thing a previous poster mentioned was that he couldn't get the spring and boot for the lower joint to fit through the hole in the control arm without destroying it. I fought this fight as well and eventually won. I clamped the BJ in a vise facing up, greased the outside of the boot with brake parts assembly lube and then rotated the control arm as I pushed it over the boot. Rotating it comrpessed the spring a bit around the boot and got it to slide through.
_________________
1960 | Beetle | Jade Green | 36hp OG Car
1969 | Beetle | Cherry Red | 1914cc
1984 | Vanagon Tin Top | Subaru EJ25, 5 Speed
1986 | Vanagon Syncro | Restoration to bone stock
@myescapepod
@crusty_syncro

[heimlich]

I tried the hacksaw way and that worked well for one ball joint and possibly another I have yet to remove.

The other way that worked for me was to get the right size cup (came with the set from autozone) but this only worked on two ball joints. The same cup didn't fit the other two. For the two it did fit the best way that worked for me was once I get it snugly on there was to attach an impact wrench and hold it down until it went through. The electric harbor freight one did the job.

Where can we buy cups for the ball join tool that fit the Beetle? It seems another way which might work is get a somewhat close to fit cup and then weld it to the arm and then press it out after which unweld but I have not tried this. Any thought from those more wiser and more experienced in the ways of ball join removal?

[ashman40]

[heimlich]

Have you tried it?

I've only got one more left to do but maybe next time I will try this way.

[heimlich]

Titanium drill bit and hacksaw worked on the last one.

They are as bad to put in as take out. I just ruined two ball joints using a impact wrench trying to drive them in. Don't do that. Slow and easy is the way to go.

[pwmcguire]

[pwmcguire]

[heimlich]

You don't need a fancy tool. The one from autozone (OEM) works fine for the new ball joints. I was able to do everything with the little cup.

Here is a picture of pressing the lower one in:

I was able to press the lower one (new one) out with the small cup.

I saw someone post a comment on one of these forums saying ball joints could be done in 90 minutes. Once I became familiar with the tool it was much simpler. You'll install a whole set of ball joints to become familiar. Have fun!

[heimlich]

How do you get those nuts to tighten on the lower ball joint and keep the ball from spinning?

I have the same problem with the tie rod on drivers side.

[heimlich]

It ended up being the threads so be careful when putting them in and do not damage the threads.