Those Ball Joints! Should they come out?

[CapnDavy]

The rubber ball joint sleeves/protectors thingys are torn and shredded. I wondered if the ball joints could be pressed out (removed) without dismantling the front end (torsion arm, brake drums off, etc.)

If so could you walk me through it?

Thank you in advance!!
Dave

[Kubelmann]

The rubber ball joint sleeves/protectors thingys are torn and shredded. I wondered if the ball joints could be pressed out (removed) without dismantling the front end (torsion arm, brake drums off, etc.)

If so could you walk me through it?

Thank you in advance!!
Dave

The torsion arms must be removed to replace ball joints. This procedure is nearly the same for all T-1 ball joint front end VWs. Do you have a Muir or Bentley book?

[sideshow]

How about;

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp ... 2D001%2DA4
Just poping the spindle loose & doing something like that?

[Kubelmann]

FYI be aware that the Thing ball joint boots are from China. They work for a short time.
But Ball joint replacement is alos a procedure that a normal person can not co...

[MNAirHead]

are all 181 boots from china.. thought there were some german or mexicans left.

[CapnDavy]

The torsion arms must be removed to replace ball joints. This procedure is nearly the same for all T-1 ball joint front end VWs. Do you have a Muir or Bentley book?

I have Bentley, Chilton, Haynes. They all show ball joint - spindle assemblies with the top ball joint going DOWN into the spindle and the bottom ball joint going UP into the spindle - requiring removal of torsion arm.

My THING has both ball joints installed going DOWN into both spindle attachment holes. This is NOT as pictured in all the manuals. This would seem to allow the spindle/brake drum assy to simply drop down from the ball joints once the ball joint nut is removed. This would expose the boots with the ball joints still pressed into place possibly allowing boot removal/replacement?

Perhaps the THING's suspension is different from the ordinary bug?

Unfortunately the THING is ignored by all 3 of my repair manuals. There seem to be many differences.

[Chris]

The rubber ball joint sleeves/protectors thingys are torn and shredded. I wondered if the ball joints could be pressed out (removed) without dismantling the front end (torsion arm, brake drums off, etc.)

If so could you walk me through it?

Thank you in advance!!
Dave

The torsion arms must be removed to replace ball joints. This procedure is nearly the same for all T-1 ball joint front end VWs. Do you have a Muir or Bentley book?

I have a special tool called the "Time Bandit" that allows ball joints to be replaced without dismantling the front end. It is essentially a large slotted sleeve with different mandrels for pressing in/out ball joints. I paid a lot to get it but it paid for itself the 1st time I used it.

[Kubelmann]

Some folks may still have some old stock that are German or Mexican replacemnt Thing boots for sure. But according to the sources I have there are no more replacemnt boots being made. Makes you wonder where Meyle is getting the boots for their new Thing ball joints.

The "Time Bandit" devise sounds cool. I have not heard of this.

The procedre for the ball joint replacemnt is very similar to the Bug except that the Thing ball joints both face downd a bug has one up and one down.