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Thanks, got my eye on these...

Those are the early models. I have a method for rebuilding those. In fact...I recommend...when the yare new....removing the cap, installing a tighter spring from a watercooled ball joint, a new forged washer and a snap ring in place of the cap. Then they would last basically forever. $80 is a bit steep. Normally...I would go no higher than $50. But hey...if you need one. I have both an early and late casting apart right now. Searching for an insert. It may make sales like that a moot point except for the stcikler restorers. Ray

Argghhh, early model! I forgot to pay attention to that, now why don't we have a little head-bashing-a-wall emoticon like vwvortex?

No no...you got me wrong. All type 4 ball joints are the same. They all fit. Its just a manufacturing difference early to late. The early ones were obviously more expensive to make. They had extensive machine work and a swaged cap on the inside. The late rmodels had a cast over inside and a swaged bottom on the outside. They both work the same on all models...and look only slightly differnt visually. Ray

Aye, I was thinking that the ball joints weren't interchangeable like the early/late brakes for some reason....

Don't feel badly....you didn't know!...you are just the classic 411/412 parts "whore".....trying hard to please the proverbial pimp (your car(s))......At least you won't get "whacked" and "packed"...if you don't come back from we-bay with a new gold tooth, a wad of cash and a bottle of E&J..... It could be worse! Ray

Problem is, I only have later cars, so I have no side-by-side parts comparison opportunities. OK, now back to work, whorin' ain't easy...

But...chances are 100% that you have a mixture of these joints among your vehicles. There is no hard date as to when one was made and another was not. There is also a high chance that they were made in parrallel , simply by two different manufacturers. I have found them both on all years of cars. I simply note the ones that have the caps on the inside as "early"....mainly because almost all cars that I have found in the junkyard that are early...those being 71's and 72's....that also died early in their life and most probably would never have needed a ball joint change before they died...had the cap style ball joint on them. These would be the vehicles I ran across in the 80's through the 90's...that had already been sitting in the yard for 10 years.
But...my 73 gold 4 door came with what I call early joints....who knows....they are the same...yet very different.
I have some whoring to do myself.
Just dont get any on ya! Ray