OK, first things first, I'm a novice when it comes to aircooled VWs in general and Bays in particular, although I have been around tinkering and fixing cars for 50 years as a hobby. So, I've replaced a track rod end boot today, freed off the joints and set the tracking with an old Dunlop gauge. But, the ball joint boots need doing, so the question is, is there a trick to this? It strikes me that all the torsion bar and damper forces are acting to keep the ball joints in place, so is there an easy way of breaking the tapers and splitting the joints? I did briefly think about experimenting with jacking bits of suspension but it was hot, I was tired, I'd done the track rod end and I was under pressure to sort out the insurance for Princess C's new car. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Here's a pic of a splitter for the track rod ends (the little one) and one for ball joints. Soggy does not use the one he pictured for ball joints. Or a rattle gun for the top one. Sometimes I wonder why he "contributes" to these tech threads and he never adds any advice, just tells you he did it... with a spanner or something. You need to split the upper and lower joints and rest the hub assembly on an upturned bucket-ish thing. Then follow your nose. Because the upper arm rests on the bump stop, getting it back together involves jacking up the bottom arm. Make sure you check were the notch in the camber nut is pointing so you can put it all back together with the same camber. Better still set the camber while you're at it if you have a gauge - so few people do it's almost bound to be wrong.
Thanks for that. I was wondering whether it was possible to do one, upper or lower, at a time, but clearly not. I've got a camber gauge and, to be honest it looks uneven between left and right, although I've not checked it. Give that the tracking was miles out, I'd be pleasantly surprised if the camber was right. Don't start me on the ride height and corner weights!
I agree Soggz splitter is in the slighlty small category.. But he only says rattle gun socket not rattle gun. Mine was easier to do one at a time because it doesnt have bump stops thanks to the 2005 lowering monkeys. And these days you can use a smartphone clinometer app on a level road as a camber gauge.. And it can be worth before fitting new ball joints to pull the boot off and manipulate some molybdenum sulphide grease into the joint. My new Meyle joints started creaking like crazy after a bit and I had to keep jacking the suspension up and down while pressing grease in to shut them up.
So I was thinking of getting a new boot and fitting it at Techenders, if somebody would bring the tools. The ball joint is only 2 years old (I didn’t fit it) but the rubber has already split. Is this the thing to do in a field?
So he did, so what's his contribution? Use a socket and breaker bar - Doh, I bet Doc would never have thought of that.
As a general observation, very few people know what anyone else's level of skill or experience is, nor what tools they have. Given that others will, (may?), read these threads in the future it does no harm to state the obvious sometimes.
As it happens, I've got one of those Seeley hydraulic splitters, so it shouldn't be a problem getting the joints apart, I was just curious as to whether there were any particular tricks or short cuts
Your first post on this thread detailed your 50 years of car mechanicing experience. I wonder sometimes if "some people" read past the thread title. I have got it in for soggy though e.g. in a recent thread where the owner had proved his car would start with a good battery but not the current one he had fitted, soggy then suggested it was the ignition switch because that was the cause of his not starting. Really, he doesn't read the threads, he just adds random waffle. Only that there's no need for disconnecting brakes if you balance the hub on something - You will need to disconnect your track rod again though and note the camber adjuster position (if you didn't have the means of setting the camber yourself.
Yes you should be able to do a ball joint at Techenders.. make sure you have arranged for a suitable ball joint splitter, spanners, moly grease, some jacks, an axle stand and a bit of shuttering ply or similar to put on the ground to hold it all up.
Thanks Mike. I have everything apart from a suitably sized ball joint splitter. Can anybody bring one along to the next Techenders please?
