[2002-07-10 06:33 -0700] Phil S. (napszeerf@YAHOO.COM) wrote:
[snip]
> Hey Thanks for reading this far, also the lower
> balljoint boot is rotted an split open and Ive got a
> new ball joint waiting but I think this ones out of my
> league. Im wondering if I should just let the local VW
> bus mechanic do it (he says its a two hour job which
> will be $110 in labor) I COULD try to do this one with
> my dads ugly old press and steel shims BUT THIS JOB
> looks mean and ugly....what should i do? I remember
> reading about someone getting a complete front
> suspension rebuild for $300 in Labor.
>
> Thanks for your help,
>
> Phil Stanhope 84'Westy Tiico

Hi Phil --

I replaced all the ball joints in my '81 a couple years ago, it wasn't
too bad, but I did have the lower ball joint press work done for me.
Got them both done at once (old ones out, new ones in) for about $40.
I called machine shops, most said no, eventually one of them gave me the
name of a garage that would do it.

Getting down to just the piece that has the ball joint pressed into it
will take an hour or two, depending on the amount of corrosion you have
to work through.  The main problem I had when I looked at pressing the
ball joint out myself is that I couldn't find a flat place to apply the
press!

        Gary