I took a closer look under the van tonight and had some friends bounce it up
and down. Its clearly the upper ball joint. I'm going to look around tonight
to see if this is something I want to tackle myself. Otherwise, it'll be to
the shop tomorrow morning.

On 3/9/06, Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@optonline.net> wrote:
>
> Check the shock mounts and bushings first. A clicking ball joint is not
> a good thing. It is tough to get a worn one to make noise by bouncing
> the van. The proper test is to raise the van, then with a big set of
> groove joint pliers, (Channel Locks), squeeze the joint. If you can see
> it move, it is on its way out. If you hear and see it move, it is shot.
> Lower ball joints separating after a big bump is not a pretty sight.
>
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of Andy Stalick
> Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 7:10 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: clicks in the front end
>
> Just today and yesterday, I've been hearing a disturbing clunk fron the
> right side. In bouncing the van up and down in the driveway, it sounds
> like
> its coming from the right lower ball joint. The joint looks okay at a
> glance.
>
> The tie rod end is new, and looks good. The upper ball joint looks okay,
> as
> do the various bushings in that area.
>
> Any ideas? If I have to replace the lower ball joint, is this something
> I
> can do without special tools like a spring compressor?
>
> Thanks,
> Andy Stalick
>
>
>