Mike,

What you heard about the upper ball joints being "not particularly
difficult" to replace is an understatement.  They are a piece of cake.
Why would you pay someone to change them for you?

Now the lower ones are a different story altogether.  At least the ones
on my '84 that I replaced last fall were.  On one side I literally had
to COMPLETELY drill out all three bolts that hold the ball joint to
lower control arm link in place.  On the other side, all three bolts
came out without drilling but they did put up  a fight!  Then once you
have the steering knuckle out with the lower ball joint still attached
to it, you need a press to remove and install the ball joints.

I would not agree that you should assume lowers are shot just because
the uppers are.  Nor do I see this as one of those "as long as you are
in there..." situations.

Mike V.

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 2:17 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Ball joints, upper / lower

Mm-kay, I know I have to get Mellow Yellow's upper ball joints replaced
on account of the clear wear on the tires that I described a couple
weeks ago. Visual inspection revealed the joints are pretty gone.

This kind of work I farm out to my local and trusty mechanic in
Encinitas, CA, Charlies Foreign Car. I hear the upper joints are not
particularly difficult to replace, so I reckon I'm not looking at a big
bill for those. But I also hear that if the uppers are gone, the lowers
may not be far behind, and they appear to be more difficult. Charlie's
quotes $525 a side to do both. Kinda pricey.

I'd like to hear from others about the "better do the lowers if the
uppers are shot" recommendation.

--

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
KG6RCR