I don;t care how tigh the ball jints are pressed in, on the 2WD, the wieght
of the van pulls on them. I would want the circlip, a new one. MAybe they
aren;t fully pressed and he couldn't get them to fit. Maybe an aftermarket
part with the groove in the wrong place or too small. BTDT. Go to hardware
stor and get a large snap ring.

Yes, sometimes,hammers, torches, bigger press and combination is needed to
get these joints out. You shoud see the arts fly when they finally break
free.

Two nuts on top of the shock provides a lock nut effect. If new shocks, some
use adifferent size nut where the origial cap won't fit anyway. Grease or
paint will prevent rust.

Dennis

>From: Reinhard Vehring <rvehring@YAHOO.COM>
>Reply-To: Reinhard Vehring <rvehring@YAHOO.COM>
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: circlip on lower ball-joint
>Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 00:21:23 -0700
>
>Dear list-members,
>just got Moose back from the shop. Needed new ball
>joints and I didn't have the time to do it myself.
>Now the shop did some funny things like leaving the
>circlip off the lower balljoint and putting two nuts
>on top of the shock - now the caps that are supposed
>to prevent corrosion don't fit anymore. I always
>thought that VW had a reason for putting stuff where
>it is, so what is the reason for the circlip? Shop
>says its not needed, the part is pressed in anyway.
>And what's the deal with the two nuts on the shock
>absorber? Some secret trick I don't know? I got the
>old joints back from the shop and they look totally
>beat up, like someone whacked them out of the steering
>knuckle with a hammer. I also hate it when they reuse
>the cotter pins. Maybe I'm too anal about this but I
>really wish I had more time to fix stuff myself...
>Reinhard
>83 "Half-Syncro" Westy, Moose.
>
>
>
>
>
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