Upper ball joints are a piece of cake...unless your van lives in the
rust belt, then it may be a little tougher.

spray the two (8mm I think) allen bolts with PB Blaster the night
before. While you're at it spray the large nut and the tapered shaft
of the old ball joint too.

Loosen the big nut on the ball joint (27mm I think, remove cotter pin
first if equipped), then wack the top of the steering knuckle with a
big hammer to separate if from the ball joint.   If you have a pickle
fork even better.

Lastly, remove the two allen bolts, ball joint should fall into your hands.

this sight should be helpful:

http://volksweb.relitech.com/uballjnt.htm

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Lower ball joints...that's a whole different ball game (pun intended)

>The parts are here, and I will soon be tackling the replacement of
>upper ball joints and the steering rack on my '91 Vanagon GL.
>
>I'll study the Bentley, but does anyone have any tips or tricks that
>might not be obvious, considering I've not done this job before.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Allan