I purchased on of those freestanding presses from Harbor Freight. It was
about 140.00,came with arbor plates,and was the larger of the ones they
have. I have
used that thing so many times now it has more than paid for itself five
times over. Yes,its a cheap Chinese made tool. But it works well. Doesn't
take
a lot of room in the garage. I keep a wallboard behind it to hang the
various spacers I have come up with to help press stuff in/out. Bought a set
of
seal and race drivers I hang from that board also. Only once was I stuck
with
a hub that I couldn't get together. I stuck the inside piece in the freezer
overnight and heated the hub up with a heat gun. By doing this I was able to
press the two together with ease. I have done balljoints on
Baywindows,Vanagons,various bushings on both ect... Its a great feeling to
have the tool to do the job at home. Something to think about if you want to
try
and do some of your own work at home.

Bill

On Sun, Sep 21, 2008 at 8:40 AM, John Rodgers <inua@charter.net> wrote:

> Chris,
>
> Ball joints themselves aren't that expensive, but the labor for the R&R
> surely is.
>
> The upper can be replaced fairly easy, Just some bolts with take care of
> it. But the lower is a bit of a bugger. As I recall there is a tack-weld
> on it that will have to be ground off - that's no big deal - but you
> will need a press to finish the removal job so the new one can be
> installed - which also presses in.
>
> It can all be done at home if you don't mind running down a shop that
> will do the pressing for you. The rest just takes a few wenches.
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL Driver
>
>
> Chris Snyder wrote:
>
>> I took my 1987 Vanagon for the Missouri State Inspection and it failed
>> because they said the ball joints had to much play in them.
>>
>> Can someone please tell me how much it should cost to get these replaced
>> as I
>> am not able to do this job my self. Also, what is involved and what is the
>> time to do this job?
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> Chris S.   </HTML>
>>
>>
>>
>>