The lower ball joint has to be pressed in.  The upper joints (bolt on) is
the easiest and can be done in a few hours.  Unfortunately, the entire hub
must be removed to get to the lower ball joint (pressed in).  Removing the
front steering hub on a Vanagon is not something I want to do every day.  I
took almost 6 hrs to do mine, but I also did the front breaks and repacked
the front wheel bearings. BTW, I bought mine parts from Ron.

Pete
peterz@gte.net
83.5 Vanagon
-----Original Message-----
From: The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM <Vanagon@VANAGON.COM>
Date: Friday, July 31, 1998 4:36 AM
Subject: Re: early Vanagon ball joint replacement

>> My '82 Westy needs all four ball joints replaced. I bought the parts from
>> my import specialist FLAPS before checking the labor cost for
>> installation.
>> Some shops won't install customer parts, but the ones that will say it's
>> about a 6 hour job, so about $300 labor. Has anyone had it done for less?
>
>Unlike a Bus, the ball joints on the Vanagon just bolt on.  (I know this to
>be the case on the two I replaced on mine - upper, I think- and believe it
>to be the case with all four.)  The two that I did on mine were incredibly
>simple to do, and anyone quoting six hours is either amazingly slow or just
>plain greedy.  Take a look at the other two and see if it's the same.  You
>may be able to tackle this yourself and just bring it in for a realignment.
>
>- Ron Salmon
> The Bus Depot
> http://www.busdepot.com