I am about to do the ball joints in a beelte I have just bought..

Will a 6tonne press be big enough to do them??

I have looked at the actually tool some people are using and they look like a large C clamp.

I was looking at the 6 tonne press super cheap sell.

Any thoughts or tricks would be great.

I've never had a later beelte with ball joints so its all a bit of learning at this point.

Thanks
Scott

My beetle had the original ball joints in it when I got it and I just renewed everything... ?? [sounds dumb now..]

it took a 50 ton press..

the 10 tonne press wouldn't move them..

I have just found one ball joint loose due to the boot being split..

while changing front ends..

having problems trying to get the bottom ball joint unbolted
from the axle... to see if its loose or still tight..

I have a scissor jack in between the two arms but it won't budge..

LEE

I considered buying a press then realised how much force the ball joints needed to be pressed in and out,
Instead of risking damaging my ball joints with a dodgy press,I took my arms and new ball joints to a local machine shop and watched them do it to make sure that the ball joints were in the correct arms and indexed properly, cost me $70 dollars to the all 4.

Well worth it, I couldn't buy a Chinese designed and built press for that much

We recently did mine with one of those claw-style pullers. A good jar/bash with a bfh released the taper joints.

i brought a chinese 12 ton press and did mine, just. press was $169.00. now i will probably sell the press. Free ball joint replacement.

Getting em out is the easy-ish part and you don't need a press. Also, the out can take more pressure than the in due to rust. This DIY method by-passes the rust issue.

BJ removal/replacement

Also, make sure you clean the inside of the arms BJ hole so that no rust remains.

As you can see 9T was required to replace. If you heat the arms hole and froze the BJ there is the slim possibility that they'd fall into their holes but no gaurantee as no ones tried it so far. Works on hub spindles tho

Anyway, there's a few idea's for ya but reckon you pay a small amount to have them pressed in and stand there to make sure they orientate the BJ's properly

You can grind out the back of the ball joint housing and take out the centre pin piece, then carefully cut out the outer section that presses into the arms. (One cut through the outer section allows it to spring inward and relieve the pressure). Did a few this way before.

Thanks for all the advice..

I have decided to put them into a shop to have them done..

Was quoted $100 to do all 4

That is a great price for saving you hours of work.

Do impress on them that the direction of travel must be correct for the arms to work properly. I've known non-VW garages to get this wrong as it's easily done

Im sure they'll get it right Im using a VW place, Phoenix Engineering.

Pick them up tomorrow..

Ok just picked up the arms with the new ball joints pressed in..

Whacked it all back together but the steering seems very tight...and doesn't self centre etc.

I have only driven it a very short distance. Should the steering free up after a few more km's??

I got the Ball joints from Classic vee dub so assumed they would be ok quality.

any thoughts from those alittle more experienced than I a this..

Cheers
Scott

Yeh from George.. have recently purchased a bit of stuff from him..

Part number was 131405361F-131405371G
I bought them as a set of 4...

Quote:

Originally posted by psimitar That is a great price for saving you hours of work. Do impress on them that the direction of travel must be correct for the arms to work properly. I've known non-VW garages to get this wrong as it's easily done

Have a look here. http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=96953#pid902406 

Seen it before, happens often these days. Comes down to the knurling being too tight an interference fit into the arm. A skilled operator will take the necessary steps to stop this happening when pressing in the ball joints.
The only thing you can do is go for a drive to give the front suspension a work out. Sometimes it will fix the problem. The joint is tight internally, but when the suspension is cycled it can free up a little, the steering uses the ball joint shaft as it's pivot, so it can also free up.

Castor angle is set by shimming the bottom tube of the beam, this is what is responsible for the steering self centering, the concentrics in the stub axles mostly set the camber and has a small influence on the castor, camber in its self does not self center the steering