1967 VW Bug Ball Joint Installation

My new parts came in on Friday, so the big day for the install was yesterday.

One of the new parts I ordered was the big orange VW Repair Guide by Bentley.  I should have ordered the blue one, for my year 1967, but ended up with the orange book which actually covers everything I was looking for.  You'll see I refer to the book in this blog prtimarily because I had questions and couldn't find the answers on the internet...imagine that!

First, I had to install the "torsion arms" that I removed previously.  (I think I was calling them trailing arms previously)  I had painted them and had the new ball joints installed.

I took the opportunity to scrap off alot of the dirt and crud on my shock tower.

I also replaced the old gaskets that sit between the torsion arm and the front axle.  The old came out easy enough using a pairs of pliers.

There's no real trick to putting the torsion arms back in.  I did use a stick with a towel on the end to get out the old grease inside the torsion arm.  I put in new grease then lined up the grub screw hole with indentation, pressed it in, gave it a little wiggle/jiggle and it lined.  Used the allen wrench to screw in the bolt then added the nut on top. I read somewhere where there's really only one way for this to get on and that's the right way.

Now for the hard part, installing the brake spindle.

When I took off the spindle, the disc brake  rotor was still attached to the spindle.  You'll want to take this apart and just install the spindle.  It's all about the weight - very awkward with the rotor on.

The bottom of the spindle goes on the torsion arm easy enough - but wait - there's two washers a little one and a big one where do they go?  Bentley shows the little washer on top of the bottom arm before the nut is screwed on.  The big washer goes on the bottom of the top arm.  This big washer keeps the top arm attached to the spindle.  (I knew this book would come in handy!)

The Bentley shows a special tool to use - kind of a spreader.  I used a jack and lifted the bottom arm up about an inch.  Then I took two 2X4s, one laid flat on the bottom arm and the other (one end was cut to a 45 degree angle) sits tall on top of the flat board.  I then used a 5 lb sledge hammer to pound the top board in between the top and bottom torsion arms.  From there I was able to pry the top arm up enough to get it to line up with the camber hole. (Make sure the camber nut is already attached.)  Once these guys are untied, it"s a pain to get them apart.  (The way marriage is supposed to be!) This took some manipulation of the spindle.

Before you add that big washer and tighten you'll need to make sure you have the camber nut properly aligned.  The new EMPI ones didn't have the notch the originals had so I had to mark them.

The Bentley book shows exactly how they're supposed to line up.

Notice the arrow.  It points toward the front of the car. That's looking at the driver's side.  Both sides, according to the book, the notches point toward the FRONT.

Now you can add the big washer and tighten up the bolts.  Not too much, they do need to turn. : )

Then I installed the disc brake rotors, the brake calipers and finally, the new tie rods.  Slap on the wheels and away I went for a test drive.  Whee!!!

1967 VW Bug Ball Joint Removal

I figured this would be a great winter project for my Bradley GT II. When I go above 60 mph, the front end starts to shake. (Yes, I checked the tire pressure)

There's a very nice thread on theSamba.com about replacing ball joints. There are also a couple Youtube videos that will inspire you to try using a ball joint press.  To summarize here are the different approaches some have done:

With the ball joints still attached to the car:
Use a ball jointpress
-- You can rent for free from Autozone (wrong size - didn't work for me)
-- Ebay has a cool tool you can buy - $200 - 500 (like I'm gonna use this thing over and over)
One guy used a puller - really?? (Mine were completely rusted in)
One guy used a ball joint extractor with some pipe ends he had especially cut for the job - he doesn't say what the sizes were and he's in Finland

With the trailing arms removed from the car:
Use a huge vice with sockets (my vice is too small)
Use a welder to heat them up then knock them out with a sledge hammer (I don't have a welder)
There are a couple sites that will take your old trailing arm and swap them for a reconditioned one with new ball joints installed.  Yes, there's a core charge:
http://www.chircoestore.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=186_189_230
Take them to a auto shop or machine shop and have them replace them -- BINGO!!!

Removing the spindles just to get to the ball joints can be daunting enough. 
Jack up the car, remove the tire, detach the tie rod (see my previous post for complications), remove the disc brake caliper from the disc brake and place on the shelf behind the spindle.
Move the disc brake all the way to one side, spray with PB Blaster, hit a few times to get the lubricant to soak in and use either a 17 mm or 25/32 socket to remove the ball joint nuts.
Now comes the hard part. Both of the trailing arms are under tension and it's difficult to lift the top one up. I used a pickle fork but it just wasn't giving me enough clearance.
The trick that worked for me was using a 2 foot long 2X4 to lift the top trailing arm up enough, with a prying motion between the two trailing arms to get it out of the spindle - usually with the camber still stuck to the ball joint bolt.

I tried using the free rental tool from Autozone but the all adapters didn't really fit.

Then I tried getting creative by using a few large sockets...nope!

I read where it's easy to remove the trailing arms by loosening the grub screw, I couldn't find a picture of one and mine was covered with dirt and grime.  So I unscrewed the bolt......now what???  Once I got myself into a position where I could see, it still needed an allen wrench to take it out.  Here's what it looks like.

To remove the bottom trailing arm you might have to cut off the sway bar like I did.  Quick cut and it revealed that the bushings were old, hard as a rock and cracked.

Here are the trailing arms after I removed them, notice I had one ball joint partly removed - argh!!

You can see where the grub screw mounts to the inner leaf springs in the front end. 

I took my trailing arms to Eastside Auto in Ellensburg and Mike was able to take out the old, replace with the new ball joints I had previously bought, all for $20 each.  He had to use extreme heat on one because it was so badly rusted in.  That's a bargain!!!

I still had to order new gaskets for the leaf springs, new cambers and a new bushing kit. $120.

1967 VW Bug Tie Rod Replacement

Sometimes we find out the bad news mid-project.  "Gee I wish someone would have told me that sooner.."  It's kinda like watching one of those home improvement shows where after they get started and have torn into something they find..asbestos, a large monster of a pipe that needs to be relocated etc.
Replacing the Tie Rods on a 1967 VW bug chassis should be a cakewalk.  From what you can see, it's four bolts and they come off.

Then why are mine !@#$ stuck?

Silly amateur!  Don't you know that 1967 was the year that the VW Bug went through some changes in the ball joint front end suspension?  They went from a less efficient tapered bolt to a straight bolt.

Naturally, I was ill-informed of this valuable piece of knowledge.  Judging from the picture above, I went and ordered new tie rods since they looked ugly and I was questioning exactly how old are these things?  So I went to Appletree Automotive and ordered some pretty chrome replacements - hey, they were cheaper than the regular ones.

Don't get ahead of me here.....

While waiting the delivery of my new tie rods, I went to work trying to take the old ones off.  That's where I exclaim once again, Why are mine stuck?

I tried using a puller, I tired using lots of PB Blaster, I tried heat with my butane torch.... and had to eventually cut it off with a power tool (my favorite). Yes, most of the bolt is still stuck in the spindle.

Since I thought about replacing the ball joints as well, I removed the spindle and tried removing the tie rod bolt using my vise on my bench.  No luck there either.

Totally frustrated at this point, I took the spindle to a local auto shop and they were able to get the bolt out with extreme heat from a welder. $40.

In the meantime my new shiny tie rods arrived....Ooooh, Ahhhhhh.

Probably hard to see in this picture but the new tie rods have straight bolts - not the tapered bolts I needed.  I called up Appletree and talked with one of their VW guys and finally was alerted to the fact that I had a freak of a VW chassis.  Now, I had to send them back.  Let me tell you now, it ain't cheap. $35

So, at this point I have an option of replacing the spindles to straight bolts by seeing if I can find some from a local junk yard somewhere or just stick with what I got.

Before you throw the old tie rods away, you'll need to take the new and lengthen them to the same length of the old tie rods.

If you have a 1967 VW Bug Chassis like I do, you'll want to look and see what kind of tire rods you have before you dive in - straight or tapered and think about your options.