Is this for a van or beetle mate?

Either way I press all new bearings (4 in total) into my beetle the other week and had no problems at all, they were the cheap ones from gsf.

You sure they haven't been crushed when installing them?

 

Forget them, I had 3 seta and all crap, I ended up with british made FIRST LINE. absolutely brilliant. try your local motor factors for them if you can,t source any I ,ll give you a phone number in Derby where I got mine or search internet for first line and go to them.
PM if u cant get sorted
phil

 

Yeh its for my 74 beetle, all the GSF ones seems to be oversized.

We pressed them in very carefully with a mohoosive press. so I can see that we have damaged them.


What is the best proceedure, I could be doing it wrong.?

Will do a search for First line. Also what is the Inside diameter of the arm hole. Mine is 37.5mm and the ball joints are 38.5mm but when pressed in are very tight.

Cheers.
Andy

 

i recall reading on here that ball joints have to be aligned with a mark in their housing before being pressed in - others will know for certain, I've never done this job.

 

Fisrt line

Found the first line site,

http://www.firstline.co.uk/op3/f_sus_f.php?mode=5&type=PV&make=Volkswagen&mmeid[0]=4733&mmeid[1]=5282&model=Beetle&variant=-&subvariant=-&engine=1.3&product=Front%20Suspension&var_desc[0]=4733__32689&var_desc[1]=5282__33345

I wonder what size you ordered. The inside diameter of the arm is 37.5mm and they do a 38.3 and 38.6.

I was thinking of going for the 38.3mm giving me .8mm interference fit...

Would that be OK.

Andy

 

Are you makin sure that the lower balljoints are goin in the lower arm and likewise with the top balljoint and arms?

Fredster is correct mukka, you line the notch up first and then press them in and i can verify they are a bitch to get in!!!! Also been told that the notches on the balljoints should all face the front of the car, just incase you have no markers on your arms.

I used a press for my balljoints and a large vice when I did me mates upper and lower ones.

Make sure your using a socket or metal tube that sits snuggly around the outer ring of the balljoint and not touchin the centre part as this is when the ball itself sits and if crushed its shagged.

I'll upload a pic of where I mean.

Also what i'm goin to do next time is put the balljoints in the freezer over nite to srink them and apply heat (put in the cooker) to the arm to expand the hole and hopefully will pop in a little easier.

They are a very tight fit mate.

Check this out mukka,

 

Are you makin sure that the lower balljoints are goin in the lower arm and likewise with the top balljoint and arms?

Fredster is correct mukka, you line the notch up first and then press them in and i can verify they are a bitch to get in!!!! Also been told that the notches on the balljoints should all face the front of the car, just incase you have no markers on your arms.

I used a press for my balljoints and a large vice when I did me mates upper and lower ones.

Make sure your using a socket or metal tube that sits snuggly around the outer ring of the balljoint and not touchin the centre part as this is when the ball itself sits and if crushed its shagged.

I'll upload a pic of where I mean.

Also what i'm goin to do next time is put the balljoints in the freezer over nite to srink them and apply heat (put in the cooker) to the arm to expand the hole and hopefully will pop in a little easier.

They are a very tight fit mate.

Thanks guys, have got the 38.3 from First line on order so they shouldnt be so tight.

We copied the ones that came off so I reckon we have the right ones for sure.

I reckon we did install them right but will bear that in mind when we press the new ones in.
Should get them tomorrow.

Andy

 

Hi oddbod,

That vid is great, he has all the gear, Our garage at BT has a press just the same and we pressed ours in just like it. Also I have the same notches, nice to see I did something right.

Cheers for the info.

Andy

 

Hi oddbod,

That vid is great, he has all the gear, Our garage at BT has a press just the same and we pressed ours in just like it. Also I have the same notches, nice to see I did something right.

Cheers for the info.

Andy

Noworries mukka, good luck with it mate and let us know how you get on,

Steve.

 

Hi all,

How powerful does the press need to be to get the ball joints in and out of the arms?

Michael

 

Its hard to say mate, i've popped 1 out with a 2 tonne press then couldn't with a 6 tonne press so it just depends how lucky you are on the day.

Same with gettin them back in mate.

Knowin what I know now I wouldn't waste my time tryin to press them out, just grind out the ball socket out and then drive the rest out with a hammer and chisel hittin it at 12,6,3 and 9 oclock and jobs a gooden.

 

have a read of these two threads:

http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=577878
http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=667718

As said before, it could be the balljoints binding... or something I was told recently: balljoints came in 2 sizes. If the larger diameter ones are fitted in place of the smaller ones they get crushed on fitting resulting in seized joints fit for the bin. I was told that Heritage sell both but don't differentiate between the sizes resulting in many returns This was th case on my bug when I had all 4 replaced, followed by a lot of head-scratching at Terry's. The 'seized' joints were then replaced with corret items.

 

Thought I'd point out that the higher priced Lemforder balljoints from GSF actually come in two sizes. GSF admitted to me that they weren't aware of this, although the parts have the same part number. The difference is in the colour of the rings around the rubber boot. The yellow ones are standard size and the blue rings are oversize by around 0.6-0.8mm.

 

I bet a lot of people dont know that, GSF told me there are the same size for all years, after pressing in and out 2 sets, I know know better,

I have ordered a 37.3mm set now.....

 

Vtech = chinese rubbish as I found out

It's always best not to buy cheap for cheapskates sake since that will just turn around and bite you in the long run. It's critical that ball joints do not fail (or are installed incorrectly) and that the top eccentric bushes are set correctly. They affect the vehicle's geometry and if the ball joints have not been installed correctly or the eccentric bushes set incorrectly, then they could put your life in jeopardy !!

It will probably be a good idea to ring GSF and ask what other brands of ball joint they have got (or alternatively get one from somewhere such as Cool Air VW).

 

Hi Phade,

GSF only stock Lemforder and that crazy vetech stuff. I have ordered some First Line ones which I have been advised are the best....Hope its true.

As for pressing them, I would say quite a lot of force but very controlled, hence a nice press.

Andy

 

Interesting reading as I've just bought a set.

Cool Air supplies Lemforders, I spoke to Christian there who confimed that these are exactly the same as the GSF ones but a touch cheaper.

 

I'm Alex's dad.

I've just measured the Lemforder ball joints which I believe came from Coolair, they have a blue rimg and are 38.3mm.

The arms are 37.8mm give and take allowing for a bit of rust clean up and some primer, which gives a 0.5mm tolerance fit.

I'm going to get them pressed in at a VW specialist tomorrow and will post up when they are done.

Tony

 

GSF But they are the same as the Cool Air ones.

 

Guys,

Just got the First line ones pressed in (smaller size) and the ball joint is a lot easier to move than before so hopefully should be OK, will fit them tonight once I finish with all the day to day work mallarky.

They were 12 quid each so not bad price.

Cheers for all the help, just when I thought I knew what I was doin.....this happens.

Andy

 

Ball joint update and fix.

Ok its fixed.

Seems that there are two sizes of upper ball joint. I went for the smaller ones (standard size) and now its together and works fine.

Very strange that most factors only stock one size and that they even make an oversized one.

Still, now I know.......Hope other people can read this and get over it easier.

Thanks for everyones input.,

Andy