Getting it back together

[rollercoaster]

Cracked on for a change,
The welding is finished:



the bits by the seatbelt mounts could at least be done from the top..



So its all down to ordering the other bits,
should I ask on general technical forum,
are they the same as 2WD vans?

[rollercoaster]

The place Lee suggests has four sizes fits all,
and I reckon it could be the largest size:

http://www.balljointboots.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anyone got one handy they can measure or offer an experienced guess please?

[Aidan]

shaft is 20mm diameter and socket something around 45mm

[PetenAli]

Hey - welding looks good! Just needs dressing. Did you do it yourself in the end? Nice looking Butters welding plant too - those 170 welders are just perfect for that kind of job!

[rollercoaster]

Thanks Aidan,
So the biggest boot they sell is:

"Approximate hole sizes
35 mm and 12.5 mm,
Height 30 mm"

Shall we say its not going to fit then,
or do the boots stretch to fit?

I had planned to get four
as the top ones may get damaged in the process of replacing the bottom ones...
Maybe I dont have to even touch the top ones?

[rollercoaster]

Yes Pete!
Dress the weld, ..sunday best?
Or oil and vinegar?

I did all the prepping and making up the fillets of 2mm steel,
which I picked up from SJ Andrews,
after I left yours with your lovely welder thanks..
glad you reminded me about their offcuts section, £2 for a big sheet..

My friend, who is the MOT tester did the welding,
so he got to see what he was going to approve "from the inside"
I had the opportunity to monitor his work and improve his high standards.
He was really good, and liked your welder too.
He also thought the steel was a bit thicker than needed,
but better than thin I reckon.

When I tried it I was not confident enough to tackle something that I wanted to be perfect.
A few days playing around first maybe then..
Fancy getting myself one of those toys one day.

[rollercoaster]

Well I have boiught some boots and ordered a track rod, should be here today.
Got all the front end in the air wheels off and all the nuts and bolts freed up.
The ball joint splitter I have borrowed is not large enough to get onto the bottom ball joint..
Will it help to undo the top one at the same time?
Any tips on getting the bottom one separated?
I dont want to damage it as I am only replacing the rubber boots.
Thanks
I'll be cleaning and waxoiling for a while..

[Aidan]

don't bother with a splitter shock it out by applying a large shock to the cast arm very adjacent to the balljoint whilst not damaging the thread - worth getting another nut of the same thread to put on to act as a protector and once you have shocked it enough to break the rust gripping it and probably the insert in the upright you may apply a little end persuasion provided the sacrificial nut is on the threads fully and the nut basically flush with the end of the balljoint - on the vehicle a trolley jack and the weight of the van can provide a nice end load - it may work better to end load it at the same time as shocking it
if it comes out with the insert you'll have fun seperating them without damaging the insert so you can get the new boot on

last time I did this job I didn't expect to reuse anything so already had new balljoints and inserts ready, I don't think many of us would bother rebooting a balljoint, it might pass mot now but if the boot has split then water and other matter will have been in there so possibly not long life left and wouldn't want to go to the effort of rebooting it only for it to have play and fail in the nearish future - the old ones seem to last 20 years, so figure on genuine new one doing the same, cheaper ones can fail surprisingly quickly even supposed HD ones

[rollercoaster]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply,
all good tips, and I shall be giving it some shock treatment this morning.
I did hit it a bit and lift it with the jack, but now its had some time with the WD40 as well.
Wasnt too desperate because I thought that a bigger nutcracker would have been better.

I realise that the parts I am rebooting will need replacing soon,
but theres no access to a press, the money has all been spent on gearbox and exhaust!
I can come back to the front end soon.
At that point, with some funds, the whole lot would get rebushed as well.
Looks like quite an expensive operation, but I am getting used to that idea.
Truly it doesnt need it now it all looks pretty good.

[rollercoaster]

So what next,
the driveshaft is in the way of getting the ball joint out,
it looks more difficult than I thought,

agreed it would be better to put new ones on now..

Will I need a puller now like it says in Bentley,
not really sure what to do next,
basically remove the whole hub?

might as well replace the top ones as well,
jobs worth doing..
worth doing well

[Aidan]

Do you have the early lower arms with the bolted in lower ball joint carrier ? If so you make as if you were removing the driveshaft, undo the nut on the end of the driveshaft, caliper off, brake flexi off the upright and tie up caliper, top ball joint off the upper wishbone, then tilt the upright outwards to enable the outer cv to be withdrawn from the bearings, you can then undo the three bolts and ease the carrier out of the arm with the upright and do the ball joint seperation on the bench
if you have the late cast arms then it's whole lower control arm off to replace the ball joint
That's why I said do the full replacement job, once you are that far in in makes no sense to not do it all once and forget, use the lemforder joint from brickie or the genuine one from classic parts/VW - the Meyle brand ones and others don't seem to last very long
a few years ago I did both sides, one side genuine one side aftermarket supposedly the best quality (as a controlled test with Brickie) and 18 months later bottom ball joint failed and failed mot - fortunately my garage quoted me £85 to replace it including the part so I said fine £85 and I'll supply the part (VW one was £85 alone) and let them do it - autodata had said something like 1 1/2 hours, I supplied the correct press tools and it took them 5 hours (that's nearly 10 man hours labour) but they could only charge me the £85 they quoted, I knew how bad a job it was going to be, made more sense for me to rebuild a gearbox with my time
fyi all the ball joints and bushes that were non genuine non oem had to be replaced within 2 years, the upper wishbone bushes lasted 3 months, upper ball joint about 14 and the lower 18, the tie rod end just made it to 2 years
that's on a almost standard bus

[rollercoaster]

Thats a great help.
I do have the pressed arms, with bolted on ball joint fittings,
so once its off ..as you describe,
it can go somewhere to get the pressing..

I have ordered all the ball joints and all new bolts and clips,
good old reliable Brickwerks quality items.

Question:
The steering bellowsy boot thing, between the rack and the arm,
can I reuse the clips, or is there an better/easier option on reassembly.
(I split one when removing it carelessly and replacement is coming too)

[Aidan]

you can replace the castellated nut with split pin with a nylock, if the castellated nut is used a split pin must be fitted for mot, new ones have nylocks on them now for the most part

[rollercoaster]

The steering bellowsy boot thing came from Brickies today and its arrived with one clip, different to the old ones,
I guess you just pull it tight and fold it back over etc?



But what about the other end?
reuse the old clip or use a grip tie,
or go buy something else?

[Aidan]

a cable tie will be fine, that's what a lot of them have on them