Vanagon Ball Joint Repair

KAYAKWESTY.COM

Vanagon Ball Joint Repair

History:

I had the ball joints replaced on my Westy 4 years ago, with about 30000 miles on the sled. Well they went bad again, insult to injury in my book. I hate redoing something AND spending the money. Well after scratching my head, then my butt, then my wiping my face ...ummm which left a bad taste (note to self). I came to the conclusion that they went bad because they had no grease fittings and I got a deal on line. Well I ordered top of the line MOOG replacements, well they came in, and behold once again no grease fittings! But the box they came in shows a fitting on it. They are still a high quality fitting (very tight) but I only want to do this once. So I bought some grease fittings and installed them, and I figured I would take pictures for someone who has never used a tap and die set.

This is a mod for someone even if they are going to have a shop perform the actual install of the joint, in the long run it will save you money.

During the process of adding a grease fitting, once drilled ...I looked inside the joint, I didn't see enough grease to make me have that warm fuzzy feeling. So I'm more than glad I installed the fittings.

Ball Joint Repair Sites:

For Upper Ball Joint Repair CLICK HERE

For Lower Ball Joint Repair CLICK HERE

For Advice about Ball Joint Repair CLICK HERE

Tools Needed:

3/8" Box Wrench

1/4-28 Bottom Tap

1/4-28 Starter Tap

#14 Drill Bit

Tap Handle

Electric Drill

Condoms...hey you never know

So let's get going:

Here are the parts needed

You need a tool and die set? Not really...if you want to go cheap. Go to Sears and purchase a 1/4-28 Bottom Tap, and 1/4-28 Starter Tap, if they don't have the Bottom Tap. Wait and I'll show you what to do. Just buy two Starter Taps.

Drill Index needed: No ...not really but you will need a #14 drill bit

Do you need a drill...ummmmm ...yep!

Okay the ball joint... notice the center indention, you're gonna drill a hole in it

Place the joint in a vice, and cover the spline threads so you don't ruin them

Site note: It's good to check the thread/pitch count. The tap and die set has a feel gauge with little teeth, with a # on it. You match the threads/teeth on the gauge to the "screw" of the fitting.

The # on the gauge tells you the thread count. The grease fittings package had a 1/4-28 . I just wanted to make sure.

So after you thread count, look on the Tap Drill chart, my 1/4-28 called for me using a # 14 drill bit

Drill the joint with a #14 drill bit

Okay here where it changes up a little bit, you will need a Starter Tap AND a Bottom Tap both 1/4-28

Look below on how the tap on the left is squared off, it's a Bottom Tap

Notice the tap on the right, it's a Starter Tap...you start the threads with a Starter Tap

you finish it up with a Bottom Tap

My tap set didn't have a Bottom Tap, so got a Starter Tap and cut the end off, leaving a little bit of the taper left.

This is a two step process, use the Starter Tap first, and the Bottom Tap second, this is a process you can't work around, the center of the joint is indented and the Starter Tap doesn't reach all the way, So finish it up with a Bottom Tap. Work both taps in a little bit, then back off ,reverse the tap out, then start over...work it out, then work in......back and forth do this so you don't break the taps.

Use a 3/8" wrench and slowly work the fitting in

DONE!

Mark Cumnock