Powerbuilt Front End Service Kit. Loaner tool kit #3, Powerbuilt part number 648626. Canadian Tire part# 25-6332-6. Autozone should loan these also.
Powerbuilt 21 piece Ball Joint/U joint service kit. Loaner tool kit #24, Powerbuilt part number 648602. Canadian Tire part# 94-6316-0. Autozone should loan these also.
Interesting name... "OE brand" Made in China ball joints. Quality appears OK, but I'd rather have it say "Made in Germany".
After removing wheel, caliper and hub, use large phillips bit to remove 3 bolts that hold dust cover to steering knuckle. Leave old spindle nut on to protect axle from damage for rest of job.
Apply penetrating oil (PB Blaster or similar) before unbolting anything. (caliper and hub already removed after removing upper ball joint big nut which holds brake hose bracket).
Don't disconnect brake lines unless working on calipers. Support caliper with wire hanger or place on block so you don't stress the brake hoses.
Remove complete Knuckle in order to replace lower ball joint. A) remove tie rod end with appropriate puller from kit #3. B) Ensure you have removed large nut from upper ball Joint. C) Remove large nut from lower ball joint.
D)Remove two 8mm allen bolts that hold upper ball joint to upper control arm. E) Remove three bolts that hold lower ball joint adaptor to frame.
Pull complete knuckle away and off of van. Don't forget to leave the old axle nut on to protect the axle. Then use puller to get ball joint adaptor off of lower ball joint.
You can press out the upper ball joint with Knuckle off the van, but they often come out by prying up on the upper control arm and/or whacking the knuckle down while still on the van. Your choice.
Study the new lower ball joint to see how it is installed. It is pressed out from the bottom, pressed in from the top. The straight edge has be aligned to provide clearance for the knuckle.
Don't forget to first remove the circlip at the bottom of the balljoint with a small screwdriver. I guess it's for safety but I can't see how the ball joint would ever pop out on it's own...
Now comes the fun part. You need to use the cut out piece of the kit to clear the old ball joint along with adaptors below with do the pressing. The adaptor on top off the knuckle only fits one way, make sure it won't slip off and is outside of the joint lip.
The adaptor immediately below the knuckle is off-center/tapered. I used it to help apply pressure perpendicular to the joint since the upper adaptor was a little cock-eyed. If I owned this kit I would modify the upper adaptor to fit Vanagon knuckles better, but it will work the way it is supplied.
Another view of the kit pieces I used to remove the lower ball joints.
After a few turns, you can remove the c-clamp to see how you're doing and perhaps spray some more penetraing oil onto the splines.
Clean knuckle with brake parts cleaner and rags. I often use a wooden chopstick to chip out the gunk without scoring the metal.
Clean the ball joint receptacle.
For installing the new lower ball joint, different adaptors from the kit are needed.
The adaptor at the top presses on the outside lip of the ball joint. (but doesn't pinch the rubber) The middle adaptor goes under the knuckle but allows the ball joint to slip through it. The bottom adaptor is so the C-Clamp bolt has something to bite into.
Another view of the pieces I used for installing the lower ball joints.
Before attaching C-clamp add the other adaptor to clear ball joint shaft and tap joint into knuckle to get it started. Make sure it is going in perpendicular to the hole and flat side is aligned with proper clearance against the knuckle wall.
Pressing lower ball joint in. The top adaptor is going to do most of the work.
You may need cheater bars and/or a foot to help tighten the bolt which presses in the ball joint. If it feels too tight, back off and check that everything is going in perpendicular.
After a while you will see the ball joint flush with the knuckle.
New ball joint pressed in nice and flush.
Clean up circlip and reinstall it. For safety.
Another view of installed lower ball joint with circlip. I put on the large nut hand tight to protect the threads during re-assembly.
Install the ball joint adaptor first with the three big 17mm bolts. Tighten all three to 47 ft pounds then to 51 ft pounds.
I decided to rebuild my calipers so I blocked off the brake line with a golf tee, but keep a rag handy, it will still probably leak brake fluid.
Install the lower ball joint nut and tighten to 80 ft pounds.
Install upper ball joint into upper control arm with two allen bolts. Use new ones if your upper ball joint came with them.
Tighten upper ball joint nut part way to seat ball joint shaft, then remove nut.
Now tighten large nut with brake line bracket installed. Carefully bend brake line bracket out of the way if necessary. Torque to 80 ft pounds.
Good time to install new tie rod ends. Tighten nut below knuckle to 22ft pounds. Advance nut for cotter pin clearance if you do not have a new nylon locking nut.
Now install dust shield. If you are replacing inner wheel bearings, test fit that they are the correct size onto spindle before installing into hub...I learned this the hard way...
I installed new disk rotors and wheel bearings. Whether you use new ones or your old ones, clean all surfaces with brake parts cleaner before installing calipers.
My old calipers cleaned and rebuilt with new rubber seals.
Calipers loaded with new brake pads and securing pins. After you road test, you should probably get a wheel alignment done, especially if you disturbed the tie rod ends. End of photos.