FRONT BALL JOINTS

So the older bugs and ghias have a link pin front suspension. The '66 ghia was the first year ghia to have ball joint front suspension. Here i remove and replace the worn ball joints. below is a side picture of the ball joint that is press fit into the trailing arm.

I had heard these could be problematic to remove. I actually tried using the ball joint installation tool to remove them but because there is little material around the outside of the ball joint it wouldn't work. In the end, a hammer and some punches proved to be effective at removing the ball joints since they didn't need to be saved.

Below are two trailing arms sans ball joints.

So after removing the ball joints, it's time to install new ball joints. Because i'm going to setting the car at a ride height lower than the stock height, i need appropriate ball joints. The stock ball joints are gated which limits their travel and damages them on lowered or raised cars. EMPI builds ball joints that aren't gated and allow for more articulation without binding.

A rental ball joint tool from the local parts store is used to install the ball joints. Although this tool didn't work well for removing the ball joints, assembly was slightly different and worked without issue.

here are the installed ball joints. Following some advice i had received from a local VW specialist, i removed the boots during installation to prevent tearing them. Of course being careful to keep them clean.

On thing i hadn't anticipated was the hardened washer that holds the eccentric fitting into the back of the spindle. This washer is a reused part but the problem is that the diameter of the EMPI ball joint shaft is larger than the factory part. So the inside opening of the washer needed to be opened up. Because it was hardened steel, conventional drill bits would not work. I used a carbide bur and a die grinder to open up the inside hole of the washer to fit the larger shaft. Below is the assembled and painted assembly.