[T3] ball joints

[Jim Adney]

On 8 Mar 2012 at 10:46, Chris Sheridan wrote:

> What is prompting this is excessive play at both 9 and 3 oclock and 12
> and 6 oclock, despite having recently renewed the bearings, as well as
> constant creaking and moaning from the front end, and while I'm at it
> I'm going to do something about the brake judder and squealing, as I
> just replaced the calipers, rotors and bearings last year, and shouldn't
> have those issues. 

I agree that you shouldn't have those issues, but the worst possible 
outcome would be to assume you know the cause, spend a decent amount 
of money and a LOT of time fixing those assumed problems, only to 
find that nothing has changed.

Excessive play as you describe is not likely to be ball joints. If 
you have a '68 or earlier, my first guess is that you have the wrong 
inner wheel bearings. The inner end of the spindle got 2 mm larger in 
mid '68 and installing the late bearings will lead to exactly that 
kind of play. I've seen that, and it's puzzling until you figure it 
out.

I have both early and late bearings here, as well as seals.

If your ball joint boots are intact, I would move on to other 
possibilities without hesitation.

You should also check to make sure that your LU torsion arm has not 
come loose from the sway bar. The best way to check this is with 2 
people. One person grabs the top of the LF tire and yanks in and out. 
The other person lays on the ground and watches where the upper 
torsion bar goes into the beam. If you see that arm move in and out 
of the beam more than 1 mm, you have that problem.

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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