Upper Ball Joint (Heavy-Duty Adjustable) [All Vanagon]

Upper Ball Joint (Heavy-Duty Adjustable) [All Vanagon]

Product:	GVW-251-407-361
Works With:	1980-1991
Manufacturer:	GoWesty
Difficulty:	Requires some hand & power tools and minimal mechanical knowledge.

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Proposition 65: This product may contain chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.

Introducing the GoWesty all-steel, long-pin, heavy-duty upper ball joint (UBJ) for all Vanagon. These will be the last upper ball joints you will ever have to purchase... and watch your front tires last longer!

Features:
• All-steel construction, greaseable, and fully adjustable for zero-play
• Longer pin design for superior suspension geometry
• DuroGreen HNBR boot for ultimate durability
• No ball joint spacers are required for regular height and lifted vans
• Installs on top of the upper control arm for lowered vans
• Limited Lifetime Warranty for the original purchaser

Fits: 1980-91 Vanagon models (2WD & 4WD) - (2) Two required per vehicle.

Fitment Note: These upper ball joints are designed to correct the geometry of the wheel in conjunction with all zero lift, lowering, and lifting spring kits on the market. If you are running standard height (zero lift) or lifting springs, install normally as you would any upper ball joint. If you are running lowering springs, install the UBJ from the top of the A-arm. See the image slider for an illustration of this.

Naturally, we did not want to reinvent the wheel, so we took a very close look at what was already on the market. Other long-pin UBJs on the market duplicate several problematic features of the original, short-pin OE design. Plastic inner parts were retained and they are not greaseable or adjustable. But the real deal breaker was the angled design of the bolting flange to accommodate the less-than-ideal angle VW was aware of. What's puzzling is: Why was this aspect of the OE ball joint duplicated? The whole point of the longer design is to correct the UCA angle making an angled bolt flange counterproductive in terms of angular capability. Needless to say, we decided to start from scratch and do it right.

Our GoWesty UBJs are not only forever/all metal/greaseable—the design also tackles two common problems:

Alignment challenges: The upper control arm (UCA or “A-arm”) on standard-height and lifted Vanagons typically sits at a very steep angle, sloping downward toward the wheel. Lowered Vanagons have the opposite problem: the UCA angles upward. The ideal UCA angle for alignment is to be as level as possible at rest. Like the UBJ spacers we pioneered over two decades ago, when installed in the standard position under the UCA, it corrects the UCA downward angled UCA on standard-height or lifted vans. What is even niftier is that, when installed from the top of the UCA, it corrects the opposite problem on lowered Vanagons. Leveling the UCA as much as possible mitigates the alignment challenges an out-of-level UCA angle creates.

Suspension geometry/tire wear: The longer UCA pin increases the pivot points between the UBJ and LBJ, which decreases the (camber) angle changes at the wheel. The result is better handling and reduced tire wear.

Service Interval: We recommend checking for excessive play (adjust only if/as needed) and greasing these ball joints every 3500-5000 miles. Checking them when you change your oil is a great way to remember! It takes literally 5 minutes per side to check each side and hit them with a little grease.

Important: Do not over-torque the nut and bolts! Factory spec for the nut is only 80ft-lbs, and only 44 ft-lbs for the M10 bolts. Never use impact to tighten!

Critical Note: The pins (the part the big nut screws onto) on these all-metal ball joints are much harder than the regular ball joints. This makes them very wear-resistant, but also makes them more sensitive to over-tightening. It is never a good idea to use an impact wrench to tighten any ball joint, but it is especially important not to do that to these ball joints. DO NOT TIGHTEN these upper ball joints with an impact wrench. You can use an impact to get the pin taper to seat (stop spinning), but once the pin stops spinning, STOP and use a torque wrench to tighten them the rest of the way to XX ft-lb factory specification.

What is HNBR, you ask?

Modern “rubber” does not contain any natural rubber. It is fully synthetic and called NRB, which stands for Nitrile Butadiene Rubber. HNBR (also known as HSN for “Highly Saturated Rubber”) is Hydrogenated NBR. It is a form of super-duper NBR that outperforms regular NBR as far as operating temperature range, resistance to chemical and atmospheric exposure, and, most importantly, strength. The only downside of HNBR is that it is way more expensive. For parts that are labor intensive to replace, like CV boots: It is way more cost effective because it lasts so much longer. Buyer beware: You can’t tell if a “rubber” part is HNBR or if it is regular NBR (or even natural rubber, for that matter) by holding it in your hand—which makes it hard to know if the item is made of the ”good stuff” or not. But if it is a GoWesty DuroGreen part: You can rest assured it is made of the absolute best stuff for the job!

At GoWesty, we know materials matter—especially when it comes to elastic polymer (“rubber”) parts. Do you ever wonder why OEM parts seem to last many years, but often the replacement parts break down in a matter of months? It’s because manufacturers had to support every part of their vehicles for at least ten years or suffer the consequences of customer dissatisfaction and ultimately loss of sales. The devil is in the details when it comes to the stuff of which parts are made. Just because it looks the same doesn’t mean it is the same! You can have two identical-looking parts in your hand and one of them might be complete junk. If you have a DuroGreen GoWesty part in your hand, you can rest assured it is made of the very best, high-quality material for the application.

We make our proprietary polymer parts green so you can tell it is a genuine, properly engineered, maximum-durability part available only from GoWesty!