Lower Ball Joint (Heavy-Duty Adjustable) [Bus/Vanagon]

Thumbnail of Lower Ball Joint (Heavy-Duty Adjustable) [Bus/Vanagon]

Lower Ball Joint (Heavy-Duty Adjustable) [Bus/Vanagon]

Product:	GVW-251-407-187
Works With:	1968-1991
Manufacturer:	Gowesty
Difficulty:	Requires a full tool set and broad 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.

GoWesty Heavy Duty Lower Ball Joint (LBJ) for all Bus & Vanagon. All-steel construction, fully adjustable and greaseable. These will be the last lower ball joints you will ever have to purchase!

Features:
• Bombproof All-Steel Construction
• No-Clunk Micro-Adjustable
• Low-Profile Grease Fitting with Protective DuroGreen Dust Cap (FKM Viton)
• Heavy-Duty DuroGreen Grease Boot (HNBR)
• Lifetime Warranty - See "Warranty" tab for info

Fits:
• 1968-79 Bus (replaces 211-405-371A) - (4) Four required per vehicle,
• 1980-91 Vanagon models (2WD & 4WD) - (2) Two required per vehicle

Replacing an LBJ on a Bus, or a 2WD/4WD Vanagon is very labor-intensive. It requires the disassembly of pretty much the entire front suspension. It is so costly on the labor side that you do not want to pay a mechanic $150+/hr to do it again… and again.

That is the problem with all the other ball joints on the market: hit one decent-sized pothole and clunk clunk clunk goes your suspension. The relatively soft cap and malleable plastic internal parts can only take one good hit—and that’s it. It probably won’t completely fail (although that can happen, too), but the noise that ensues is maddening. That's why we came up with the GoWesty all-steel lower ball joint.

There is nothing soft or malleable about this ball joint. It can take hit after hit after hit without a whisper of a clunk. Tried and true over thousands of miles running the NORRA Mexican 1000, these LBJs are virtually indestructible—and when they develop a small amount of play, they can be easily adjusted back to snug and quiet.

Plus, these ball joints are greaseable, too. Grab a Right-Angle Grease Gun Nozzle for easier access to the low-profile grease fitting (required for Syncro), or simply replace the provided low-profile grease fitting with a standard zerk fitting (included). Refer to the PDF instructions.

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!

Important: Do not over-torque the nut! Factory spec is only 74 ft-lbs. Never use impact to tighten the nut.

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-torquing. 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 lower 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 74 ft-lb factory specification.

Installation Instructions for GoWesty Heavy-Duty Lower Ball Joint

Install Tip: No special pressing tools are needed to press in just the body of the ball joint into the spindle or ball joint insert. If you don’t have the special pressing tools needed, it takes only about a minute to disassemble the ball joint - you can even leave the boot in place, it does not interfere during the pressing procedure. After the body of the joint is pressed in and secured with the snap ring, reassembly is just as easy as taking it apart---and there is no special orientation of the various components to keep track of!

This product comes with a loose Zerk fitting that is suitable for use with a standard grease gun nozzle on 2WD vehicles. The installed low-profile fitting is included for 4WD vehicles with limited clearance between the CV axle and ball joint.

*Discard the snap ring for the Bus application.

Limited Lifetime Warranty for the original purchaser. Warranty covers all steel parts. Excludes grease boot and dust cap.

What is Viton you ask?

Well, Viton is a fluorocarbon-based fluoroelastomer. Cool! It is considered one of the best synthetic rubber materials available. It is known for its ability to withstand extreme temperatures and fluid resistance, making it the ideal material for harsh environments. It is often used in the aerospace and automotive industries where exposure to high temperatures, fuel, oil, and other chemicals is common. It is tough and durable, with great abrasion and tear resistance. It is famous for its fluid resistance, and ability to withstand exposure to aggressive fuels, oils, acids, gasses, hydrocarbons, and other chemicals. Viton also has a strong resistance to UV exposure, oxidation, ozone, weathering, and molds. So yeah, it is really good stuff!

What is HNBR, you ask?

Modern “rubber” does not contain any natural rubber. It is fully synthetic and called NBR, 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!