Syncro: front wheel bearing installation and front suspension

First thing was to get all the bits and pieces ready to go:

Lower Control Arms: I bought urethane LCA bushings from Burley so they were super easy to install, just lube them with some dielectric grease and put in place with the washers. I pressed the new lower ball joints into place using a 3/4 “drive 2” socket which was the perfect size to press on the metal ring while easily sliding over the rubber boot part. I had previously cleaned up the threads on the radius rods so just gave them a coat of Never-Seez.

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Wheel Bearing Housings: first I cleaned up the 3 tapered holes in each WB Housing (for ball joints and tie rod end) getting rid of any excess paint that got in there. Then ran a 6×1.0 tap through the 3 threaded holes, again to remove any paint or debris that may have been in the threads. I find it much easier to assemble things if all threaded holes are cleaned up before taking the part back out to the van.

Then it was time to press in the new bearings and seals. First I needed something to support the bearing housing from below while I pressed in the bearing. As it turns adjusting rings from transaxles are the perfect size for this and my buddy John of Van Wonder (the local VW shop) gave me one of those (thanks John!).

So, lubed the bearing housing with moly grease as I didn’t have the moly paste Bentley mentions and set to pressing in the new bearing being sure to press on the outer race of the bearing.

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That was easy until the bearing became flush with the top of the bearing housing but it still needed to go further in. I used the outer race of one of the old front wheel bearings to press the bearing home. That was the perfect tool once I used my cut-off grinder to make a slot in it so it wouldn’t get stuck in the bearing housing along with the new bearing. That worked perfectly.

Then the snap ring went back into place and then the outer seal.

The split old bearing outer race made the perfect seal driving tool. (just tapped them into place with a little hammer)

Next was to press the hub into the new bearing and housing. I wanted to support the inner race only while pressing in the hub so as not to put any stress on the bearing itself. The perfect thing to do that was an old inner race. I needed something to make sure the supporting old inner race stayed perfectly lined up with the inner race of the new bearing so I found a bit of wood that fit snuggly in the ID of the races.

That worked well until the hub was most of the way in but then the hub needed to go through the new bearing inner race so I made a second bit of wood that could center my supporting old inner race from the ID of the hub itself (stepped wood bit). That worked well allowing me to press the hub the rest of the way until it was all the way into the new bearing inner race.

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Then loaded in some grease and put the inner seal in place.

I then bolted the lower control arm into place, leaving the radius rod nuts very loose for now. Bolted the shock/strut into place at the bottom but didn’t torque the bolt (note which way this goes – drivers side the spring seat step is towards the rear).

Then attached the wheel bearing housing to the lower control arm and slid the new Lobro axle into place.

Then the spring went into place and the spring compressors onto the spring.

The only pain about putting all those pieces back into place on the van was getting the upper shock threaded end into the hole. I had to pry it a bit with a 2×4.

I tightened the radius rod nuts back up so the same number of threads were showing as before I took things apart, torqued everything to specs and tomorrow will install all the front suspension bits for the other side and install the big brake kit from Van-Café. Hopefully that will go smoothly as well.