I am still trying to figure out what exsactly happend. I went to pull out of our driveway to go get some grillin steaks, and BANG CRASH! I get out nothing on the ground go to back into the drive and THUD! wheel hits fender top! ACK!

So the wedge pin nut is just spinning and the ball joint post is out of its slot!! I just replaced this ball joint and NEW pin et al. Here is my question: Is the wedge pin for a 1970 four lug different from a pin for a later model? I know the joints are different and now looking at them the side cut in the post is WAY different! V shaped on the late and round on the early...
I need a martini!

Early cars get a bolt and nut, late cars get the wedge pin. Ya gotta be more careful or you'll get hurt.

you said it brother! I was out bombing around sunday!

Follow up question: I asked when I bought the ball joint about the keeper. The parts house guys (yes multi!!) said "they are all the same wedge pin..." How much ire do I direct at them? Very much user error on my part (and I am PLENTY MAD at that guy too!) but if you ask, would you rather have an answer of I dont know rather than what the guy *thinks* is right?

Lesson learned, though!! need that factory shop manual link~!

it's not his fault, it's your's....there is only 1 wedge pin so they are all the same...the other is a bolt, totally different part...at least nobody got hurt...

Yes, Mike shadetree guy is ultimately at fault for the installation, but I asked about the retainer FOR this application. He sold me all the parts. What I am taking acception to is the mis information and extra 20 bucks for parts I didnt need.

I feel your pain, I'm sitting on $300 worth of fuel injectors due to the counter guy selling me the wrong parts....

Not only are the ball joints and fasteners different, the struts are, too. If you asked for the correct parts to fit YOUR struts, and they sold you the wrong parts, they share the blame with you. You, of course, shoulda noticed they weren't right, or weren't the same as what came out. I say 60/40. If you're dealing with a "counter guy", remember, he knows less than squat about 914s, unless he's dealing over the phone form one of the European specailty sources, in which case he may just barely know squat. If he's a counter guy at a chain store (or FLAPS, if you prefer), he's prohibited by law from having any kind of brain at all. Remember, the parts guys are NOT your friend. They're there to make a sale. If that means they have to stretch, bend, or distort the truth so that you will hear what you need to hear to get your money in their pocket and you and the part out the door, they'll do it. The Cap'n

I do agree, but this was no ordinary euro parts house, but one of our prefered providers. And yes, I did order and receive the correct ball joint for a 1970 914/4

Brake calipers are different too...

Check out my post on this exact topic. It has lots'O pics to check things out.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?show...6&hl=ball+joint

Good luck!!!

i recall something being welded on the front end before it came home. same spot? switch the front end out with a later setup out of one of the cars in your personal wrecking yard. you'll then know what is what.

k

If you got the right parts for your car (ball joint with the "U" shaped notch and the 10mm bolt), then what the hell are you doing with a wedge pin? If you have struts that take the wedge pin (and you say the caliper's wrong) then you should have told them that right up front. That makes it 100% your fault. Did the new part look like the one that came out? Did the old one fit properly? The Cap'n

zoiks dino!! . the new car on jackstands. wtf .

k

It is not on Jack stands yet!

I didnt have the old pin, the car had a damaged ball joint to begin with.

I called and asked twice to be sure the parts were correct, I was assured that the ball joint and the pin were correct for the 1970.

Yes, it is all my fault for not hunting down the diagram to see for myself. I dont own a parts house and have never worked on a 1970 car so I guess I will have to research every part that doesnt look right to me when I receive it...

Now, where in the Seattle/Tacaoma area can I buy wheel bearings for the 74 front end to go into the 1970 car!

Dino

Check with Ken at Small Car Performance in Tacoma253 473-2474 or Oval's Motorsprts in Federal Way 253 952-7115 for local suppliers.

Dave

Dr DAVE ROOLZ! Thanks for the info!

If you can't find high-strength bolts, let me know I bought a bunch.

thanks for the offer, but I went to Tacoma Screw (he heE) and got the hook up! Now I need to decied if I put it back together or upgrade to the 74 front end?
How long till the WCC?

the front end can easily be done in one day, prob in 1/2 with the right tools. go 74' dino.

k

at least it didn't happen going down the road... it happened to me in my old truck like that... never been more scared in my life

Well this is bound to keep my streak of not attending 914 functions in a 914 going strong! The strut was damaged both by my beating the wedge pin in and from the inceident itself.

I pulled all the good front end parts off the the other cars, but now I don't for see it coming back together anytime soon. I did swap for the welt springs and koni sports for the rear.

To swap frontends I will need to buy new rotors, races and bearings at least. SO for the third summer in a row, my attendance at the classic hangs by a thread (bad pun)

at least it isnt on jackstands... YET.

VW rabbit rear wheel bearings and seal are the same parts. So any VW dealer will do. Fit all years 914/4.