Recently bought a 6n2 from a member on here, and it was pulling to the left slightly and wearing the tyres out on the inside edge.

No biggy i thought, thinking the tracking was slightly out, how ever i got it on the ramps for a quick check over and it appeared the wrong ball joint had been fitted, as it was leaning the wrong way and one of bolts was fouling the hub and was actually bent. I'm not holding a grudge against the guy off here as he was genuine enough and the work appears to have been carried out before he got it, how it passed its mot i will never know tho .

Any way orderd a new ball joint and got it delivered, pulled it out of the box to find it was the exact same, even had an L stamped in it for left, phoned euro up to make sure he sent the right one but all was good which left me scratching my head for a while.

Luckily i work at a vw dealership, so went on the workshop manual for this car and it appears they had 2 different ball joints for these cars depending on 13 or 14 inch wheels from factory due to differences in the hub and the need for different caster angles ect.

A quick look on etka shown the exact same part numbers but swapped around. (i will update this thread with genuine part numbers in the near future)

So basically

13 inch wheels from factory requires

N/S ball joint fitting to the N/S on the car (ECP part # 617440430)

O/S ball joint fitting to the O/S on the car (ECP part # 617440440)

14 inch wheels from factory requires

O/S ball joint fitting to the N/S on the car (ECP part # 617440440)

N/S ball joint fittiong to the O/S on the car (ECP part # 617440430)

Hope this saves someone alot of time and leg work

Top post.

Thanks for this!

Maybe sticky?????

No worries dude and a sticky would be good before it gets lost in the darkest depths of the forum :).

So that's why they could never get the caster perfect then? Get this stickied!

Yhep so simple it's frustrating to the point where the average hod thinks fuck it an sends the car on its way anyway lol.

Some of the ones listed on EuroCarParts say they fit both left hand and right hand, are they some kind of a different design to the LH/RH only ones?

The one I bought from the trade counter at ECP the other day (617440430) doesn't seem to be available online. Weird.

Cheers Luke that's saved me quite a bit of confusion :)

They're basically the same either car, as part number says, just depends which side you fit them on.

Adam you can adjust caster by moving the subframe, I had to on my 6n to equal them up.

just like the 16v 6ns then ?

you have to swap the ball joints and track rod ends to the opposite sides on them

Hmmmmm

Just so happens I got a front O/S 14" one from ECP yesterday.

My part number is: 617440438

Hope it fits... will find out Sat when I take it to the garage...