Hi all,
Just got done replacing the Ball Joints on the 245, and thought I'd put up a few of my notes observations:

-Repairs like this are really satisfying! Yay no more clunk (at least driving around the neighborhood). I got Moog/TRW BJ's from Germanautoparts.com for $20 each- great deal someone else had mentioned in a post a while back.

-Ball joints went fairly smoothly. I had to go out to the store to get an 18 mm socket (I really thought I had one...) and some red loctite. A cheater bar was helpful, and I did not have to deal with rust. Tracing the old joints' position on the bottom of the control arms helped assure me that alignment probably won't be affected.

-First ball joint no problems at all. The 2nd one started spinning while I was trying to get the nut on b/w the strut anchor plate and the joint. Came back to the BB, read a bit, and tried the vice method, but to no avail, and the nut wouldn't come loose either. I ended up happy that I bought the loctite- I pressed the plate and joint so that the taper fit took effect, and then peeled up the rubber boot so that I could get some loctite b/w the two. I let it sit upside down (so the loctite would flow down away from the ball) for a few hours and when I came back, stuck the plate in the vice and torqued it down no problem. Didn't have a torque wrench but I figure I got it in a reasonable range.

-The 2nd bird: At each wheel, I notice that my pads were dragging/sticking. The pins that serve to guide them (albeit loosely) were gummed up and corroded. I took them out (man those springs can fly) and put them in my 'poor man's lathe' (electric drill in my vice) and polished them up (plumbing sandpaper works really well). The wheels spin a LOT better now (they actually keep going more than a few rev's) and that's gonna help with mpg I'm sure.

So, when you've got the wheel off, check those pads! Simple fix that makes a big difference.

One question remains- I reused the 4 bolts (per side) that go into the strut, but the Bentley (and probably plenty of posts here) say you need new ones each time. I did treat them with red loctite though. Are those bolts one time use because of their locking capability (kind of like the ovalized or nylock nuts) or are the one time use due to stress/strain reasons? If the loctite won't take care of me, what size/grade are the bolts, and how soon should I replace them?

Hope this helps anyone considering doing the job!
God Bless,
Koos