Archived tie rod ends

[Clinton]

I made this problem myself, but the truck is out of commission and I'm nearing crisis. With that said, I prepped the truck last night for the levelling springs swap. Last thing I did was pop the tie rods loose at each wheel with the castle nuts on. They came loose no problem. I left them like that for the night figuring that would be better on the linkage, less strain than having them sitting on the floor pulling down on the drag link. Now the ball stud is turning in the rod end and I can't get the castle nuts off. Both sides in the same condition, spinning in the rod end whether tightening or loosening. I tried pushing the stud up in place to hold it, no luck. I could put some needle nose vice-grips below the nuts, but I'm afraid I'll damage the threads. What to do? (I thought that was the proper way to seperate them. ) Thanks,

 

[Joe G.]

(I thought that was the proper way to seperate them.)

Close, but no cigar. I remove the castle nuts completely, lube the threads, and then replace the nuts. I make sure they turn easily. THEN I break loose the tapered tie rod ends. If you have a bottle jack you might try this to get the nuts loose. Use a socket to protect the zerk fitting on top of the jack. Then jack up the tie rod end a little. Not too much or you might bend something. That should bind the taper in the hole with enuff friction to allow you to remove the nuts.

 

[Clinton]

So, the ends are okay, right?

I've been down there studying a bit. Those ends are working properly, aren't they? I was a bit worried I messed them up at first.



I had gotten as far as a socket over the zerk, but I was thinking about all kinds of difficult manuvers to push those studs back up. The bottle jack that came with the truck... very good. Thanks for your help. The springs will have to wait another day.

 

[Joe G.]

As long as the tie rod ends turn and swivel smoothly and there is no slop they should be ok.

 

[BWilson]

I only had to svrew a dozen tie rod ends before I bought a pickle fork. They are really cheap (under 20) and truly work like a charm!

 

[Joe G.]

I've been doing it without a pickle fork for 50 years. No problems after I learned how and no ruined boots either.

 

[Bill Lins]

How do you do it, Joe G. ? The double hammer trick or do you have a better way?

 

[Joe G.]

That's basically the way I do it. Sometimes only one big hammer. It depends on how solid the hit will be without the other hammer. It usually only takes a lick or two to break it loose. As I pointed out above you need to make sure the castle nut will come off easy before breaking the tapered part loose. I've tried the pickle fork. It's ok if you are replaceing the tie rod end, but if you are not it can mess up the rubbers.

 

[Clinton]

update

Didn't get back to the truck last night. Will be a couple of days as I'm out of town for the weekend. Thank goodness for the little econo car. So Joe, what is the double hammer trick? I was using a small two jaw puller, I borrowed that and a pickle fork from Autozone, but like you said, it looked like the fork I had would tear the boot. Thanks.

 

[Bigramguy]

BFH

Like Joe said,2 Hammers will work,even one big one in a pinch.



Rule #1 SAFETY GLASSES,as everything that flys up when you hit something always tends to end up in your eyes. A good pair of work gloves doesn't hurt either,just in case you miss .



Place one ball pein hammer against the knuckle where the tie rod attaches (90 Deg to stud),and then give that hammer a good whack with another big hammer,preferably a small sledge,and it should pop right off. If it is stubborn,use the smaller puller you have to put some tension on the stud and give it another whack with the hammers. Works for pretty much any press fit or tapered stud type component. I use just one hammer,as it's faster,but you have to be very accurate,or you'll mess up the knuckle.



As far as the problem with the nuts turning the studs,we see this all the time with some of the newer cars,as they don't use cotter pins,they use a locking nut. Makes them a real bear to put back on,without the stud turning. A little bit of valve grinding compound on the stud will prevent it from spinning,and some mild upward pressure will do it. Good luck.

 

[BWilson]

Great tips, thanks.

 

[Joe G.]

You don't always need two hammers. It depends on the situation. Basically, the idea is to loosen the castle nut and leave it on to protect the threads just in case your aim is not what it should be. Then you hit the part that the tapered shaft goes thru, not the tie rod. A hard blow momentarily deforms the tapered hole which knocks the tie rod end out. If you can't get a solid hit on it then you use two hammers and hit it from both sides at once. The main thing is to not be timid about the hit. Hit it hard. Use a big hammer or hammers. I usually use a large piece of shafting I have (6" in diameter by 4") to back up the part I hit instead of a second hammer. A front suspension is pretty sturdy so you would have to work at it to hurt anything.

 

[Clinton]

TDR kicks butt

It's okay to love a web site, right? Thanks everybody for the help. I hope to finish the spring project early next week, I'll let you know about those pesky ends. It's whitewater season, look out West Virginia.

 

[Roger rodbolt]

Joe G's method has worked well for me on hundreds of different vehicles over the years. Be aware that any tie rod manufacturer will tell you that pickle forks are only to be used if you are discarding the removed tie rod end. The forks won't always cause damage but do stress the ball socket.



To remove the nut, use up pressure on the taper and in difficult cases clean the taper with brake cleaner, then powder and remove the nut with an impact wrench.

 

[MidwestMotorman]

another tip...or two

Another tip for removing the tie rod end... use an air hammer. They make a special wide head (about quarter size ends) that lock in and make short work of knocking them out. The flat head does no damage to the tie rod end. It was definitely worth the money. It also works great on u-joints too!

 

[Clinton]

Update...All is well

Got back to the levelling spring swap project last night and Joe's bottle jack w/ socket method was succesful. Castle nuts came off with minimal fuss. I even got to employ the BFHammer to pop them loose the second time. Old springs out, new springs in. I'm in the middle of putting it back together. I was outside, it was getting late and I needed to make some noise to get a control arm to line up so I stopped for the night. Thanks for the replies, I learned several good lessons.