Ok, Now I'm MAD

[Z Kid]

Spent all of last night trying to remove my tierod ends, tried everything that has worked on other cars in the past, and now I'm out of ideas. THe tierod end is gone, and I'm willing to accept that, but i would like to have the spare strut and brake assembly.

Here was my plan of attack:

Get loosen off castulated nuts (or whatever they are called) tap on either side to free cone shaped part. HIt a few times.

Go get blow torch and heat the surrounds, tap again.

Heat further and get axe (more weight than hammer) swing hard and with anger, cos your finger just got burnt on the near red hot steel. At this point the left hand side one came free, but not the right.

Heat right hand side further and resort to using proper tie rod removal tools (the one with the screw in end just bent and popped off repeatedly, the wedge shaped on just spread, and did nothing.

Ok, now i have a burnt hand, two ruined tie rod removers, and am in a really bad mood with Z's in general (only just stopped myself kicking the door as i walked off, mainly because i already priced a left hand door) So now what do i do, normally I'd just go and get a bigger hammer, but I'm not sure they come much bigger. PLEASE help me

[hmsports]

I've always had good luck with a pickle fork. Ruins the rubber boot, but they pop off pretty easily...

They are usually free to borrow from the local auto parts store.

[kmack]

I agree with Rick on using the pickle fork. I hammered on an old steering rack (that still had bad ball joints atteched) with a 20 lb sledge hammer for over an hour and they didn't budge. Took a pickle fork to them with a 5 lb sledge and they both came loose after 3 hits! Go figure....

[Gav240z]

Ok this is off topic.

But where are the tie rod ends located. I just replaced the control arm bushes and ball joints on my syspension. I noticed an upper ball joint that makes up part of the steering system is that the tie rod end?

Anyone got a picture of where it is on a car?????

Also after replacing my ball joints should I notice anything different about the car????

[mperdue]

Hey hmsports,

You must have the Official Auto Mechanics Mega Clip Art Collection But hey we appreciate the artwork!!

Michael

[hmsports]

The tie rod connects to the steering rack and at the end of it is a ball joint. The tie rod ball joint is bolted into the steering knuckle which is a short arm that faces forward and part of the spindle.

Here what the tie rod end looks like:

Oh, and Michael, it is amazing what you can find using Google :classic: