Thanks Bill:
I wandered into this thread just now and had the bejesus scared out
of me. To all: Please read the catalog directions CAREFULLY before
whacking on anything.
The directions state in different words what Bill is suggesting, and
is what my Daddy taught me years ago. You don't ever whack the threaded
ball of the tie rod end. The threaded shank and nut will just smush as they
arnt' that hard.
Smack the side of the steering arm ring, once HARD! The double
hammer technique is the safest, as more force is transmitted (anvil, you
know ole chap). A single hammer blow is also effective and what I'm used to
doing, since I have difficulty walking and chewing gum at the same time.
My own technique is to use a Leslie brand ball joint seperator
(available from any US parts store) which has been modified by grinding the
fingers thinner so it will fit under the tie rod end boot. Back the nut off
till it is flush, install the seperator, bearing on the nut face then
tighten the seperator a bit (no we are not relying on the seperator to pop
the tie rod end) Once the tie rod end is preloaded, one whap with a BFH (e
mail privately for translation) on the ring of the steering arm and "pop"
out it comes. Note we are not cranking the heck out of the seperator, cos
if we did the thinner fingers would bend.
All that said. Using this technique it is easy to pop the tie rod
ends and replace the boots. Folks that suggested leaving the tie rod ends
in place and unscrewing the tie rod are all correct, you can do that but it
doesn't satisfy my finer sensibilities.
At that point. Do yourself a favor and buy the factory boots. They
do seem to hold up better than the repros.
Kelvin.
> The taper of the pin fits very tightly in the tapered hole,
> even when the nut
> is removed. You want to break this close connection.
>
> Take 2 reasonably heavy hammers, one in each hand. Put one on
> each side of
> the steering arm in which the tie rod end is stuck. Hit both
> sides of the eye
> of the steering arm at exactly the same instant with both
> hammers,
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