[Roadsters] tie rod ends, the "shock"

[Paul Bauman]

I second the use of a good quality pickle fork. I must have bought the 
same tool from Harbor Freight, because it was good for only a few ball 
joints before the tines started bending. Picked up a replacement at 
Junior's Tools in Santa Ana and as Fergus mentions, ba-da-bing. I did 
use a few grade 8 nuts that fit the ball joint ends to sub for the good 
nuts when banging on the tie rod ends, but other than that, things came 
apart fine with a decent pickle fork.


Paul Bauman
Westminster, CA
67 1600



On 10/24/2011 05:25 AM, O'Farrell, Fergus P (AS) wrote:
> And while I am sure the experts know (but it wasn't mentioned) the tapered
> joint gets a bit frozen in there, so I found the dual hammer "shock" helps a
> lot as well (just make sure the nut is still on a few threads!).  The taper is
> so tight I doubt the PB blaster is working its way in, although it certianly
> isn't hurting.
>
> Slap my wrist, but initally I went to Harbor Freight and bought a pickle fork,
> but it was of course sized for max sales, so the right size for American Iron
> ball joints.  It worked on the first 3 joints, then for some reason I had a
> hard time with the 4th.  Being of too soft a material, the tines had "spread"
> and it was no longer effective.  Went to AutoZone and they had one just
> slightly smaller, (I think it was 15/16") perfect size for the roadster.  The
> rest came off like "butta".
>
> Oh, and I made my own parts cleaner with a  plastic bin  and a quart of diesel
> and a chip brush.  Works like a charm, wear glasses for the splashes, and
> close the lid or the wife will complain the whole garage smells like a truck
> stop..... (or the fuel dock at the marina)