Hi Guys,
Well I'm in the process of a steering rebuild on Rag Doll. She has new tie rod assemblies, idler bushing, steering damper, and I was in the process of putting in a new Drag link. I have the passenger side drag link bolt off, but the driver side is STUCK. I bought a lever style tool from an online supplier, which promptly broke.

I have tried a pickle fork, heat gun, to no avail.

Anyone have any idea what to do here? theres no room to get it from the top. I think i've distorted the bolt enough where I won't be able to get the bolt back on to take it to my indy. So I'm stuck here.....

I'd love advice/suggestions.

Thanks
Dub

__________________
91 350SD
14 F150 Eco
19 Fusion Hybrid
11 GT500

Whack it harder with the fork. I just did a tie rod end that was a pita. Until I really nailed it with all my might with a mini sledge. Then she popped.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

agreed! thats the only way i have been successful.

__________________
have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

That's what used plus a 5 lb hand sledge hammer exclusively on all of my tie rods and drag links.

__________________
DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

when i first started workin on these i cut a pickle for down to seperate the lower ball joint. well everyone borrows my tools and so i was missing my fork when it came time to do them on the current car. well i made a new one which i thought i had made the same but the forks were to long. when i started hammering it bent one of them around the joint perfectly. what a pain in the a**

__________________
have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

Trust me..wen I did my W116 front end last year it took me two hours to get the drivers side lower ball joint to pop...and one of tie rod ends....

trust me when I say my arms were acheing and my nerves frazzled before they popped finally. I destroyed a pickle fork inthe process.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

i found that if you undo the upper with a pickle fork and then swing the spindle down you can just smack on the ball joint with a 5lb hammer till it comes undone. ofcourse you wanna leave the nut on slightly so it doesnt damage anything when it comes loose

__________________
have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

When using the fork, tear the old rubber grease boot completely out. Otherwise, it acts as a cushion and absorbs much of the impact needed to separate the parts. And sometimes a series of rapid blows to the fork work better than an occasional heavy blow. Penetrating oil helps, too.