Francis,
I agree 100% with Larry. I used to be a porfessional mechanic (VW Prsche Audi) and no one in the shop used a pickle fork. We loosen the nut on the end of the tie rod and gave a good whack to the fitting. As Larry said, do not hammer on the end of the taper rod end (male end), but the female housing it fits in. This braks the taper joint intrface momentarily and the rod ends pops out! In my opinion, it is a lot more friendly to the car than the fork, a lot cheap, and easier to do. As i see frequently on this board "just my 2 cents". In any case, good luck!

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Deezel
87 300TDT
150,000 miles