Short: Can't get outside tie rod end off, car will be towed/impounded (likely with damange to car since it has a tie rod off) at 5pm tomorrow.

After figuring out that a bent tie rod was the cause of my steering wandering to the right, iI decided to replace the damn thing. Ordered the new part, and planned to follow diesel giant's writeup. ( http://www.dieselgiant.com/mercedes%20tie%20rod%20rr1.htm )

The inside end came off quickly, a couple of strikes from the hammer on the fork level and then a yank on the lever

The outside (tire side) end is a different story...

I've smacked the thing (with a very big hammer) from every angle imaginable, including the hammer right onto the threaded part on top. Also tried yanking on it both up and down, and spraying WD-40 to try to loosen it up. Roughly four hours later, it looks like it hasn't moved. I did suceed in moving the wheel at one point. I've tried to lever it out both with the other end in and out... nothing.

The great catch is that I am doing this on school (college) grounds, parked (illegally, during the day) across two spots that I'm not permitted to park in. I've been granted a stay until 5pm tomorrow to have the car out of where it is. There are places I could park it not far off... but I can't move it with a tie rod out, can I? The grease boots on both ends of the current rod are completely torn up. I figure there's something I'm not doing right to get the end out, because it seems to have been a relatively simple procedure for everyone else who's tried it.

Anyone have any ideas? Any help is appreciated.

__________________
1992 300D 2.5T 249k - Parked with a bad transmission
1981 300SD 142k - Daily driver

might want some heat.....


heat the end the tie rod goes into to that expands and allows it to release... Or try a bigger hammer

We rigged a jeep tie rod back together with bailing wire on the trails... lasted about 100 feet of kinda tight trail...

I dont know what else I can say unless i knew more info. I'd try a 2 jaw puller, put the center thing on the tie rod's threaded part, and the jaws on the other part (like the technical jargon?)

use PB blaster, screw WD 40

Good luck



~Nate

__________________
95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

crap dude, for that matter, you can just bolt it back together again and drive it a little bit. the ball joints on the scort were torn and nasty for like 10k miles before they wore out horriably.

it's not like ur doing any damage, because ur replacing them anyways

bolt it back together tonight, and drive the SOB to where u can work on it

~Nate

__________________
95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

Tie-rod/pickle forks are a no-no. Shame on you.

Smack the hammer on the spindle where the tie-rod goes into it. The hole is cone shaped and the force of smacking it will compress the cone and pop the tie-rod right out.

Attached Thumbnails

 

yea, a pickle fork is for when you removed the old and install a new one.

Nate's right -- bolt it back together & get it to some place where you can work on it. Can't do it at home? How about the outer fringes of a big WalMart lot ? That ought to be good for a couple of days ...

WD40 is not useful, in my opinion, in situations like this (or in any other situation, for that matter). I use Fabulous Blaster -- any auto parts store -- and heat, if the part still resists. Sometimes it helps to spray a part & come back the next day to try again.

I have 2 pickle forks -- one with a shorter, fatter fork // one with a longer, slimmer fork. The slimmer fork has a more gradual angle to the fork -- which means it takes less force to drive it into a joint -- and you're more likely to spring the joint. I only use the fatter one when there's not room for the longer one.

Make sure you're using enough hammer -- a 1 lb ballpeen is not enough -- a 2 lb is much better, and a 3 lb small sledge is even better. Take the wheel & tire off so you have room to swing from outside the car, not lying under it. It's much safer that way, too.

I've sweat & cussed at some of the joints I've popped apart, but never failed to get them apart. Just hit it harder, and be safe -- you can't follow my advice if the thing is on a jack -- you'll knock it off. Go buy a car stand with a good rating --- one that adjusts for height by notches on the front of a cast iron section, not one that is made of thin sheet metal & uses a pin to go through holes in a sheet metal pipe. As far as I'm concerned, car stands & floor jacks that are light are junk -- I want heft.

Good luck

For those who aren't in the know, ForcedInduction has the approach that always works. Try it, and be amazed. Hitting the nut from the top will not loosen it, but hitting the spindle will very easily.

agreed,
hitting the bolt will make it larger and almost impossible to remove.
harder for sure.
a pickle fork can work, but proper malleting works best.
sometimes it takes an additional hammer resting on the opposite side to aid in force control.
John

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

If you don't want to hit the rod for safety reasons, Autozone carries in stock a gear puller/tie rod puller that will work for this, should be less then 20 dollars. There should be two sizes available, you want the one with fixed arms, that is the smaller size (something like 2 inches?). It's one of the cheap red/black package deals on the shelf, I believe they label it a gear puller. I ran into this same problem, and after much useless pounding found this popped the infernal rod out in about 5 minutes. I would suggest screwing the nut up to the top of the tie rod thread to give you a bit more area to push on. The arms should just barely fit.
Good Luck

I totally agree with FI's method. I've used it and it if very effective. 2-3lbs ball peen or cross peen hammer works great..... If you didn't smack the bolt itself and mushroomed it.... Then you have problems and may have to cut the top of the bolt out.

__________________
1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

Thanks a lot for all of the help guys, i'm using a 3lb cross pein, but I've been hitting down on the thing the entire time... hopefully it hasn't mushroomed. I'm heading out to try to attack it from the side now. As for heat, I did the job on the car when it was hot, not sure how else to make it hotter (the blowtorch is probably a bad idea).

__________________
1992 300D 2.5T 249k - Parked with a bad transmission
1981 300SD 142k - Daily driver

Popped right out with a few hits. Thanks again guys.

I'm guessing the reason the new part doesnt line up with where the old one went is because I knocked the toe pretty far off when trying to remove the outside end?

__________________
1992 300D 2.5T 249k - Parked with a bad transmission
1981 300SD 142k - Daily driver

If smacking it doesn't work (didn't work for me and I hit it as hard as I felt comfortable with) get one of those little pitman arm pullers from napa or any autoparts store for that matter. And get some PB blaster.

This will get it out in about 1 minute:


Make sure the bolt is up high covering the threads, you don't want to mushroom it.

Danny

__________________
1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination