Why am I up at 7:30 on a Saturday!?

"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
10/15/2016 at 08:12 • Filed to: None

Because this tie rod job is LITERALLY a nightmare. Seriously. I just had a dream that for some crazy reason I decided to test drive it after removing the entire tie rod assembly, and one of the wheels fell off, destroying everything on that corner of the car. Yikes. I woke up instantly.

If I get to the point where I’m so stressed about something that I start having weird dreams about it, I know it’s got me pretty good. This almost never happens. I’ll probably end up heeding oppo’s wisdom and giving up on separating the outer from the inner, which seems impossible, since it may be way easier to run out and buy a new inner tie rod too and just replace the whole thing.

This is SUCH a typical car guy situation lol. I have been looking forward to bringing the Q to Japanese Car day all Summer. That’s tomorrow. It’s one of the best shows of the year in terms of variety and turnout. But of course my beloved boat breaks a week beforehand haha... I will probably be too salty to attend if I can’t fix this today UGH!!!

DISCUSSION (11)

OPPOsaurus WRX > Noah - Now with more boost.
10/15/2016 at 08:16

Did u try the clarksonson method of smashing it with a hammer?

That probBly won’t work but how about the torch?

Are you using a breaker bar?

TheRealBicycleBuck > Noah - Now with more boost.
10/15/2016 at 08:49

Just make sure to replace the parts with the right bolt/nut combination. A mechanic use the old nut (metric) with the new bolt (English) when he replaced the tie rod ends on my truck. The bolt pulled through the nut about 20 miles later. Everything disconnected at about 65 mph, nearly putting me into the ditch.

Urambo Tauro > Noah - Now with more boost.
10/15/2016 at 09:01

I had a car-related dream/nightmare the other night too. After watching that Chrisfix video on going drifting, I had a dream that my tires looked as bad as his.

I think yours is a totally healthy concern, though. Steering failure is more scary to me than brake problems or unintended acceleration. Check your work closely before that test drive!

Noah - Now with more boost. > Urambo Tauro
10/15/2016 at 09:07

yessir! my friends are coming over to help and we’ll move it around in the driveway a bunch before going out on the street

Noah - Now with more boost. > TheRealBicycleBuck
10/15/2016 at 09:07

I’m glad you’re ok! That’s exactly what happened in my dream. Except for you lived it... scary

Noah - Now with more boost. > OPPOsaurus WRX
10/15/2016 at 09:10

I had a pretty glorious hammer moment actually haha. The outer wouldn’t come out of the steering knuckle using a puller and a normal hammer... so the mallet came out. one two three hits and POP. it was out. glorious haha

I have a propane torch and my friend is bringing his map gas torch TD. Also his Kroil, which is supposedly 2x as effective as PB blaster

a breaker bar could be a thing. that would be hard to get into the wheel well though... I might just take the whole assembly out so I can really beat on it without hurting anything else.

Steve in Manhattan > Noah - Now with more boost.
10/15/2016 at 09:14

Why am I up at 8AM on a Saturday? Because Time Warner will try for a fourth time (!) to restore my premium channels.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Noah - Now with more boost.
10/15/2016 at 09:49

Lol. I couldn’t get a breaker bar in when I was helping my buddy so we set up a lever and fulcrum under the socket wrench and need up snapping the bolt right off

Autofixation > Noah - Now with more boost.
10/15/2016 at 13:30

I remember I was so nervous about doing my timing belt on my car that I put it off for months. When I finally did it, I did it very methodically and step by step, it is back together and everything is fine. Basically, you’re capable of doing this, just step by step.

Also, if you think something may not be safe...replace it! I know you may or may not have a bunch of money, but if you are stressing so much that it is giving you bad dreams, then replace it.

Autofixation > Noah - Now with more boost.
10/15/2016 at 13:31

MAP gas is soooo much better than propane.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Noah - Now with more boost.
10/15/2016 at 15:28

When it happened, I posted it here and another guy posted his brother’s (?) truck in response. When the tie rod let go in his truck, he hit the ditch and rolled. No major injuries, if I recall correctly.