"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
10/12/2016 at 21:34 • Filed to: None
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"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
10/12/2016 at 21:34 • Filed to: None | 1
| 17 |
After getting absolutely nothing done last night beyond taking out the old cotter pin, things went way more smoothly this evening. The castle nut finally came off a couple minutes after I started working again, and I removed the tie rod end from the steering knuckle shortly after that.
I was surprised by how quickly the castle nut came off. Granted, I spent four hours fighting it last night with PB blaster and a torch (but that includes a 9:30PM trip to home depot to buy the torch). Then I sprayed it once more this morning before I left. So - fast forward to this evening: the nut pops off instantly after I put a wrench on it and give it a solid kick.
Given what everyone said here last night, I figured removing the tie rod from the steering knuckle would be way worse, but that was quick. Just a shot of PB, a little blow torch action, the tie rod end puller, and of course a BFH. A mallet to be precise. The puller wasn’t doing anything until I brought the BFH out, and that did the job in a few hits. Props to everyone who suggested that yesterday.
Aaaaaand now I’m stuck again. I couldn’t even budge the pinch nut let alone unscrew the outer tie rod from the inner. So I’m just regularly re applying PB blaster. My assumption is that the pinch nut will come off eventually but I’m worried about unscrewing the outer tie rod. There are like 3 inches of thread there AND it will just be loose at that point.
Any suggestions oppo? I need to get a good enough grip on both sections of tie rod somehow. Without breaking anything. How did oppo get that piece of the job done? 2 channel locks, penetrating fluid, and a torch?
Thx!
XJDano
> Noah - Now with more boost.
10/12/2016 at 21:47 |
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There should be a area on the inner that you can put a wrench on. Just beyond the threads. I couldn’t do it on my Gti, so I took it to a place, then it wouldn’t turn right, I bought another steering rack, haven’t done anything with it. Project cars are always projects.
Die-Trying
> Noah - Now with more boost.
10/12/2016 at 21:49 |
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loosen the bolts, and then put a pipe wrench on the adjuster/pinch nut, and crank on it till it moves........ set the tie rod end back in the eyelet, and put a couple of threads on the castle nut IF NEED BE......... once things start to move, it should come off without much hassle..........make sure to measure things up before you take them apart so you can put them back close..........
Urambo Tauro
> Noah - Now with more boost.
10/12/2016 at 21:53 |
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My favorite technique for this is to just replace the inners too.
That’s what I’ve done on three of my own vehicles so far, and I’ve never had to bother with trying to separate them. Just remove the whole tie-rod (inner+outer), and use that as a reference to thread the new ones together until they’re the same length.
loki03xlh
> Urambo Tauro
10/12/2016 at 22:16 |
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+1
I plan on doing the same. For minimal extra cost, do the whole thing. Then you won’t have to fight it later when the inner tie rod fails.
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Urambo Tauro
> loki03xlh
10/12/2016 at 22:23 |
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Exactly! Totally worth it.
One of the cars I did this on was a 1996 Thunderbird, and it wasn’t because the joints were bad. It was that the alignment shop couldn’t adjust them, not even with a torch! I knew I didn’t stand a chance trying to separate them at home, so I just ordered new inners & outers for both sides and brought it back in for the alignment once I was done wrenching.
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Noah - Now with more boost.
> Urambo Tauro
10/12/2016 at 22:58 |
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That makes a lot of sense. If this continues to be a pain I’d consider it - how bad is detaching the inner piece from the steering?
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Noah - Now with more boost.
> Die-Trying
10/12/2016 at 23:01 |
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Sounds straightforward. Thx! Though someone suggested just replacing the entire tie rod, which is probably the responsible thing to do and potentially easier too.
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Noah - Now with more boost.
> XJDano
10/12/2016 at 23:04 |
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I want to be done with DDing project cars SO BADLY. I’m over it
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Urambo Tauro
> Noah - Now with more boost.
10/12/2016 at 23:08 |
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Depends on the vehicle. I just realized that I don’t know what kind of car we’re talking about here.
On my truck, the inner tie-rod is attached by another ball-joint, just like the outer tie-rod; but on cars it’s often threaded into the steering rack and held tight by threadlocker or a rivet. If that’s the kind you have, I expect you’ll have to slide the boot away from the end of the rack to access it.
sn4cktimes
> Die-Trying
10/12/2016 at 23:39 |
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I’ve used the pipe wrench trick before. I’ve also welded a pipe onto the shaft of the outer TR vs wrench and a snipe bar.
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Noah - Now with more boost.
> Urambo Tauro
10/13/2016 at 08:09 |
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I’ll have to look it up - the funny thing about big infinitis is that nissan uses a ton of truck parts, so the tie rod end for ex. Is from a pathfinder
Rykilla303
> Noah - Now with more boost.
10/13/2016 at 12:00 |
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Put the rod back on the spindle (castle nut back on) so it cannot rotate, then you can wrench on the nut without having to deal with holding the rest of it in place.
Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair)
> Noah - Now with more boost.
10/13/2016 at 13:36 |
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Replace the inner tie rod, too. If its moving too easily, or has play, it needs to be replaced anyway. I just did this on my Mazda 3. Granted, nothing was frozen, so the process was much smoother. My steering feels so much tighter now, factory fresh tight.
Like someone else said, lock a wrench on the section of the inner tie rod after the threads to help you unlock the pinch nut. Soak that stuff in PB overnight. Try to get a wrench first and wrench forward to back to help break it loose, or at least do it to help the PB soak in further. When I had the miata, it was always this process with an overnight PB soak. Everything came off somewhat smoothly in the early afternoon.
For the inner tie rod, find the dimension then get a kit. Mine was 40 from harbor freight, and once I figured out what I was doing, it was a breeze. Likely, if the boot is still in place, the inner tie rod itself won’t be frozen.
IF you can’t remove the outer from the inner, cut it off. That way you can slip the inner tie rod tool in place to remove it. Then you don’t need to worry about either.
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Noah - Now with more boost.
> Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair)
10/13/2016 at 13:45 |
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Thank you!! I mean the inner tie rod just flops down when the outer isn’t attached to the hub. So many oppos have suggested this, I’ll probably take one more crack at removing the outer end of the tie rod this evening then give up and just remove the entire thing.
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Noah - Now with more boost.
> Rykilla303
10/13/2016 at 13:46 |
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Yep that’s what I was doing last night, but I think the PB blaster hadn’t done it’s work yet. We’ll see what the deal is tonight.
gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> Noah - Now with more boost.
10/13/2016 at 18:46 |
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I just remembered one of my favorite tools. craftsman nutcracker. no heat required.
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Noah - Now with more boost.
> gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
10/13/2016 at 18:48 |
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Yeah I need one! Currently though it seems like replacing the inner piece too would be the easiest thing to do