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Frozen Tie Rod End

3K views 25 replies 4 participants last post by  Planethill 
#1 ·
Hey All,

Looking for some advice. I cant get the driver side tie rod end off. Seems to be stuck to the inner. After many squirts of PB Blaster and a torch I was able to get the nut loose. The ball joint was easy as well. But now for the life of me I cant get the old outer to unscrew off the inner.

Any hints/tips? More heat?

Also for part 2...is the passenger side TRE left hand thread?
 
#2 ·
Change both inner & outer tie rods to avoid complications & before you break the rack shaft........LOL. They don't cost much & we tend to forget that they(inner) need changing as well.
Thread is same on both tie rods
 
#5 ·
All you need is a pipe wrench like the one in the link. Please note the link is just for example. I have used a similar wrench & it is a breeze to change the inner tie rods.....It doesn't have to be 24''. 18'' will do just fine. I don't know if 15'' will open wide enough....
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Sainty-International-98-324-24-Inch-Tempest/dp/B008S9KUAA/ref=sr_1_38?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1435863305&sr=1-38&keywords=plumbing+spanner"]Sainty International 98-324 24-Inch Tempest Pipe Wrench - - Amazon.com@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31DcPHjyllL.@@AMEPARAM@@31DcPHjyllL[/ame]
 
#6 ·
Oh, I have that special tool. :p

You can reach the nut OK? Is it recessed or anything? Never had the boot off.

What about putting the new one on? Same wrench?!
 
#8 ·
I already own a three pipe wrench set.

You can reach the nut OK? Is it recessed or anything? Never had the boot off.

What about putting the new one on? Same wrench?!

What size is the nut?
 
#11 ·
Cool. Yeah the boots look to be in good shape. Outer clamp looks reusable, but the inner appears to be the "one use" kind. Standard auto parts store stuff I would think.

OK, got an hour to order from Amazon to have inner's tomorrow. Don't know the status of the right side yet, but as long as I'm going down this road I might as well just do both.

Thanks for all the help....
 
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#13 ·
Ugh. Amazon can only get me ONE tomorrow. When I try to order a second it says Monday. Argh.

Oh well, guess I will just do the bad side and save the passenger side for another weekend.
 
#14 ·
Don't do that. Do them one time. After changing tie rods the alignment gets terribly off. The car might not be properly drivable after changing one side without the alignment. Get both tie rods, change same time & do alignment once......
Which ones have you ordered?
 
#17 ·
I know. The only thing I can figure is that they only had one in the closest warehouse and the other 5 were somewhere else? If I ordered one it said tomorrow. If I put two in the basket it said Monday. So I ordered one. Done on its way. Went back to order the second and it says Monday. Odd.
 
#18 ·
I had to soak mine for at least an hour using Aero Kroil.

Then as harsh as this sounds beat on the outer tied road that was stuck with a ball peen hammer. Then it was able to be unscrewed.
If it sounds bad it is the way the dealers have removed stuck ones. There have been no ill effects.
 
#19 ·
I probably used half a can of PB Blaster. Spray. Soak. Hit it with a BFH. Torch. More PB Blaster. Another round with the BFH.

I was out there three hours. Nothing. :(

I will give it another go tomorrow after its soaked all night. Maybe it will break loose and I can return the inner units.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Wow, that was easy. Used a pipe wrench as suggested and had the inner tie rod (and frozen outer) off in about 2 minutes. Just for fun I put it in my bench vice and tried to get it to unscrew. Nope. Hopelessly rusted solid which makes me question the accuracy of alignments I've had done in the past. :confused:

Question: Is there any rack maintenance I should do while the boot is off? Should it be greased or something? I see some gold colored grease, not much though. A lot has crumbled and dried on the inside of the boot.
 
#22 ·
Pulled the passenger side, also frozen solid. A bit of fluid poured out. :( The boot was also cracked, so it could have just been water, though it certainly looked oily. The second inner comes tomorrow. Should be quick & easy although I need to go grab a new boot. Then off to get an alignment. The MOOG replacement outer's were about a half inch shorter than the OEM's. I held the frozen assembly up next to the new ones and got it as close as I could by eye. It will be way out of whack I am sure.

Question: The MOOG inners came with a nut in the box. The outers also came with hardware (collet ring & nut). I assumed they included one in case you needed it but I was just thinking that maybe I'm supposed to use both? Double nut? Hmmm.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Boots on, inner & outer tie rods replaced, got a front end alignment (and boy I was WAY off!) and she steers like new! I had never done tie rods before and on a scale of 1-10 this was an easy 5. If you are contemplating doing this yourself, go for it and save a TON of money.
 
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#26 ·
What would you like to see? I didn't take any pics while it was apart unfortunately. But here is a pic of the bad outer tie rod next to the new one. I'd say it was time to replace. :D

 
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