Tie Rod Ends - Help Please

[Volley]

Sigh...ok so I was out replacing the lower ball joints this morning and when separating from the tie rod I ripped one of the tie rod boots/covers so need to replace. Thankfully the previous owner included a new set with the truck so I already have them.

Anyway, how do you remove the tie rods? I called myself searching and looking in the service manual but don't see specifics on how to remove them.

Thanks much!

Volley

 

[rjaudi]

You need to get a wrench on the lock nut and loosen it then turn the nut on the end of the inner tie rod and it will slowly turn out.

 

[Avarice]

^^ exactly.

Mine were original, and thus well rusted in place. Took me 2 days of soaking with penetrating lubricant and then had my brother wrench one way and me the other with two foot long wrenches.

It was a serious pain, but once i got em loose it was easy to replace.

 

[Volley]

Ok so this has to wait til tmrw. Gonna spray them down and have at it. Any one know the wrench size. It's clearly larger than anything I have...

 

[blcktpgsr]

Use some pipe or monkey wrench instead of buying a specific size wrench which you may use just for that application.

 

[Stick Figure]

27mm and 28mm assuming you have a 4x if its 2wd it could be smaller.

 

[Volley]

Ok I must be an idiot and just not understand which direction these nuts turn because I can't get them to budge and they aren't even rusted...

 

[blcktpgsr]

Ha ha...counter clockwise..if the nut isn't budging just by trying to turn it, use a hammer and pound on your wrench..some things just need a bit of impact to loosen up.

 

[durrell]

Yeah, they're probably going to need a lot of lubrication and force to budge. Just don't strip the nut. Once you get it to budge you should be in good shape.

Also make sure you at least visually make a note of how much thread is showing before removal so that you can try to install the new ones as close to the where the old ones were as possible. You will need an alignment immediately after the install.

 

[Volley]

lol yea it got commical so I moved on to something else. Went to replace the sway bar links (they come off with no problem). Did find it nice and bent. Go to install the new and........yep....they are the wrong ones. Sigh, they are rears and not fronts, way too short. So I just wanted away from it for a while. lol

 

[Volley]

thanks guys I'll give it another shot in a bit lol

 

[brian2sun]

Get or rent a tie rod puller. Done. Then you don't have to mess with the nut on the inner tie rod and screw up your alignment. And a tir rod puller will not damage the joint or boot.

To future readers...
Don't use a pickle fork to separate any joint you want to re-use. The rubber boots will get damaged almost every time.

 

[Volley]

Haha ironically I have/had a rod puller (although it is a tight fit with the I guess they are rock guards in place). Rip the boot strictly by accident as I really wanted to avoid doing the tie rods for this very reason. Long story short, I raised the white flag. Threw everything at em, days worth of prenetrant, heat, hammer, breaker bar, etc. and no luck. Finally just put her back together and very ticked off to say, I will be taking it up the street to have my shop do it. I've already wasted too many days on this.

 

[Volley]

OK got the tie rods installed yesterday from my local shop after throwing in the towel trying to get the lock nuts off. I actually think I could have gotten them off, if I had the truck on a lift so I had more space to get a big breaker or pipe for leverage. Anyway, decided to let the shop install the lower ball joints while they were at it. $265 later ...I'm still a bit annoyed I couldn't get it off. Hate paying someone to do something that I could do myself. Oh well, steering feels tighter at least and the worn out ball joints are no longer a stress.