ARGHH I CANT GET THIS TIE ROD END OFF

[iliveinmylc]

This is on a 2002 LC with 230k miles. Looks like nothing in the area has ever been disturbed.

The tie rod / steering knuckle area is soaked in PB blaster. I put the tie rod puller on and turned it as tight as I could do with a wrench. Didn't come off so I then drilled the puller bolt in with my 440 ft lbs impact wrench. All that did was break one of the jaws of my puller (you can spot it in the second pic!) and the pointy end of the puller bolt (why is it pointy?!) made a DEEP indent in my tie rod end bolt, to the point where it pressed into where the cotter pins are supposed to go. So now the cotter pins don't fit. SMH.

That's when I started using a piece of metal to go between the pointy end of the puller bolt so all the force didn't go into one point on the tie rod end bolt. That metal buffer is my heavy duty hook in the picture (it came off my rear when I took off the old tow bar). I have reversible jaws on the puller so with the smaller jaw broken, I put the fatter jaws on. Drill time again. The pointy end of the puller bolt drilled into that metal hook (see that hole in the second pic?). Doing this literally flattened the threads on the tie rod end bolt to the point where the castle nut didn't go on anymore, so I stopped that too.

Now it's tensioned to hand tight and I have been whacking it with a brass hammer. I also cursed at it a few times for good measure. Still not budging.

Please, someone tell me how to get the damn steering knuckle off the tie rod end. I am about to use heat but I don't want to melt the boot off. This ain't no california car so actually replacing the tie rod end is probably a bigger nightmare than this. Should I be positioning that puller differently? Should I sacrifice 3 pigs at dusk?

I was originally replacing the CV axle, which I could have done with just the upper ball joint detached. But then I looked at the LBJ and it seemed to be leaking some fresh grease since starting this project, so I figure I should just replace it since it's original. The UBJ boot is pretty cracked after inspection too, so now this is a CV axle + UBJ + LBJ project, so the steering knuckle has to go. Or does it?

edit: forgot pictures

 

[oldblue]

Use 2 good heavy hammers a hold one on the side of the taper in the arm and whack the other side of the taper. Do this while there is pressure on the tie rod end as your pix shows.

 

[RedesKat]

Think of something that gets you really mad and find your biggest hammer and whack it

 

[Mike6158]

I was going to go with the "sacrifice 3 pigs at dusk" idea but the two hammers recommendation is more likely to work. The idea is to hit both sides at the same time with the hammers. Kind of like a hammer sandwhich.

 

[iliveinmylc]

Thanks guys, hammer sandwich it is. To clarify, should I be hitting the steering knuckle or the tie rod? I probably shouldnt hit the tie rod right?

 

[Mike6158]

Yep, the knuckle.

 

[iliveinmylc]

Thanks guys! Big sledgehammer + F this attitude worked. I gotta stop being so gentle with this thing. I'm always so afraid to break something!

 

[hoser]

Your puller is more of a pulley/gear puller. One that has fewer or no joints would be more stable. Something designed for Light Trucks.

 

[Malleus]

Your puller is more of a pulley/gear puller. One that has fewer or no joints would be more stable. Something designed for Light Trucks.

^This. This is what you need:

Autozone has them for less than $20, or you can borrow one from them for free.

FWIW, the "pointy end" is a center intended to keep the force applied through the screw centered on the component you're pushing against. The idea is to keep it from slipping off and shattering an arm, and ruining your eyesight; these things are under a lot of pressure and have been known to fail catastophically and shatter. Not to nag, but you are wearing safety glasses, right?

 

[flintknapper]

I was going to go with the "sacrifice 3 pigs at dusk" idea but the two hammers recommendation is more likely to work. The idea is to hit both sides at the same time with the hammers. Kind of like a hammer sandwhich.

Yep, this is the trick many folks fail to do (provide a back up to the force being applied). Instead they 'wail' on the part to no avail or until they damage something.

By using a 'back up' weight the 'shock' imparted by the striking tool will better transfer through the part. Good to have some pressure on the tie rod end too.

Example (not LC):

 

[FxFormat]

 

[AlpineAccess]

Good to see the BFH wins again

 

[JunkCrzr89]

That’s about the $hittiest puller I’ve seen used for this job… Stop and go get the one that @Malleus posted. Then go get a torch and lay some heat down for a minute.

 

[hoser]

Personally, I'd just bite the bullet and buy a set off Amazon for $50. The cost is less than you would pay a mechanic an hours worth of labor. And one tool doesn't always work. If you borrow from Autozone or whoever and you end up breaking the tool, you are on the hook for whatever replacement cost is... probably more than $50!

Amazon product ASIN B07F34PJFX

 

[JunkCrzr89]

If you borrow from Autozone or whoever and you end up breaking the tool, you are on the hook for whatever replacement cost is... probably more than $50!

Na. They don’t even check those tool rentals for functionality. The people working there dgaf.

 

[hoser]

You might be right.. I've never borrowed such a tool. But a two piece tool returned in three pieces might raise some red flags, I would think.

 

[medtro]

I broke a puller before and they didn't make me pay for the replacement. I think I got lucky.

 

[iliveinmylc]

^This. This is what you need:
View attachment 2814300

Autozone has them for less than $20, or you can borrow one from them for free.

FWIW, the "pointy end" is a center intended to keep the force applied through the screw centered on the component you're pushing against. The idea is to keep it from slipping off and shattering an arm, and ruining your eyesight; these things are under a lot of pressure and have been known to fail catastophically and shatter. Not to nag, but you are wearing safety glasses, right?

I want to get that one because it looks way more sturdy for sure, but then I'd have to mess with all the sizes! I always want the adjustable version of tools if I can ;').

From doing this front end job, I am starting to think that, when prying open a rusty crusty connection, more force on the puller isn't what gets it done. After all, I put a 440 ft lbs impact wrench to work on my puller and all that did was flatten and destroy the tie rod end bolt it was pushing on.

What ended up working to remove the knuckle from both the tie rod end and the lower ball joint was tightening the puller to as tight as my (weak) hands can with a stubby wrench, and then whacking it HARD with two hammers. I'm starting to think the puller isn't the limiting reagent here?

Regarding safety, honestly I swear the most dangerous thing on the car are always the snap rings. Last night i took off one snap ring that flew off at what felt like 60mpg, richocheted off two garage walls and almost chipped some paint off my motorcycle!!

 

[TILLOTSON]

I just did this today. I unbolted the bracket that the tie rod end connects to from the hub. Just followed the Otram YouTube on changing out a CV. Didn’t have to pop the tie rod ball joint.

My lower ball joint was a mother too. No rust at all but still hit it with the biggest hammer I had and nothing. Eventually I hit the ball joint at the end of the threads, pushing it up, that worked after a number of hits. Whole time I was cursing that thing and thinking there’s gotta be a better way to do ball joints on a truck.

 

[Malleus]

The joint is held together with a locking taper; the nut is just insurance. It's impact force that separates the taper. You can generate on the order of ten times the force applied during impact, that's why pickle forks used to be the tool to grab when you needed to separate ball joints.