OKMike
SILVER Star
Howdy All:
This is probably old hat to all the FJ 40 gurus on here but thought I'd post a few quick pieces of advice on FJ40 tie rod end replacement so someone else doesn't make the dumb mistakes I made today.
My son and I are in the midst of our resto-mod of a 1977 FJ 40 and one of the tasks I thought would be simple (LOL) was replacing all the tie rod ends.
Tip#1: All FJ 40 tie rod ends are not created equal: I've replaced tie rod ends on all kinds of vehicles over the years and they are all usually interchangeable. Not so with the FJ 40. The size of the threaded end that screws into the shafts of the steering linkage varies depending on which shaft the tie rod goes in. Ditto for the threaded ends of the tie rod that you put the castle nuts on. Some are slightly longer and skinnier than others. The skinnier ones are made to fit though the openings in the center arm and the round opening in the one tie rod end that attaches to the knuckle on the passenger side. Finally, some are "left hand thread" meaning they tighten by turning them to the left contrary to the universal "lefty loosey/righty tighty rule. So...make sure you dry fit all of them before you go final; don't assume you can "suck the tie rod through the opening" by tightening the castle nut; and don't force any of them into any of the openings with, say, a dead blow hammer. Ask me how I know.
2. Getting the old tie rods out of the steering linkage shafts could be a challenge: I've never had an issue getting tie rods out before. Again, not the case with our FJ 40. Even if you have a good bench vise you may still have a tough time keeping the shaft from spinning while you try to unscrew the tie rods. My old tie rods were frozen in tight with rust. I used a sh*& ton of PB Blaster, a vise grips, and in some cases heat from a propane torch to get them to budge. Once you get a little movement you may be able to start wiggling them back and forth a bit to get them to break free. Stay patient and don't be surprised if they end up being very stubborn.
3. Apply grease to the Zerk fitting AFTER the tie rods and linkage shafts are installed. We cleaned and repainted our steering linkage parts and put the tie rods in the shafts while they were off the truck. Since all the tie rod ends had nice new zerk fittings we decided to grease them before we did the re-intsallation of the linkage parts. Long story short, the boots were full of grease and as we started trying to get the linkage parts to go on grease started oozing out from under the boots, coating the shafts, our hands, and our tools making an already frustrating job a real ordeal. Better to try to do all the twisting and wiggling of parts when they are dry versus when that are covered in grease. Woof.
Like the man said: nothing is simple; everything's a project. I hope maybe this helps someone do this "simple" job with a little less ass pain than we experienced today. Best of luck!
This is probably old hat to all the FJ 40 gurus on here but thought I'd post a few quick pieces of advice on FJ40 tie rod end replacement so someone else doesn't make the dumb mistakes I made today.
My son and I are in the midst of our resto-mod of a 1977 FJ 40 and one of the tasks I thought would be simple (LOL) was replacing all the tie rod ends.
Tip#1: All FJ 40 tie rod ends are not created equal: I've replaced tie rod ends on all kinds of vehicles over the years and they are all usually interchangeable. Not so with the FJ 40. The size of the threaded end that screws into the shafts of the steering linkage varies depending on which shaft the tie rod goes in. Ditto for the threaded ends of the tie rod that you put the castle nuts on. Some are slightly longer and skinnier than others. The skinnier ones are made to fit though the openings in the center arm and the round opening in the one tie rod end that attaches to the knuckle on the passenger side. Finally, some are "left hand thread" meaning they tighten by turning them to the left contrary to the universal "lefty loosey/righty tighty rule. So...make sure you dry fit all of them before you go final; don't assume you can "suck the tie rod through the opening" by tightening the castle nut; and don't force any of them into any of the openings with, say, a dead blow hammer. Ask me how I know.
2. Getting the old tie rods out of the steering linkage shafts could be a challenge: I've never had an issue getting tie rods out before. Again, not the case with our FJ 40. Even if you have a good bench vise you may still have a tough time keeping the shaft from spinning while you try to unscrew the tie rods. My old tie rods were frozen in tight with rust. I used a sh*& ton of PB Blaster, a vise grips, and in some cases heat from a propane torch to get them to budge. Once you get a little movement you may be able to start wiggling them back and forth a bit to get them to break free. Stay patient and don't be surprised if they end up being very stubborn.
3. Apply grease to the Zerk fitting AFTER the tie rods and linkage shafts are installed. We cleaned and repainted our steering linkage parts and put the tie rods in the shafts while they were off the truck. Since all the tie rod ends had nice new zerk fittings we decided to grease them before we did the re-intsallation of the linkage parts. Long story short, the boots were full of grease and as we started trying to get the linkage parts to go on grease started oozing out from under the boots, coating the shafts, our hands, and our tools making an already frustrating job a real ordeal. Better to try to do all the twisting and wiggling of parts when they are dry versus when that are covered in grease. Woof.
Like the man said: nothing is simple; everything's a project. I hope maybe this helps someone do this "simple" job with a little less ass pain than we experienced today. Best of luck!
