Removing tie rod ends

[rbonnett]

After the encouraging words here and reading the manuals a few times, I decided to bite the bullet and just do the tie rod ends. Plus the stering was getting so squirrely I was dreading driving.

So I have the rods off the truck, clamp bolts removed and clamps loosened up. I haven't been able to get the ends to budge at all so far. One problem is not knowing which is RH thread and which is LH. Is there some norm for this? As far as I can tell the rods could be installed either way around. I did keep track of which end was which, but I don;t know if that will help at all.

Everything is coated with what I think is Waxoyl or something like that - I'm going to try solvents to get that off. with that gone I might be able to see enough threads to figure out the handedness.

Not knowing enough about this, I'm not sure what's safe to do for removal. Are the rods tubing all the way thru, or just drilled out at the ends? I don;t want to risk crushing them in the bench vise if they are tubes.

Also, if I use heat to try to free things up, am I risking chaning the temper of the rods and weakening them?

My plan of attack for now is to get the waxy stuff off, liberal amounts of PB and then clamp each end in the vise. Then I could use the pipe wrench on the rod itself. Sound reasonable?

[LaneRover]

I had a similar situation and ended up buying a new tie rod. I had tried all sorts of things to get the tie rod end off and just could not get them to budge.

Not sure if I will ever try to continue to take the old one apart but at the moment it is sitting to the side for the next time I am in Maine. I f I can get it apart and it still looks good inside then I have a spare!

Brent

[greenmeanie]

As long as you are not heating it cherry red with a gas axe you won't change the temper of the metal. If you heat it add some beeswax to the exposed thread as it wicks up into the thread very well.

As I said before, if your getting new ones the SeriesTrek ones are great. 1/4" wall DOM tubing makes for a MUCH stronger bar.

[rbonnett]

Thanks - at least now I know I won't be alone having old tie rods laying about if I throw in the towel! If I do end up with new rods I plan on going with Series Trek. I prefer buying from our hosts, but if they're stronger and less expensive it's hard not to go with the ones from ST.

[NepentheSea]

I just did an alignment on my 109 and the tie rod ends were stuck so bad that I had to take both off to get them turning again.

I have a really heavy vise welded to a thick steel top bench, after loosening the TRE clamps and soaking the threads good with PB Blaster, I put them in the vise to get them turning. I use a pipe wrench on the outside of the ball joint. The wrench I used was 3' long, and I really torqued on them. I had to hammer the handle of the vise over to crank it down tight enough to keep the tie rod from spinning. If you do it in a vise just make sure you clamp it down below the threads of the tie rod end, otherwise they wont spin at all, ha. And remember that one side is reverse threaded.
After some serious muscle mine came loose. I took them all the way out and greased up the threads. After that my alignment was super easy.

I dont think you have to worry about crushing the tie rods in the vise.

[gudjeon]

You could always use generous amounts of your favourite penetrating oil. Loosen the clamps and slide them out of the way. This, and tapping the tie rod tube where the threaded portion of the TRE lies. This breaks the rust free and you don't have to resort to more drastic measures.

[rbonnett]

So, what have we learned? We learned that my TREs and rods are truly one now. We also learned that with enough penetrating oil, tapping with a hammer, heat and especially leverage I can make the corroded last half inch of a drag link crumble into little tiny rusted bits.

Does anyone have a phone number for Series Trek? I don't see one on the site and I'd like to get the new rods ordered today.

[NepentheSea]

Ha! oh man arent you glad that they didnt crumble while you were driving it!

[DADAMS]

Too bad on losing the drag link. But you are lucky to find out this way they were shot than on the road.

I struggled with mine too but managed to free them up without ruining anything. Generous amounts of anti seize will hopefully allow future replacement.

[rbonnett]

Me too. makes me shudder thinking about every time I've steered for the big bumps in the track just for the fun of it :eek:

Somewhere I had read to apply grease liberally to the threads when installing the TRE. But since the they don't move (hopefully) once they get clamped, I read that as a way to fight corrosion. So I went the anti-seize route instead. Maybe that will help whoever has to do this next time years from now.

Alas, Jim Young at Series Trek is not doing the rods these days. He said he could get some new stock and make me a pair, but he was off on a trip and its summer and I want to drive. So I went with original models. So far as I know, the ones I took off came from the factory and made it 37 years. I'm thinking the new ones will go until my kids take my license away and put me in the home.

Thanks to all for the advice. Back Rovin' tomorrow :thumb-up:

[rbonnett]

The new TREs I have from our hosts have self-licking nuts, not the castle nut and split pin. When I try to tighten the nuts, as soon as the self locker in the nuts hits the thread, the inner part of the TRE (spindle???) jsut starts spinning.

I tried compressing the thing hoping that friction inside the eye would hold it in place, but no such luck. Is there some trick to this I am not seeing? Pictures attached.

Thanks

[jac04]

^^I have the same exact TREs that I purchased from RN. Just make sure that both the male & female tapers are clean, and push them together as you tighten the nut. Make sure the tapers are fully seated - it takes a little bit of force to do this. If need be, you can use a piece of 2x4 as a lever to keep the tapers seated as you tighen the nut.

[rbonnett]

Wow! That much force then. I was just pushing it with one hand.

Thanks

[NepentheSea]

I had that prob with a few of my joints. First I tried a C clamp, but it was hard to hold it in place. A bar clamp (I guess thats the right thing to call it. Maybe I should call it a pipe clamp? Its a metal pipe with clamps on it that you can slide up and down) was easier to use because you could rotate the feet to get a betta grip. I clamped the heck out of it and that stopped the spinnin