I'm trying to change the tie rod ends on my Econoline, but they won't budge. I removed the rod from the van and put in a vice, but no luck. It's been doused with Kroil penetrating oil, too. The clamp is loose. Any other tricks? All I have is a Bernzomatic propane torch for heating.
I think if you use a little heat on the tube you will have success. I usually never-seiize the threads on the new tie rods when they go back together. Al
The propane torch should help. When i have had that problem I used WD-40 and a torch. The heat would wick the WD into the threads and loosen the rust. Be careful though, it is flammable, don't spray it near the flame
Heat is good... Also you can hold the tierod tube/tierod on the anvil part of your bench vise and hit it with a hammer while rotating the tube with your hand. Pinch the tube/tierod area between the hammer hits and the anvil kinda thing. Have the clamp back outta the way. Frees up the rust thats bonded to the threads and lets the penetrant soak in much better...
What about using the pickle fork attachement for an air chisel? I've seen them work their way into and loosen some of the nastiest stuck tie rod ends.
put the end in the vice, heat the rod up with the torch(but an oxy acet would work better) and put a big *** pipe wrench on the rod.
One car when the ends went bad I swapped the whole tie rod off a parts car into it. Luckily that car had been aligned pretty decent. Seems to me most of them are split and if you could spread them a little it should break the rust, but I don't know what an Econoline tie rod looks like.
True...but he must have them out of the tapered holes already...he has it in the vise! Geezzz...I suppose he doesn't have spindles and all up on the bench!?!? Hahaha Now THAT would be funny!
Hmmmm...Someone must sell them I suppose...but it goes from one wheel to the other if I remember correctly. But...if the tube is still straight and solid with no deep pitting etc, I'd just get the old tierods out too! Who knows...getting a specific tube of that length might involve a 2 week wait or something and might cost an arm and a leg. Pre 69 Econoline ch***is parts don't exactly fill the aisles at PEPBOYS anymore!!! Personally I've NEVER had to work too hard to get them loose anyway. It's all in how you go about it!
Absolutely. Not trying to play the voice of reason here, just more shocked than anything. You would think that a company would make the entire ***y, not pick and choose. But then again like you said, they don't exactly stock them at Pep Boys. Back to the question at hand. Heat, lube, and make sure you are turning it the right way. One should be left hand thread and the other right, no? Unless I'm completely clueless as to an Econoline front end.
You're right, Slow, but I don't know which is which. If I could turn them either way it would be progress. The funny thing about Econolines is that they were ignored from the 70s until now, so very few parts are made for them unless they were shared with other trucks/Broncos. Econolines consist of a lot of Econoline-only parts. I'm lucky that MOOG had the tie rod ends. The tube is almost as wide as the van, so replacing it, so I would imagine a new one would be pricey and shipping a new one would be pricey, too... if I could find one that wasn't stuck. Hacker, the rod is on the bench, not the whole axle! Rusty, I may try prying the tube apart at the split, but won't that risk damaging the tub and rendering it useless? It has a lot of gunk caked into the split in the tube (the engine leaked a LOT). I heated the tube up pretty good with propane last night and soaked it with Kroil. Hopefully it will be a little loose today. If not, I may have to borrow a Oxy torch
there is a tool that hooks the split in the tube and opens it as you rotate it ,it looks like a -c- with a handle on it.not very expensive from mac,snapon ect,and use lube.i have worked as a alignment tech for 25 years and this is the best way to adjust the tierods,with the ***mbly out of the car just put the rod end (with nut on it)in a vice to hold it,a pipe wrench is my last resort,and not on the part thats over the t.r.end thats threaded as it clamps down on it and makes it tighter
I know that! Give it a good wire brushing to see the direction of the threads. Then you'll know which way the rod end turns. I wasn't kidding...give the threaded part of the tube, with the tierod still in it but the lock clamp loose and pushed back out of the way, a few good hammer smacks against something solid like the anvil of your vise. Like your trying to flatten the tube/tierod threads against the anvil. Roll it around and hit it all over. You don't need to beat the **** out of it...but it seems to loosen the rust and actually stretch the tube metal ever so slightly...enough to get some movement and allow the oil, or heat for that matter...to work much better. As for heat...unless you have a powerful source of heat you will expand the tierod at about the same rate as the tube so it doesn't do as well as you would think. Oxy/act is the very best thing to use. You'll get them off.
Soak the ends in some Coca Cola overnight - I wouldn't be surprised if it comes out pretty easy. Its worked for me!
If you want to replace the whole thing, go to Speedway Motors. They have tie rod kits for anything from street rod to sprint car. I use them on my Studebaker. You can choose either rod ends or heim joints, and either clamp on or jam nut style. You just pick the length, they do the rest. One happy customer here.
that propane torch is probably not gonna get the tube hot enough to expand and loosen its grip on the tie rod ends. if you can get access to a oxy/actylene rig it would be better. also ditto on what stude says, speedway motors would be the place to go to for the new tube and tie rods.. also see if you can find some **** called "breakfree", gunsmiths use it. and it works!, kroil cant hold a candle to it
I've got MAPP... how about bees wax hair pomade? I have that. Now wouldn't that be the ultimate rockabilly car fix?!
The absolute best way to break the rust bond. If needed repeat a couple of times with penetrant used between the hammer sessions. Frank
I'll give all these methods a try, and if that doesn't work, I'll try Speedway. Those aren't as expensive as I thought... if they have them in the right length.
You mention crud...clean the area as well as possible on wire wheel. With typical layer of grease and dirt, your penetrant isn't going anywhere that it is needed. If actual tube is split, drive a small chisel into split...figgerout a way to tap it along split form end towards middle, perhaps custom grinding chisel to a lateral taper for this. The split opener tool mentioned is for the clamp, not actual tube. Get local parts counter guy to check Moog catalog or equivalent before ordering Speedway tube...I think their stuff is for early Ford/later pickup ends, and I know that lots of Econoline bits are smaller than regular pickups.
Depending upon the size of the tie rod threads I've got an easy way to make your own tie rods. I made the cross steer tie rod on my RPU for $15 not counting the tie rod ends.
The Jalopy Journal
