tie rod removal

any tips on freeing up tie rod ends from the steering arms of 37 -41 ford spindles. I can't seem toget mine to budge even a little. thanks

 

Try some heat or a pickle fork.

 

Pickle Fork.

Or two big hammers, one on each side.

 

You're wasting you time if you don't have a pickle fork. Theyre cheap and fast, just like a girl I used to know.

 

Auto zone may have one you can use... they will charge you for it, then give your money back when you return it. But best to have one in your own tool kit.

 

You can get'em cheap from Harbor Freight. I know, I know.. they're Chinese ****, but for as often as I've used mine, they were a great $3 investment.

 

As a confidence booster for you I'll mention there has NEVER been a tie rod that I couldn't remove from a steering arm by using 2 hammers. Place one hammer against the back of the steering arm. Smack the front of the steering arm with the other hammer. It may take a dozen or two damn good smacks but you should be sucessful. Good Luck

 

When reinstalling would it help to put anti-seize on the taper prior to installation to aid in removal?

 

Pickle Fork... A cheap one's like $20 bucks, one hit and it's out.

 

Thank for that . there out.

 

A little late but for future reference, I bought a nice set of pickleforks at Sears a few years ago that you can use in an air chisel.

 

I'd say you don't want them to be easy to remove. when I was a kid our whole family almost drove off a cliff when a recently installed tie rod came undone. for the last 30 years everytime I mention I am working on my car my mom tells me to be sure to install the cotter pins.

 

This is the right way to do it. Pickle forks or heat can kill something, like the boot.

The heavier the hammer, the better. The heavier the 'anvil', the better. The tighter you hold the anvil agains the side of the arm, the better. The more solid your hit with the hammer, the better.

This technique works well and does not do any damage.

 

The hammer method is the best way....just be sure to only just loosen the nut a bit (1/16-1/8")and LEAVE THE NUT ON....when I was just a pup,my dad had me hold the sledge hammer against the tie rod while he wailed away...like a dummy ,I removed the nut and when the tie rod came loose ,it swung down and dead centered my forehead....kinda makes tears come to yer eyes and stars whirl around for a few minutes...BUT ,I never removed another tie-rod end without leaving the nut loose but on!!!

Coupla pennies worth of advice

Stan

 

When I was young I bought a pickle fork. Then I went to work in a front end shop. I've never used it since. The pickle fork will destroy the dust boot if you are just dis***embling it to get at the spring etc. As said above always leave the nut on a few threads.

 

quoted for truth...
.

 

Anti-seize has nothing to do with it--it's a taper fit. Fit is so tight, there's no room for rust in there...Ford actually used a nifty little puller to pop the thing with no danger to boot, and various modern equivalents are out there.
Hammer method is excellent, use your biggest sledge as the anvil and a pretty big one as the motivator. You want some small pressure on the part to cause it to travel out of the taper whem momentarily loosened, if gravity is pointed the wrong way.

 

Someone (Moroso, I think) used to sell a mushroom shaped tool that screwed onto the tie rod threads, after you removed the nut. Then you wailed away on it til it broke loose. It usually doesn't take but a whack or two. The tool saves the threads. Seems like it was designed by Banjo Matthews.
Larry T

 

floor/bottle jack works best, if it still on the car, and theres room to get one in there

 

41 HEMI,

Took me a little while to actually figure out what you were talking about but once I did they were out in two or three blows after an afternoon of wasting oxy/acetylene & alot of time.

I was removing the tie rod end ball joint ***embly from a pair of 42 thru 48 spindles that someone just torched the tie rod out and left the ends & ball joints in the steering arms. Since these were not in a car I took them over to my anvil (yes I do own one, pick one up if you can find one) and after two or three hits with a 3# hammer the just drop out. Amazing.

Search is your friend people. The information is here if you take a little time to look for it.

Thanks Hemi 41. I am ready now to install these pups on my Model A dropped axle.

 

what i do it is find a nut that threads onto the tierod end halfway then find a bolt that will thread into the other half of the nut touching the face of the tie rod end and hit the bolt with a hammer.

 

I tried that for about an hour with no result. They popped out real easy when I laid them on the anvil and wacked two or three times. I was shocked.