City driving is worse for a failing tie rod. At least you're not going fast though.

 

all I gots to say is.... I hope your e-brake works good for when you cant use your front brakes cause one wheel is sideways on the ground

Cant believe you risked crashing your car for this long after your engine swap and everything lol.

 

A tierod end falling off won't let the wheel fall off. The spindle is still attached by the ball joint on the bottom and the strut on top.

 

I saw a mini van in a parking lot at Costco the other day with a broken tie rod. Made me think of this thread. I mentioned to the guy that he was lucky it happened in the parking lot and not out on the street. He agreed. I hope I never have something like that happen to me on the street.

Usually GM tie rods give plenty of warning before outright failure. They get sloppy ect and you should easily notice it. I hear the ford trucks are having a major problem with tie rod failure and there is no warning at all. Scary stuff.

 

yeah my car makes vibrations on braking and the rotors are fresh

 

Token, if you still haven't fixed this, you're an idiot. Get off the 20 bucks, turn off the computer, roll out your jack and waste 15 minutes of your time to change it.

On the other hand, if you're going to continue to push your luck, I suggest 31 members chip in 10 bucks each, and draw numbers (1-31). Whatever day of the month this lets loose, that's the winner. $290 for him, and $20 for you so you can get a new tie-rod.

 

lol, i just wanna know what city state and rought you take to work...so i can avoid driving on that till its fixed!

 

Exactly how easy of a fix is this? I was told I need a pickle fork and a big C-clamp. I have neither.

 

Pickle forks and ball joint presses are available for loan or rent at most parts stores

 

You can use a BFH to knock off the tie rod end if you can't find a pickle fork. You don't need a C-clamp either. If you lived close by I'd make you buy me a six-pack and I'd do it for you.

EDIT- I'd drink the beer while I told you how to do it!!!

 

lol I've got beer in the fridge... natty light was on sale


Jack up the control arm, or let the suspension hang?
Unscrew that castle nut, bash off the old POS tie rod, and then spin it off, right?
Counting the number of rotations to remove it to keep a decent alignment?

 

Natty bo sucks.

I just drank the six of bud you didn't get me.

You can let the arm hang, pull the wheel, and use your BFH to remove the rod. Count the turns taking it of, and install in reverse order. You can measure the overall length of the tie rod assembly (inner to outer, from center of stud to center of stud) to verify it is roughly the same length as the POS you just removed. It's not rocket science, just R & R.

 

Hey Tim, why do I get the feeling that it would be safer for either one of us to do the job with a case of beer in us then for this guy to do it at all?

FWIW, I don’t know if I would bother counting turns… I’ve seen tie rods with slightly different length threaded ends, but measuring from the edge of the sleeve to the center of the zerk fitting should get you close enough for govt. work. If you really want a good indication where your toe is quickly just get 2 pieces of something long and straight (a section of electrical conduit, a straight stick of lumber…) and prop it up on something so that you can place it flat against the outside of the tire above the tire bulge and step back. you’ll actually be able to see if the 2 sides are pointing in, out, straight…

 

Does anyone else realize that weve wasted more effort typing this stupid thread than it would have taken to just fix the damn thing in the first place?



By the way, i have to agree with lo-tec. Natty ice is cheap but it always turns me into a mean drunk, try Steel Reserve next time, same price, much better beer

 

UPDATE


No progress. I tried to remove the old tierod today, and spent about an hour wiggling and bashing at it. I couldn't get that castle nut off. I have access to impacts (I have a compressor and impact at my dad's house, just no need in an apartment for it). I also have access to one at work, but I hate to use it there. Then I can do it at school... however they discourage personal projects. I'm sure I can get in, though.



I noticed the inner tierod is also pretty shot. It doesn't wiggle nearly as much as the outer- it only has lateral movement, not vertical movement (well, horizontal since its sideways) like the outer. Is that as big of a concern as the outer? What's the price on the inner, outer, and centerlink? I paid $27 for the single outer, TDW (only brand) from Murray's.

 

you did remove the cotter pin, correct? not to question you mechanical aptitude, or anything. try spraying the nuts/studs with a good penetrant like PB Blaster.

If you have play in any of your linkage then it should be replaced.

 

Yeah, my roomate has my PB Blaster in his car and he's running errands right now. I'm going to hit it a ton later on and let it sit, then spray it again and again. But yes, I removed the cotter pin.

So I should replace all three pieces? Damnit, I guess I'll have to look into that. Does anyone other than Moog make front-end rebuild kits for cheap? If I'm going to be replacing stuff I might as well upgrade... Even though I'm broke.

 

Hit it harder.

 

Why didn't I think of that!


lol I would if I had the room

 

I'm unsure how our tie rod ends are setup, but if it's like how the other ball joints are on most other vehicles I've found that by jacking up the ball joint so that the stud is what's being pushed up, and then taking a big socket (whatever size is big enough to go around it) and a BFH, the metal typically moves downward in a few wacks...

I too am too cheap to get a pickle fork... though I have C-clamps lol.

 

You can rent a pickle fork for 25 bucks and get the money back when you're done! I swear to Buddah, Mohammed and Jeebus that if you don't get this thing fixed I'm going to ban your lazy ***.

 

I just bought one for $10.
This guy is broke, yet he has money for a computer and an internet connect, not to mention an email acount to get a screen name.
EDIT: and a video camera!

 

I make $7 an hour.












How do I press the new one back in to place? Does it just pull itself in when I thread the castle nut or do I have to pound it in place somehow?

 

Stick it in the hole and tighten the nut. It will pull itself up. Tighten it to the torque spec and then tighten a little extra to line up the hole with the slots in the nut for the cotter pin.

 

Ok, so 2.5 hours is $17.5 - 33% for taxes = $11.73. Don't make excuses. Just GET-R-DONE!

 

If the inner is moving also it needreplaced to. Be careful though some places like autozone have inner tierods where the grease fitting is in the back, not on the side. that means grease it before you install it. or you might have to take it back down, via dropping the idler arm.

Sorry that money is so tight for you, but look at how much in the hole you will get if you have no car and possible unable to work due to injury from it letting loose.

P.S. steering and breaking are the two upmost important parts of your car that if the break or fail to work you will possibly KILL YOURSELF AND SOMONE ELSE AROUND YOU! gET THAT THING FIX BEFORE YOU END UP WITH MEMORIES THAT MIGHT WAKE YOU UP AT NIGHT! IT IS THAT IMPORTANT!

Sorry for short run of caps to the readers.

 

the tie rod was $30 after tax



FEAR NOT, GENTLEMEN,
FOR I HAVE REPLACED IT


Took 20 minutes with air tools at work. Soaked the bolts for a few days in PB, then zipped off the bolts real quick and used a pipe to turn off the old POS. I didn't bother counting, but i measured the threads and marked the new one with a shop crayon. Put everything back together and it is so much better. Night and day difference. Makes me want the Moog rebuild kit


thanks to all

 

I'm sure the staff of car and driver will sleep better tonite knowing you POS won't lose control unexpectedly and hit one of those 250k ferraris they're cruising around in.

Good job!!

Just next time get off *** and don't take a month to fix something so crucial to not wrecking your car!!

 

glad you get her fixed

 

lol it's hard man! I'm glad I did it though. Thanks for the help

 

This buds for you!!

 

Some years back, on my 79 Trans Am, I had to use the power of Hercules to get the tie rod off. I swear it was welded on there with something they might use to hold the warp core down on the Enterprise. I'm surprised I didn't either kill myself, destroy the car or shift the planet off its axis when I tried to get the castle nut to turn. I guess 20 years of never being touched will do that to a part. Scared the hell out of me too becaused I had broken the other tie rod it was attached to, inner or outer, I forget. If I didn't get it off, Discount Auto was gonna be reallll mad at me for having a broken car in their lot, lol.

I'm glad the original poster got his part changed though. At least he had access to better tools than I did. that's a major plus.