Oshin11

Does anyone have a Tie Rod removal tool and the wrench used for tie rods as per pelican parts that I can borrow? I have just spend 800 dollars on tools and 800 on parts and I am just empty on the cash flow right now. I cant spend 80 more for those two tools. If anyone near the LA area would be kind enough to let me borrow them I would greatly appreciate it. I will pay 10 dollars per tool to borrow them if needed. Thanks!

theiceman

the tie rod removal tool is basically a big fork that you jamb under the tie rod and hit with a hammer and it pops it out of the control arm . Nothing special about it . some auto stores have a loan a tool program and this is a popular tool.

when you pop the tie rod out it will fall , use this tie rod as leverage to unscrew it from the rack. I took my front sway bar off to tdo the bushings and that made it easy.

ice

SeattlePorsche

You don't need the special wrenches. I couldn't use the tie rod to unscrew it from the rack. You just need a large and/or medium sized pipe wrench pliers and some really strong arms. I think this was the most dangerous thing I have done on my car because the car has to be supported by the jack stands at the corners of the floor pan. I was always paranoid about the car falling on me while I was working alone. But there is alot you can do to guard against this. Like putting the tires under the car and having extra emergency jack stands under there.

Not trying to discourage you at all, because I got this job done. But this was what was going on thru my head at the time. This was my very first project last year. Good luck!

theiceman

James' first project was doing a tie rod .... then he took his entire engine a part ....
Oshin you have great things ahead of you ...

Oshin11

Ok I really feel like a newblet asking this question but I cant get my front tires off . The parking brake is on but the front tires still spin freely. The rear tires lock but the front two don't. If I try to torque the nuts the tire just spins. I tried placing wood to prevent it from spinning but it didn't work because the last person who tightened the nuts thought it would be funny to apply 60000 ft-lbs of torque to them I even tried using a 2.5 foot breaker bar, the tire just kicked the wood out and kept spinning.

SeattlePorsche

I've been there. You need to put the car back down on ground and start over. As a relative newbie too, there have been lots of times where I had to suck it up and start over. The good news is that there is usually something to do twice, i.e. left and right side, so you always get faster the second time you do it.

After you lower the car, just loosen the nuts enough on both sides, but not so loose that the wheel can wobble.

Oshin11

What if I put it in first gear?

SeattlePorsche

Nope, won't work. Take a look under there. There isn't a transmission attached to the front wheels.

r911

you can jam a block of wood under the tires

or put it back part way down on the ground

dsmith

honestly, not be a pr*ck, but do you really think you should be working on this stuff yourself? now would be a good time to befriend a mechanic near you to learn.

Marc Shaw

That is what Rennlist is for - lots of helpful people who can lend a hand when someone gets stuck. I have taken on some projects over my head knowing that the good people of RL had my back.

Marc

SeattlePorsche

Oshin, dsmith has a bit of a point. You can hurt yourself if you don't know what you are doing. I became friends with an excellent mechanic John Walker locally and for a while there I would show up at his shop and ask him how he does things. You seem like a smart guy (from what you have written in the past.) I hope you read up on the protocol and have a clear understanding of what you need to do before you start a project. I don't want to sound like a mister know it all, because I'm definitely not, but the projects are hard enough when everything goes as other have written (Wayne's book, etc.) Then you have the unexpected obstacles that are not written about. Please be careful.

Oshin11

The tie rod project doesnt sound to be too tough, am I missing something here? I mean if a 15 year old kid can do it, why can't I? And yes now I do realize how silly I sounded saying "put it in first gear" since this car is clearly a RWD car. I mean for god's sake I have a degree in Physics and Mechanical Engineering, what could be so hard about changing out a tie rod?

theiceman

Oshin As James said ..don't take short cuts, take your lumps ... learn and move on.

Also don't let your ego get you into trouble ... my 9 year old can do a rubicks cube ,and i don't have a chance in hell... does that mean because he is a 9 year old I should be able to do it ?

so lets get you on the right track ...

Drop the car , untorque the nuts, jack car up and remove. put sticky on steering wheel saying " nuts not torqued" because you will put the wheels back on and tighten them so you can put the car back on the ground when you are done. When the car is back down you torque them to spec and remove the post it note..

dsmith

sure, that's what this forum is for, and i've been using it plenty. however, needing to learn the nuances and best practices of a particular repair is a far difference knowledge base than not knowing how to remove a wheel, or knowing that parking brakes don't hold the front wheels on cars.

Oshin11, by all means go for it. it's been about 10 yrs since i started repairing cars. i started on BMWs using bentley manuals and getting in good with a couple local indy mechanics who were willing to help with my work and do the work i couldn't. buy the bentley manual for your car and read it cover to cover. example, the first repair in the manual is tire changing, with the instruction to "loosen wheel bolts while car is on ground, but leave them a little snug."

be careful, man, and get a knowlegable helper, if at all possible. another note would not to be pound foolish on repairs. it should only be about 1hr labor to replace the tie rods and it has to be aligned after replacement (you did save money for this, correct?). if you have a shop that will install your parts, without warranty of course, you would have only saved maybe $100, but had an expert looking at the rest of your car's suspension for critique.
David