Amber Gramps

oshin, freakin' call me

Oshin11

Ok I think that from a lack of the proper tools I need for this I think I am going to take it to the alignment shop that was going to align it after I did it myself. They could probably do the job for a lot less than my porsche guy would charge for the labor (400 for tie rods and sway bar bushings). I figure since its not really engine related or anything the alignment shop could do this job just as well as the Porsche specialist am I right?

AJ88CAB

You are going to need an alignment anyway, so un-bolt one of the A-arms and the sway bar will come out easliy (and go back in better too). Then you will be able to get the tie-rods to a 90 degree angle. Most people think I'm crazy but I recommend taking the steering rack out to change the tie rods.

Good Luck

Jay Laifman

If it's not too late, I do have another suggestion that my Mustang restoring, racing brother in law once told me. Once you get that pickle foot jammed in there, take two hammers and hit the sides of the metal in which the tie rod goes into. They usually pop right out. Of course that means you have room to get two hammers in there.

Edgy01

You are beating on the fork, right? To pop off the tie rod? It's not a leverage game,--it's a beating game there. Recall that you dont' car about the rubber boot of the OLD units. This is just not that hard. Concur that you need more room under the car to get in there.

Oshin11

Hmmm, since I cut the bushings for the sway bar it does need to come out. A family friend who was a meister in Germany for a decade is coming to help me, I will suggest the A-Arm removal to him and see what he says. Jay--I think I can get the tie rod out if I heat the spindle arm.

Oshin11

I took a look at the control arm, I am pretty sure it would be a complete s%!t storm taking that sucker apart. Wish me luck! Since its coming off I can place jack stands under it obviously. Where would be the next best structural point to place a jack stand?

Jay Laifman

No, you put the tie rod separator tool in between the tie rod and the steering knuckle, then you use two hammers on the sides of the steering knuckle. I've seen it work. It's amazing. When the separator is giving some outward pressure, the shock/concussion of the blow causes enough stretch or something to the hole to release.

Again, I don't know if there is room in there for it. It's not about beating on the end of the tie rod, because that can put undo stress and twisting on the steering arm. It also is better to use the two hammers to minimize sideways stress too.

I did notice that Pelican parts does sell a different tie rod separator that has the fork and a bolt that pushes the tie rod out.

theiceman

Oshin can you not just borrow a puller from autozone, hook it undr the contol arm and push out the tie rod end ? should take just a few seconds..

Amber Gramps

I have a four inch one you can borrow. now, now.

dsmith

that's the first special tool i bought 10 years ago. it's always worked for me. i never liked the pickle forks. easy to use and no pounding to knock the car off the jacks.

Oshin11

Ok so I was about to give up today but with some innovative work I got the sway bar out this morning. Sorry I haven't posted but I was in the garage all day. After getting the sway out and cleaning a bit I called a family friend who is a veteran Porsche/Mercedes Meister. He came, he lauged, he conquered. With his help we got both rods out and the turbo rods in. Jay he did exactly what you said about striking the side of the arm, and I should have known to do that (4 years of physics and I still forget stress/strain properties ). Anyways he really had to give it some umph and it turns out that my rods were all messed up. The PO had the car towed and the company had towed it from the tie rods so I don't think I would have been able to get this done without my family friend. I also learned a lot from him, its funny he was complaining the the turbo tie rod kit didnt come with extra grease to dump into the steering rack boot. "What where is the grease, stupid Americans they even charge you for the grease youre supposed to get....in Germany it always came with the tie rod....grumble grumble grumble" HAHA Then he went over to the back and started reading some gibberish in German. Anyways when the bushings arrive from Pelican I will post pictures. Until then, I didn't buy the spanner wrench that is super thin to tighten the tie rod into the steering rack, anyone got any tricks to use for that? Hopefully I can just borrow one from Edgy when I go to Santa Barbara this weekend.

Amber Gramps

just me butting in again....why Pelican, when Performance is just down the street? I can get the and back in 2 hours, you could get it done in 45 minutes. what is it about them? they don't sponsor the site, so why is everyone always talking about them?

dsmith

now you see why i suggested having a mechanic around to learn the basics? it's not that these jobs are that difficult, it's that the learning curve is STEEP and you can really fubar something simple quickly. ex: now you have to buy bushings, though i'm sure they were pretty old. basically, you'll need to get some learning on how much torque you can put on fitting before they break, how hard you can use a hammer and how to prepare gasket surfaces. where to skimp on tools and not to. if you had great satisfaction on completing your hoses and tie rods, you'll love working on the car.
enjoy

Oshin11

Yea dsmith it was a blast just watching him. And he said he had a blast too, I think its because he has only 1 daughter and nobody to tinker with on cars. He offered to rebuild my engine with me this summer! He also gets huge discounts on parts so buying a rebuild kit with him would save me so much money. Plus the thousands in professional labor! Doug, trust me I tried performance parts first but they dont carry stock porsche bushings only the hard sport ones AKA the noise *** ones. You can get them to quiet down with some grease they sell but I just wanted stock bushings. Their website also is not half as good as Pelicans in my opinion. But yes I do try calling performance too. Still looking for a thin spanner wrench to make the job easier...Edgy suggested a crescent wrench but I still think that might be a bit large for the task.