imcarthur

After reading Wayne’s book (101 Projects) & numerous threads about this ‘simple’ upgrade, I was ready. Except for my hifi upgrade, I haven’t worked on the car all season. I was looking forward to it.

Well. It ain’t f***ing ‘simple’. OK?

Tie rod end removal was a breeze. Bottle jack the strut extension & smack the bolt under the castellated nut & it’s out. Forget the numerous proponents of pickle forks & specific Porsche tools. Smack it. It was easy & painless.

The tie rods were a different story. You can’t just screw the old ones off the way Wayne’s book says. There is no way I could bend the rod - via the rubber knuckle – to supply enough leverage in the right direction.

So . . . let’s drop the steering rack! The applicable threads say it’s only 4 bolts & it’s in your hands!

Yeah, right. On a Carrera, you have to drop the aluminum crossmember. That means, removing the height adjuster, torsion bar cap & torsion bar. Removing the horn. Undoing the fuel pump bracket. I better catch my breath here. Then off comes the bar up front, as well as the front torsion bar covers, which you just happen to be using as a jackstand point. So, move the jackstands to the reinforced area on the tub corner & then let the A-arm swing free! After all of that, you can remove the sway bar. Then, last but not least, the crossmember can come down.

Then it’s a simple matter to loosen the spline clamp & the clamp on the rubber bushing up in the smuggler’s box. Then, laying on your back, you pull like a banshee on the steering rack . . . and . . . it doesn’t budge. That d*mn rubber bushing has it locked between the 2 bolt posts. You can push, you can tug, you can lubricate it, but one person can not get it free. Or at least I couldn’t. I needed another body to work it from up above. And I was all alone.

But . . . it did give me enough room to muscle the tie rods off. And btw, when you are screwing these things off, mind the thin brake lines that are strategically placed exactly at your point of maximum tie rod turnability. And a big *ss pipe wrench is your friend.

My arms are sore. My fingers hurt. Especially the one that got pinched by the swinging A-frame assembly. What a p.i.t.a. A whole day. I think I used every tool that I own. And I used every swear word I knew too. I will put it all together tomorrow. I hope. Then it's on to do an inner CV boot.

Ian

psychoideas

You have to remove the spline clamp bolt as it passes through a recess in the steering shaft.

Otherwise looks like you've had a fun day

old man neri

Oh I see. So after changing your tie rods and doing your CV boot you will be experienced right? Experienced enough to show me how to do those exact two jobs on my 88 carrera? (It is also white by the way)

Good luck with the rest of the project and don't forget to have a few cold ones.

Oshin11

Oh my lord Ian. I just saw the picture and I am crying for you. I just did my turbo tie rods about a couple of months ago. It was a hassle for me too, but only because I couldnt get the ends off. I feel your pain on the "simply turn the rod and use itself for leverage" bullsh!t. You have to remove the sway bar, which it looks like you did. Why dont you just give me a call, I'll PM you my number, its much easier to explain it that way . I also have tons of pictures showing the whole process.

imcarthur

[QUOTE=psychoideas;4600050]You have to remove the spline clamp bolt/QUOTE]
Remove? @#$% ! I loosened only. So that's the solution . . .

Ian

gunlover05

I can sympathize....the job is harder than it sounds...I really struggled getting on of my tie rod ends off (heat was the trick), and getting the rods off the rack wasn't easy either, I did the rack spacers and had a bitch of a time getting one of the hex nuts loose on the steering shaft in the front trunk...whole job took me all of 7-8 hours of knuckle busting and cursing....

imcarthur

I think I'm away that weekend. Whatever weekend it is . . .

Ian

old man neri

Your in luck, turns out to be a weekday.


In all seriousness. I have to change my tie rod boots (might as well upgrade to turbo's) and one of my CV boots really soon. If you won't mind cataloging it with pictures that would be awesome. Or if you need an extra hand I don't mind coming down to help that way I can learn.

Cheers!

jester911

I did this job last fall and it was no fun at all. I did one side on a Sat. and it took about 4 hours or so. I did the other side the next day in it went better at about 2.5 hours. It is rewarding days later when you forget how much of a pita it is.

imcarthur

Well, I had a MUCH better day today re-assembling it all. The sway bar caused some grief but I got it in place with some hammering. Just the pan left to go on & final check of my work before I move on.

Ian

jester911

Make sure to plan on an alignment in the near future.

fat cab

mine were a peice of cake! left car in the morning at the shop/picked up in the afternoon, i looked at doing it, had the car all jacked up ,took one look, droped the car down. sounds like money well spent after reading these stories.

dsmith

hmm, mine seemed pretty easy (83 SC, maybe different?). i removed the bottom fuel pump cover and wheels, but that's it. i don't think it took 2hrs. my hard part was putting in those stupid rack spacers and lining up the two rack bolts. took 2 of us to do that. i did use a lift, though.

so, i guess you're not going to clean your gas tank, replace your fuel lines, replace your front bushings...

have fun.

imcarthur

A bottle jack is the key here.

Cheater.

No. The fuel pump I did last year & everything is OK underneath. I have one bare metal spot on the gas tank to undercoat tomorrow.

And the bushings . . .



Only the passenger rear is showing drift & I'll live with it for now.

Ian

BMWDavid

OK guys,

I was giving some thought to doing this with my '89 Carrera. However...now me thinks I'll wait.

For those who have done the turbo tie rod install was it worth it?

David