do I have all the tools?

[swynx]

Doing ball joints, wheel bearings, spindle bearigs, installing 2 inch spacer, tie rod ends and a u joints.I still need to get the wheel bearing nut tool. I ordered a balljoint press and spring compressor. . I have no idea what I need for tie rods.

 

[GentleRF]

For the tie rod ends, you will need the smaller opening "pickle fork" also known as a separator tool.

 

[swynx]

Just bash on the pickle fork and it'll seperate. What about ggetting the new one on. Sorry I have never done any thing with them before.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

If you're changing out the tie rod then it doesn't matter about using a pickle fork....the fork usually damages the boot. I haven't used my pickle fork in years, not because i haven't done tie rods in years, but because i found using a couple of heavy-ish hammers easier and quicker. if you have access to both sides, swing both hammers at the same time to hit where the tie rod goes thru. It seems that the vibration or maybe it's the slight distortion, but usually within a couple hits and the tie rod pops off. make sure that the castle nut is on partially so the the threads don't get damaged with a miss-hit.
Good luck,

Richard

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

What he said, but one hammer will do the trick. I do it daily.

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

 

[FritzTKatt]

If you replace the rod ends what difference does it make to destroy it? You might want to replace the rotors if the bearings are old. The races may sieze in. You put the tre on by just placing it and torqueing the castle nut down. It will pull itself into place, if not something is really wrong. Make sure the tre is on the correct side...

You don't need a spring compressor if you have good blocks, jackstands and a good floor jack. You'll have to disconnect the brake lines to avoid snapping them. If you have the budget, at this point just replace the u-joints, do a cclip eliminator, put new straps on the pinion yoke, change your gear oil, maybe wirebrush and paint the axle housings too. It's a lot more work but to go as far as you are... that last 20 years probably wasn't ideal on all those parts.

My straps needed a torch to get off (t20 iirc) and you'll obviously need a shop press for the ujoints. And a angle grinder to do the full snapring mod would be beneficial.

 

[Andy D]

I dont like destroying parts ,even if they are junk. Because you never know how things will go. I just use a hammer to pop them out with a side wise shock. The only time, I break that rule is when I am working on rusty brake lines. I have an old pair of dikes for them.

 

[FritzTKatt]

Vise grips get those siezed fittings out for me. My aftermarket splitter is nice because it takes a 7/8 wrench. Tubing wrenches are one thing i need to buy, but its not much a problem now that all my fittings are new

 

[swynx]

Just planned on replacing everything while I was in there. I do have the budget. Just trying to make it easy. I don't even know what a tre looks like lol

 

[GentleRF]

TRE = tie rod end.

 

[swynx]

So I'm pretty sure that I got everything thanks guys. If you can think of any thing I should buy to gel. Hen post it. I have nearly 3 grand to spend