I'm trying to remove the hubs from my Corrado but am having difficulty with the tie rods. I've soaked them in WD40 and given the knuckle a number of fairly hard whacks with a decent size hammer and they haven't budged. I've seen a couple of different tools available, first one (which is also the cheapest) is the fork type tool. From what I've read these destroy the rubber boot of the tie rod which isn't a problem at the moment as I'm not going to reuse the tie rod end, but I may in the future need to use the tool and have it not destroy the boot. Link The other type that I've come across are the scissor type tools, which don't damage the tie rod end. More expensive, but I'd rather spend more on a tool I'll be able to use more than once. Link My question is, are either of the tools any good for my predicament, and if so, which would you recommend. Or is there another alternative?
Are you using two hammers on the tie rod? Hold one against then hit with the other, gets shock from both sides....
I've never had a lot of luck with the "pickle fork" type. The hammer trick has yet to fail for me though.
Wee drop of heat round the cast with a good gas lamp and then a good crack with a hammer to the sides, maybe a wee tap on top (But put a nut on it so as not to damage the top threads)
Really this is the best way to get them apart, 2lb lump hammer behind the cast part and a good sharp thwack job is done... Mind to keep the nut on the last few threads to protect them if you miss
I have both types of splitter. The fork type had to be modified with the angle grinder to fit around the diameter of the tierod/balljoint. Both work, I`ve found the scissor type causes less damage to the rubber, fit it, tighten it up than whack the side of the hub with a hammer. Having the pre-load on the joint THEN hitting it always works for me. I`ve tried it without the hammer and it needs a huge amount of force on the bolt to make it `pop` out. Another way I`ve done it without either of the tools is if you have a spare jack trolley. Put that under the tie rod thread, lift it so it starts taking the weight of the car, but not all of it, then smack the hub around the tie-rod hole with a hammer.
+1 Luke, I found that if you load up the splitter and then give the joint a tap, they pop a lot easier. Looks up.. *sigh*
Thanks guys. Will try the two hammer method with the trolley jack under the tie rod, if that doesn't work I'll invest one of the scissor type tools.
