kaibiagi Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I've been fighting this outer tie rod trying to get it off for like 3 hours. Everything else has came out pretty easy so far, but this has been impossible. This is the drivers side, and yes I know that it is left hand thread. I've been trying to turn it clockwise to remove it, but I've tried both directions and it wont budge at all. I've been using a crescent wrench and 22mm, one on the nut and one on the tie rod. Sprayed the shit out of it with PB Blaster. Anyone have any tips on unscrewing it? Please tell me there is a simple way to get this off and I'm just an idiot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhm Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Seems odd that it's fighting you so hard....especially since your underside seems relatively rust-free, from what I can see in your photo. Try using some heat in addition to the penetrating oil. Heating it and cooling it multiple times will cycle the metal internally through several cycles of expansion/contraction. Can use ice for "fast cooling", which sometimes helps to break loose any internal corrosion. Worst case, unthread the entire tie rod assembly at the inner tie rod and you can continue working on it in a bench vise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaibiagi Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 Yeah, nothing up there is rusty, so I'm not sure why this is so stuck. Maybe someone stronger than me just absolutely cranked on it last time, or used red loctite or something. I'll try using my heat gun on it, and if that doesnt work I'll probably get a propane torch. I'm hoping I dont have to take the whole steering rack out, but if it comes to it, it comes to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 It's designed to "stick", it's a jam nut. Threads against threads. The last guy probably over-torqued. One trick to get more force on your wrenches without smashing your knuckles or contorting your body or applying force to the rod ends is to set the wrenches up with about a one-inch gap between them and use your grip strength to apply the force. Squeeze them together. Don't get your fingers between them. And if the wrenches are slipping use Vise-grips. Also, don't forget about leverage. Longer wrenches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaibiagi Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 (edited) Also, are the ball joints supposed to go on top of or below the control arm? Every video I've seen has them on top of the control arm, but on my car they are below and sticking through the big hole for some reason. Is this just some previous owner dumbassery or is that ok? 1976 280z. Edited January 28 by kaibiagi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaibiagi Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 FSM was the first place I checked, I just wanted to double check since the picture is kind of difficult to see whether the baseplate of the ball joint is top or bottom. It looks like its on top but I'm not 100% sure. I'm assuming that its supposed be on top and the whoever did this previously is just a dumbass, because I've seen a lot of stuff on this car done wrong. Somehow the wheel cylinders in the drum brakes was put in upside down and backwards and it still worked, so when I went to replace it I was super confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 My experience has been that when the parts are installed correctly you can tell. I'm not even really sure what you're talking about, to be honest. Hard to see how a person could get it installed incorrectly. Post a picture. https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=14663421&cc=1209226&pt=10070&jsn=383 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaibiagi Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 (edited) The first picture,MG 7884, is how I've seen it installed in other peoples youtube videos and how I think it is installed in the FSM. The baseplate is on top of the control arm. The second picture, IMG 7885, is how it was installed in my car on both sides. The baseplate is on the underside of the control arm and the ball joint sticks through the hole. I have not seen this anywhere else Everything seemed to work fine, except for a clunk when turning at low speeds. I believe this was due to the tie rod though, unrelated to the ball joint. I just figured I'd replace the ball joints anyway while I was there since they are cheap. Edited January 28 by kaibiagi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 I think that you are right. Surprised that it fits in there the wrong way. Does it actually fit or is it just jammed in? Look more closely at the various drawings and you'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaibiagi Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 2 hours ago, NewZed said: I think that you are right. Surprised that it fits in there the wrong way. Does it actually fit or is it just jammed in? It 100% fits completely normal. It honestly seems to make makes more sense to have it that way because the then the LCA-Ball joint bolts are facing downwards instead of up like they are with the corredt orientation. But yeah, there is no forcing anything, it fits right up like normal like that. I ended up installing the ball joints the regular way (on top), as shown in the FSM. And as for the stuck tie rod that was my original problem, I went to Harbor freight, bought a 36 inch pipe wrench, and put my feet on it. Got it to come off relatively easily that way. Threads werent corroded or damaged at all, it was just ridiculously tight. Thanks for the help 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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