Reply to: RE>Re: Steering
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Date: 2/5/91
To: Jerry Kaidor
From: s883351@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU
>From what I remember when I did the Moke's steering boots, you undo the nut
holding the tie-rod "knuckles" to the hub assembly, and use a ball-joint
"cracker" to make the knuckle come down and away from the hub assembly. (The
ball-joint cracker looks like a long handled tuning fork, the two points of
which are tapered. You basically put the fork between the knuckle and hub
assembly and tap/bang it in which pulls the threaded "bolt" through.) This
should leave you which the steering arm, with ball-joint/knuckle attached,
free.
You then loosen the lock-nut on the steering arm, and unscrew the ball-joint.
Make sure you count the number of turns it takes to unscrew the ball-joint,
otherwise your wheel-alignment will be incorrect when you reassemble. You may
like to/have to replace the ball-joints, as these invariably get damaged.
DONT USE THE EVIL PICKLE-FORK!!! There is another way! A ten-dollar tool
sold by your friendly neighborhood J.C. Whitney can remove that ball joint
without damaging it WHATSOEVER. This "tie-rod-end puller" looks like a cast
steel C-Clamp. One end of it is flattened, and slides between the steering arm
and the tie-rod-end. The body of the tool curves around
the other side of the steering arm, and a big screw pushes on the protruding
pin of the tie-rod-end. I have yet to have a tie-rod-end give even the
slightest resistance to this tool! Not only does it not damage the
tie-rod-end, it doesn't even damage the rubber boot! I thought everybody knew
about this tool!
- Jerry "the only pickle-fork I use is to get the pickles out of the
jar" Kaidor
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