[Josdek]

I'm out in the garage replacing my tie rod ends (Saab calls them drag link ends) on my 99 9-5 2.3 in anticipation of getting it aligned this week. I got the lock nut loose ok but the tie rod end will not budge from the tie rod. I've got a really good vice grip on the flat part of the tie rod, the end is still in the steering knuckle for stability (tried it with it out and it flopped around too much). Has anyone run into this? Thanks for any input.......

 

[Raven18940]

You're doing this all wrong. What you need to do is hit the steering hub with a hammer. I'm not exactly sure of the name of it, but the hole that the tie rod sits in that connects to the wheel hub. Hit that on the side with a hammer (a real hammer, not a rubber mallet), don't hit the tie rod. What this does is momentarily deforms the hole and pops the tie rod right out in no time at all.

EDIT: Wait a minute, I don't think I read that right. Do you want to seperate the tie rod from the steering rack? Ok, you got the lock nut loose. Good, now get a really big wrench, position yourself for maximum leverage and tug as hard as you can. It'll probably be best to put the tie rod back in and bolt it down while you do this. If this fails, try a rust breaking spray. If that fails, heat it up with something. If heat doesn't work, you're pretty much stuck.

 

[Josdek]

I've sprayed it with the rust-destroyer stuff and then used heat...no luck. Might have to break down and go to a shop, although I'm not sure what they can do that I haven't tried. Thought about removing the tie rod from the rack but according to the WIS you have to remove the rack to do this, needless to say would like to avoid that....

 

[Al's Red Wagon]

Have a pic?

I think I may have gotten through this when i did my wheel bearing a while back...Got a picture?

I what you are talking about, I spent about three hours on this and ened up stumbling upon Raven's solution. But I'm still unclear as to your situation.

 

[Josdek]

Sorry for the confusion fellows....I am not having trouble with tapered pin part the tie rod end coming out of the steering knuckle/steering arm/wheel bearing housing piece, I used a picklefork tool for that. The part I'm having trouble with is where the tie rod end screws onto the tie rod. The arrow in the attached picture points to the problematic point (not a Saab part, just one I found on the internet but looks the same).

 

[Raven18940]

I've sprayed it with the rust-destroyer stuff and then used heat...no luck. Might have to break down and go to a shop, although I'm not sure what they can do that I haven't tried. Thought about removing the tie rod from the rack but according to the WIS you have to remove the rack to do this, needless to say would like to avoid that....

The advantage a shop would have is a lift, which means they can get the car up and have really good leverage on it.