Alrighty fellas, Ive took it upon myself to do this level.....myself. Ive got every nut off that needs to come off, I Just cant get the damn tie rod end (I think) to come out of the steering knuckle. Heres a pic of what Im referring to.



The directions say to take a ball peen hammer and hit the steering knuckle. I don't have that, or a ball-joint splitter (pigs foot/crows foot) Is there any other method I can use, any other tool that would suffice? Thanks in advance guys...

 

Go to the Pars store and rent a Tie Rod puller. You can get em in all different sizes for what ever you need and its easier than the spitter and wont mess the boot up.

 

Yep, most auto parts stores will "loan" you the puller and just require a deposit of cc # to make sure they get it back...

 

I was able to get mine off without the puller. I didn't really have to hit it hard, just get the angle right on the tie rod, its tapered so it could be tight.

 

in case you don't know what I am talking about here is a pic of mine

 

Are you saying you don't have a hammer?? All you have to do is give it a few good raps on the flat side of the knuckle shown in the pic. Looks like you might have hit it already. Don't worry, you won't break it. The vibrations is what breaks it loose.

 

Thanks for the quick responses. $95 freakin dollars, and no one there could tell me how to use it. Seems pretty self explainatory, we'll see. Thanks again guys, might not get it done till tomorrow, getting dark on me quick, I waited too late to start this adventure, haha.

 

Lol, yeah mega, I beat the hell outta that knuckle.

I got the tie rod loose, sumbitch popped like hell, guess I didnt have the right angle or something, haha. BUT, of course, that aint the end of it. Now I can't get the damn strut assemble out. that lower arm is still in the way. Ive been using another sized puller to try and pop the "lower sway bar link" off, that seems to be the only thing holding that arm up. The strut assembly is loose, I can pull it towards the rotor a bit, just not enough to slide it out of the tower..... Getting dark, cold, and frustrating. I hate not knowing exactly what Im doing, but this is the only way to learn......

 

Once you have the upper control arm ball joint out and the shock disconnected and the swaybar disconnected and the brake caliper off and supported out of the way, you should be able to push down on the rotor and get the spring out. Make sure the jack isn't keeping it pushed up there.

If you think getting the spring out is hard, wait until you try to get it back in with the spacer on top.

Check out this thread: https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...y-txst8tj.html

He has some good pictures of what you need to do.

 

Got the assembly out, got the spacer on, and now battling what deviate is talking about, getting that sumbitch back in there!! This has been a trip for sure. Looks pretty simple on paper, couple nuts here, bang with a hammer there. Nah, not so. I hate to leave my truck half torn apart in the middle of my yard, but its completely dark on me now. Oughtta make for an interesting morning...

Thanks for the link Deviate....