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I recently took my car to get snow tires put on, and when they put my vehicle on the lift something started leaking and all my power steering fluid drained out. I've had a small power steering fluid leak for awhile but something happened when the car went on the lift and it got significantly worse. I drove my car home with no power steering, and after lots of reading on this forum I decided my power steering rack was leaking. I replaced the steering rack yesterday, and after that I realized my tie rod ends were in pretty bad shape. I got the passenger side tie rod end replaced relatively easily, but after hours of trying to get the driver side tie rod end loose, no progress. At this point the jam nut is pretty badly rounded off and after lots of youtube videos and googling can't really find any way to get it off. I've tried plenty of pry bars, penetrant etc etc etc, I can't get the nut off. I put everything back together, the steering rack isn't leaking anymore and as of now I have yet to find any more leaks. The driver side tie rod end was put back together and torqued, it seems to be in decent condition except the boot is ripped pretty badly. My main question is is this an immediate issue? I drove it for about an hour with no obvious problems, but I commute 50 miles for work every day and if this is gonna become a serious issue I gotta figure something out. If anyone has any tips or answers it would be much appreciated, thank you

 
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use proper tool, Harbor freight have them (pic below). mine ball joints and tie-rods took several days with the tool pressing it, PB Blast and tightening everyday a little more until it finally banged itself loose, but my car had spent 1 1/2 year in Canada, so lots of snow/salt
any suspension part is critical to safety. tie rod ends, if they break the wheel will open up and you will have no control where the car is going nor brakes will work properly
how bad is bad for you? pics?

 
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so i was able to get the castle nut off easily but what i can't remove is the jam nut where the tie rod end connects to the inner arm. the rod end is still intact but the boot is ripped

 
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boot ripped but no play in the steering wheel? should be OK for a while
if you have play in the tierod end to the knuckle, its serious
just take to a shop. You will need to align anyways..

 
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ah, the threads are reversed in the tierod ends, if i am not mistaken...

 
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yeah the tie rod end does move back and forth along the boot but it is solidly connected to the knuckle, was able to achieve the 33ft/lbs of torque my hanes manual specified. the jam nut is pretty seriously rounded out, if i took it to a shop do you think i'd reasonably be able to expect them to be able to replace that tie rod end?

 
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Shop will charge you an hour or two of labour but they should be able to change it out. You need an alignment afterwards

 
Rep Power: 367

again, the threads are reversed in one side for tierod ends - are you turning them to the right direction?

 
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unfortunately yeah i figured that out way too late i wasnt aware that each side was different so after easily replacing the passenger side i assumed the other side would be the opposite (seemed logical in my mind LMAO) but at this point the jam nut is rounded out so my 24mm wrench isnt much help. I found a good-looking shop near me, I'm gonna take it in and see if i can get a reasonable quote for inner and outer tie rods and an alignment, should hopefully clear up the rest of this. i appreciate your quick feedback a lot man, thank you!

 
Rep Power: 367

good luck, they have more tolls, push comes to shove, they weld something in there to have leverage

 
Rep Power: 222

fyi for next time you can use a pipe wrench on the rounded jam nut

 
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oh ****, thank you