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i was wondering if you could just unscrew the end of the tie rod in order to do your springs... look at part #16 in this picture...

 
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Isn’t the tie rod end screwed on itself? It would be pretty hard to unscrew it with the strut attached. And if you did it would screw up your alignment I guess. But then again I'm no expert [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

 
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thats what i thought but looking at the picture they're two seperate parts. n ya i was thinking about the alignment too. i'm not too sure either, thats why i'm asking.

 
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ITS EASIER IF YOU JUST UNSCREW THE NUT OF THE TIE ROD END AND USE A TIE ROD TOOL TO POP IT OUT. IF YOU TAKE OUT THE WHOLE TIE ROD OR EVEN TOUCH THAT ADJUSTING SCREW, YOU WILL MESS UP YOUR ALIGNMENT.

 
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You should absolutely not unscrew that nut. Yes, it is a tie rod and you could unscrew the whole rod, according to the manual, to change the tie rod, you have to remove it from the strut anyway. So you won't be doing anything but totally throwing your alignment off. Driving around might be totally difficult if not impossible with that much toe in or toe out. I bought a tie rod remover for sixty bucks and it poped the tie rod off of the strut in 30 seconds without damaging anything. I would not recommend using a pickle fork as they tend to destroy the boot.

Where are you located in Ca? I might be able to help you along.

 
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i'm in the los angeles area..
tie rod remover? how does yours look like? the only one i could find is the fork kind...

 
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Ok, all you have to do to remove the tie rod end from the strut is hit it hard where the arrow points in this pic. There is no real need to go get a tie rod seperator. Just hit it HARD a few times and it will break free and you can lift it out. Just dont try to hit the tie rod end out (up) of the strut, that tends to break the tie rod end.

 
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well i screwed my tie rod end up putting on my springs so i know bout this stuff. the tie rod end does screw off there but you dont need to unscrew it to put springs on. and no it doesnt screw up rour alignment. Mines not messed up, just gtta do it better

 
Rep Power: 305

Not to argue, but there is a right way and a less than right way to work on your car. In the case of spring installation, there are a few tools that make life easier. One is a spring compressor, a real necessity. The other is a tie rod remover. The tie rod remover makes the job of separating your tie rod end from your strut a five minute job. And it does not damage anything, like a pickle fork can do to the boot. Plus since you are not altering the alignment by unscrewing the tie rod end from the tie rod itself, the alignment will be much closer to factory specs. That way when you drive it to the alignment shop, most likely the only thing seriously off will be the camber adjustment.

You may be able to get the tools from Pep Boys for free. Past that, I am staying in Santa Clarita and we could talk about doing it on a weekend.

Tie Rod Remover

 
Rep Power: 416

alright i got the tie rod off using the fork kind.. too me like 10 secs... banged in it, leaned on it n bam it came off... then i got the spring on(it was the same size as stock so i had to use a spring compresser to get it on) n tried to put the whole assembly back in. 30 mins later i realized it was longer then the other side. took it back off n found out that the shock had decompressed, n thats why it was taller.... now my question is, how am i supposed to get it back on the car? its impossible to compress the shock cause you'll also have to compress the springs to get it back on the car.

 
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It should just slip back on. Did you jack up both sides of the car? If not, try that. Looked to me like the other side suspension... (trying desperately to remember the damn name for it [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] ) bar pressing the other wheel up... guess you know what I mean

 
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ya, i only had one side jacked up. hmmm.. maybe thats why, cause i remember when the shop had both sides jacked, the rotor thing fell down more...

 
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Maybe so but my cv joint dislodged with only one side jacked up so... But like i said before, if you tie it up against the car or placing a jack under the rotor to everything should be fine.

 
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oh your that person... ever since i read that i got scared that it was gunna happen to me.. damn should have known i had to jack both sides up. spent like 5 hours just cause i didn't know that...

 
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oh n HP, when it dislodged what happened? the rotor thing tilted to like 45 degrees n it stayed there right... cause thats what happened to me alot of times n i just kept playing with it n it went in.

 
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Because I had everyting apart on he driver side earlier except for the tie rod I just let the rotor hang when I begun to work on the passenger side a few days later. Bu I guess I turned it or something when the bearings inside the joint where outside their "tracks". I tried turning it round in every possible way but it just wouldn't go back in.

Anyway one more thing to try when putting the strut back in is to put in the lower bolt of the two first (and the top 3 there but loose) and then pushing the whole thing inwards so the holes line up.. it lookes hard when yo try it but as long the joint is in one piece [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG] it goes in.