>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!
I've heard of similar tools for pulling gears, etc. (I think we've got a hand-
made gear puller of some sort in the shed.), but didn't know about, or see, any
such device in the shop when I bought the "pickle fork". As the rubber boots
were stuffed anyway (one of them is a totally different size!) it didn't really
matter about the damage. BTW, what problems could having damaged boots cause?
I can only think of wearing by dust, and possibly corrosion.
I've still got the old tie-rod ends on, as I can't find any Moke ones (yet) -
only Mini ends. Could these be used (I think there might be slight differences
between the two, otherwise my supplier, who raced/races Minis, wouldn't have
mentioned the fact).
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| John Taylor [The Banshee] Victoria University of Technology |
| s883351@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) |
| MOKING IS A HEALTH HAZARD. Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|