LLY: Stuck tie rod sleeves, F@#$

frankenstien

Member
May 25, 2015
587
2
18
Fairbanks,Alaska
so i put new lower ball joints and cognito ucas, along with keys and add a leaf's, new tires and wheels.

i have an alignment scheduled for monday, but was goind to pull it in a bit until then

after it was all said and done, the toe out was looking not so great with about 1/4-5/16 of toe out, specs call for 1/8''-1/16'' toe in.

i have moog steering parts, they have about 3 years and 28k miles on them, with all season diesel tie rod sleeves(dirty hooker diesel now i think) well holy hell, i cant get the sleeves off or get them to budge, i have tried tapping on them, pb blaster as well as a torch, when i assembled them i used nickle antisize on it. it is currently soaking with some pb blaster, i plan on taking it into work where we have abig vice to hopfully hold the inner to get the sleeve off

i am open to any other ideas to get these thing off. also what do you guys do to them to keep them from sticking like this? they are stainless sleeves

thanks
 

Awenta

Active member
Sep 28, 2014
4,090
2
38
CT
Drill and tap a grease fitting on them. But they usually stick.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

Max Attitude

11SIX
Mar 7, 2012
814
0
16
Caledonia, MI
I have the same issue. This reminds me I need to get mine off yet, lol. Mine are still stuck on my old junk tie rods and I also used anti-seeze. An aligament shop had to heat mine up before to get them to move. Get them Cherry red with a hotter torch maybe. That or take the tie rods off and spray oil between the sleeve and rod while it stands vertical to soak for a bit.
 

NC-smokinlmm

<<<Future tuna killer
May 29, 2011
5,195
360
83
At Da Beach
I just threw mine away and got new ones. I tried to get them off several times with heat and pb blaster with zero success. Those ****ers were stuck on there... lol...
 

Leadfoot

Needs Bigger Tires!
Dec 27, 2006
904
31
28
48
Western MA
www.matpa.org
It's also pretty scary. I pulled a set off and tie-rod had almost completely rusted/rotted to the point of failure. Since then I put a grease fitting in them and grease everytime I grease the front-end. I think sleeves are great and a stock tie-rod with sleeves will be plenty for a majority of "drivers" out there, but if you are in the salt-belt a grease fitting is a MUST.
 

frankenstien

Member
May 25, 2015
587
2
18
Fairbanks,Alaska
Well after soaking for about 5 hours in pb blaster and a heavy dose of heat and beat, i got them apart, all sorts of nasty stuff in there, it wasnt even the threads that were the issue.

On top of this, 3 of the 4 bolts thst holt the air bag bellows to the bottom plate stripped out, just trying to
Put some air bag spacers in

This time around ill use grease instead of anti sieze, and ill install a grease fitting. They started using salt/brine here in the last couple years i believe.
 
Last edited:

minerigger

Active member
Dec 24, 2013
2,660
1
38
Casper, WY
Drill and tap a grease fitting on them. But they usually stick.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Where are you drilling and tapping for a zert? I need to get mine aligned soon and I'm sure they are stuck. Thanks man

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 

frankenstien

Member
May 25, 2015
587
2
18
Fairbanks,Alaska
Well just got back from the shop, was able to weld bolts to the stripped bolts.

As for the tie rod sleeves, i cleaned everything up, and drilled and tapped the zerks inright about in the middle, figured that would be the best for getting the grease to go everywhere. Broke the first tap, have to get one in the morning.

Also the inner tie rods were a bit pitted, nothing alarming, but enough to notice

Thanks for the help/ideas guys, i would have never thought of putting zerks in them
 

Awenta

Active member
Sep 28, 2014
4,090
2
38
CT
Where are you drilling and tapping for a zert? I need to get mine aligned soon and I'm sure they are stuck. Thanks man

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I'd drill closer to the threads so you can push the grease out. It won't help get them off now though.

I wonder if just silicone on the ends to seal them off would be enough to keep corrosion out.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

frankenstien

Member
May 25, 2015
587
2
18
Fairbanks,Alaska
I'd drill closer to the threads so you can push the grease out. It won't help get them off now though.

I wonder if just silicone on the ends to seal them off would be enough to keep corrosion out.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

I dont know if the silicone would work, but ill give it a try. Anything to not have to do this again