Re: 164 tierod problem

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

Karl Robrock wrote about his problem with removing a 164 tierod end - he
backed the nut off a few threads, parted the taper with a pickle fork, and now
he is stuck because the ball just twirls within the socket when he tries to
back the nut off the rest of the way. Never been there/done that, (at least
not with the same result) but Fred, more shy than usual, (or than he should
be) emailed me "John, you know how we use two hammers, a two pounder and a one
pounder to break loose the tapered tie rod ends?   Well I cant seem to put the
idea into words many of the inexperienced Digesti can follow.  Could you?
Pickle forks are for pickles."

I think Fred is right about using a pair of Ford Wrenches (one as an anvil) to
pop the taper, rather than a pickle fork, but I have sometimes backed the nut
way off and used a centered drift and a sledge in places where there wasn't
room to swing a hammer laterally. Never owned or used a pickle fork. Beating
on-axis within a backed-off nut risks mushrooming the threads, but even so
I've never been stuck the way Karl is. A relatively fail-safe variant is to
back the nut way out, run a bolt in and beat on it. But if you have room to
swing a hammer laterally, the hammer and anvil seems to be the way to go.

If Karl can get in with a cutoff tool (or Dremel, whatever) to slot the male
end so he can stop the rotation, the nut should come off. Otherwise, splitting
the nut (with a nutsplitter, of course) after judiciously slotting a face of
the hex with his cutoff tool, he should be home free.

While his email relay through me was free of typos, Fred may be bashful
because his typing went away with his eyesight. (At least his misspellings are
accidental rather than on purpose, like some, or by illiteracy, like many
others.) I hope and trust that most digestisti will understand and that he
will feel welcome here through his last breath.

A digression on civility? A recent off-digest attempt to help a newbie
elicited responses that I might be genuinely insane, and should take up bird
watching. It doesn't bother me (he may be right, after all) but incivility has
chased some of the most experienced and knowledgeable members of the Alfa
community off the digest almost as soon as they logged on. Generation gap may
account for part of it, but it is still a loss, and unnecessary.

John H.
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