Tie Rod Boots

[87e30]

Well I am doing an m52 swap and threw in an e36 rack while I was at it. I put my e30 tie rods on it and somehow must have ripped the boot. I went to torque down the tie rod and it just spins around inside the boot. the nut is now stuck on there as it won't tighter or back off. The tie rod just spins.

I began inspecting the boot and noticed a couple rips. (woops)

A) any ideas for getting the nut back off

B) can those be pressed in and out? I have the actual tie rod boots and joints from the e36 but the metal is bent.

[jlevie]

I'm not sure what you are talking about...

The inner tie rod ball joint (the part inside of the boot) threads into the end of the rack and is secured by a bend type locking washer. The rod portion of the inner tie rod is free to rotate in its ball joint. The outer tie rod threads into the part of the inner rod that sticks out of the boot and is secured with a clamp bolt. The ball joint end of the outer tie rod seats in a tapered socket and is secured by a lock nut.

Which of those are you referring to?

[87e30]

Oh....

I thought the ball joint was the larger one on the control arm. Perhaps those are both ball joints.

However, I'm referring to the ball joint on the end of the tie rod that attaches it to the whole strut tube/wheel bearing assembly.

I jacked up underneath of it to put some pressure on it and was able to get the nut off. But the little boot on the ball joint is ripped, it rotates pretty loosely, and when I was tightening the nut it spun around.

I have the ones from the e36, that feel pretty tight and have no rips or tears. Can i press the e36 one out and then press it into the e30 outer tie rod?

[87e30]

Perhaps these are simply the tie rod ends?

Either way I'm wondering if that little ball-joint or tie rod end can be swapped from e36 to e30 in my own garage.

[87e30]

Do I have to buy a whole new outer tie rod?

[e30:)]

either put a jack under the joint and put pressure on it so it wont spin or use an impact wrench, i had the same problem when swapping out contol arms.

[87e30]

either put a jack under the joint and put pressure on it so it wont spin or use an impact wrench, i had the same problem when swapping out contol arms.

Do you have any outer tie rods in good condition on any of your parts cars?!

please say yes.

[e30:)]

i might, i dont know how to tell if there good or not. let me know and i will look for you

[87e30]

Well they aren't supposed to move around very freely, I was under the impression that they were supposed to be kind of stiff. Tight feeling if you will.

The bad one on my car just wobbles around whereas the ones on the e36 parts car I had are nice and stiff feeling.

Do you know how to get them off?

[e30:)]

loosen it and unscrew it? i will take a look and see how freely they move when i get home

[zedfez]

If a ball joint is good, you will be able to move it by hand, but it will be a bit stiff. If it is easy to move or you can jiggle the stud, it is no good. The outer tie rod end (the part you need to replace) is fairly cheap, even new. If you are going to use an old one, you just have to loosen the jam nut that holds it on the inner tie rod and the end should spin right off. Sometimes they freeze up, but a careful application of heat should fix that. Just make sure not to melt the ball joint.