Tie Rod Ball Joint Question Options

[kenshapiro2002]

The bellows on my left side tie rod end ball joint is shot (obviously). I'm assuming the downside is loss of grease...ingestion of dirt, and premature wear? Anyway, what's the fix? Do I need to replace the whole joint or can the bellows be replaced. Hand tools? Ease of repair on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being changing a tire and 10 being rebuilding the trans.?

[jaxdream]

Ken
The removal is fairly easy , look at it . The stud that the nut threads on is tapered to wedge into the arm, take off the nut , wack it hard a few times , yes you could use what some call a pickle fork , a tool designed to do the removal will also work, especially sense you will not be reusing that tierod end,the nudge to get turbo tierods would benefit you greatly, a little more involved than just replacing tierod ends.Also as others have mentioned , before screwing the old tierod end out , try to measure the distance from where the jam nut is up against the tube that goes back to the rack ( other tierod end ) to approxamately the center of the old tierod stud . If doing the turbo rods check some threads on the forum , there is all kinds of info on that setup ,more $$, but well worth it. good luck ...

Jack / Jaxdream