I'm trying to drop the whole strut assembly down low enough so I can tighten the threaded ring inside the strut tower... It's completely loose.

I can't get the shock/strut assembly down low enough to have enough room to tighten it, because of the tie rod end ball joint holding things up...

So where can I separate things so that I can drop the strut assembly down just a bit lower? I've got the the cotter pin and nut off the end ball joint but it's not separating... Am I doing something wrong?

There are tie rod puller tools out there as well as generic gear pullers. I have a small gear puller that I use on ball joints. Remove the nut and tighten the puller on the top of the tie rod bolt and it will pop off with enough force.

Spoke

Damn... I didn't know I'd need a special puller. FLAPS item?

Should it look something like this? Click to view attachment

Or this? Click to view attachment

No special tools needed...

Remove the wheel and before disconnecting the top strut, place a piece of steel 1/4" longer than the distance from a concrete floor to the arm. A piece of square tubing or angle iron works great. Wood is too soft. You will have to lift the arm up that 1/4" to rest it on the piece of steel (close to the tire rod) Now it is supported. Give it a sharp blow with a brass mallet and it will pop right out. This method has NEVER failed me. It can no longer flex and the shock of the hammer will do the work.

If for some reason it still won't pop, smack the side of the arm with a hammer around the taper area of the tie rod. This will move metal and make the hole slightly larger and the tie rod will come right out with a smack.
Click to view attachment

You don't need to separate the tie rod end to accomplish what you're trying to do. After you take off the 1 large strut top nut, put both arms into the wheel well and push down on the strut cover really hard. Compress the strut all the way down, then really quickly pull the strut cover up and off. There's just enough room. Now you can tighten the collar, re-compress the strut and jam the strut cover on really quicky just like you did to get it apart.

I do it similarly.

I compress the strut down so that the top of the shock can exit the wheel well and can leisurely remove the cover and tighten the strut insert retaining nut. Compress the strut again to swing it back into place, and re-install the top nut.

Thanks fellas.... I'll try that.

PRS914-6,

That is a great idea for removing the ball joints. I wish I had thought of that when I rebuilt my front end several years ago.

I started out by buying one of the small pullers from Automotion as shown in the photo in Hammy's post. It worked for one ball joint, but the second ball joint must have had a smaller outside diameter as it kept slipping through the puller jaws. The puller was a POS.

So I then went with a standard fork and after beating the crap out it and adding heat from a propane torch I finally separated the ball joint. It was tough though.