I dove into rebuilding the front suspension last night, starting on one side using https://www.mikeamick.com/76midget/page 1.htm as a reference.
I was prepared to leave off separating the tie rod end until I could borrow the right separator or a pickle fork, but thought I'd just loosen up the top nut and see what it was like. The nut was snug (not loose), and I took it up to the top so I could tap it and not the threaded end. A few light taps with a hammer on the top, and it just sort of popped out of the steering kuckle - no special tools, two hammer tricks, swearing, c-clamps, etc.
I didn't really look at it all that close, but there didn't seem to be any bad wear on it, nor did it seem really wobbly and loose before I popped it off. I'm guessing that in general this wasn't exactly what I should have had happen, nor is it necessarily a good thing. Or is it?
I do have a new pair of tie rod ends I'm going to put on, so if there is something wrong with the originals it's a bit of a moot point - unless of course the problem is the steering knuckle not the tie rod end.
Thoughts? I need to go back and look at it tonight after work to get a sense of if there was some wear in there I missed.
I was prepared to leave off separating the tie rod end until I could borrow the right separator or a pickle fork, but thought I'd just loosen up the top nut and see what it was like. The nut was snug (not loose), and I took it up to the top so I could tap it and not the threaded end. A few light taps with a hammer on the top, and it just sort of popped out of the steering kuckle - no special tools, two hammer tricks, swearing, c-clamps, etc.
I didn't really look at it all that close, but there didn't seem to be any bad wear on it, nor did it seem really wobbly and loose before I popped it off. I'm guessing that in general this wasn't exactly what I should have had happen, nor is it necessarily a good thing. Or is it?
I do have a new pair of tie rod ends I'm going to put on, so if there is something wrong with the originals it's a bit of a moot point - unless of course the problem is the steering knuckle not the tie rod end.
Thoughts? I need to go back and look at it tonight after work to get a sense of if there was some wear in there I missed.