i had tried on two different occasions to replace my
power steering rack, with the same results, could
never get the tie rod ends out of the steering
knuckles, so i would put it back together and tell
myself another day maybe. so another day arrived
christmas eve when my grandparents were in town and we
were going to breakfast since i was not heading home
for the big day. i was showing my grandpa the new
seals i had put on the front windows and telling him
about the d*%! rack i could not install myself and
why, so he had me pull a wheel off and put the van on
jack stands and proceeded to show me how he takes tie
rod ends out of the knuckle(he used to be a
mechanic)if i had not known that he would pay for
anything he broke i would have snatched that hammer
out of his hand pretty darn fast, for he just pounded
the living s*!t out of the knuckle about ten
times,right on the front of the knuckle,from front to
back(of the van) and there you have it, the tie rod
end just poped right out(and he only bent the splash
guard a little)...i could hardly believe it...so
although i had not planned on replacing the unit that
day, i went ahead and started working on it since he
was there and could guide me if i ran into any other
problems(a big relief actually). the install went
pretty smoothly after that, no problems at all, does
not even need to be aligned, although the steering
wheel is upside down, but he says not to worry about
that, he knows a few tricks to fix that, although i
will probobly have that fixed next time i see
them...just thought i would post this for anyone
thinking of doing this job themselves, i found the tie
rod ends to be the biggest pain in the whole job. i
did not time the job, but think it took about three
and a half hours,jmaybe four, plus a trip to sears for
a 22mm wrench for one of the hydraulic lines. power
steering for christmas!!!now for that rear heater
core......

scott wilson
85 gl westfalia

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