I have a 91' Civic STD model, I was doing an engine swap and had to remove the tie rod end, but like a dumbass I used a ball joint fork for the tie rod end. So the arm of the tie rod just pulled off of the 'ball' inside that rubber boot. Now I have my new engine running and am limited by this ball shaped piece of the tie rod end. It's stuck in the spindle.

I have sprayed it with PB blaster, I have banged the **** out of it from the bottom part sticking out (the short threaded rod) with many different tools. I have used the back of a 4 foot long axe, I have tried to jack it up with a hydraulic jack but that just compresses the suspension....I think this might work if I can lock the suspension up somehow?

I have also bought the proper tie rod end fork, and it won't work on just this ball thing. I have rented a tie rod end puller/pusher rather from Autozone, it didn't work, but also the forks were to wide and I can get it seated on the tiny spindle so didn't get much force from it.

Any ideas? thanks, sorry there's no pics, I could probably borrow my mom's camera if I needed though. is there any way to lock the suspension so I can use the hydraulic floor jack to push it out from the bottom? I bet it would be enough force, could I just like stick a block of wood over the upper control arm or something?

 

Take a hammer (at least 2 lbs.) and hit the outside of the knuckle where the tie rod is stuck in it. Finding a way to keep the knuckle still is up to you.

 

i agree with 88hatchy, i just did this at the junkyard. but like he said, be weary of how you have the axle held in place. best best is to take some rope and tie it to your frame to keep it locked and not spring back at ya or accidentally slip and hit your arm/fingers/knee/leg/face...........

 

If you did a B-Series swap, take the knuckles off completely and replace them with either DX/LX (at least) or EX knuckles (if you can find them). Std knuckles won't fit the splines on Integra axles.

If you did a D-series swap, use the hammer method from 88Hatchy. If that won't work, remove the knuckle and have a machinist remove it for about $10-$15.

Quick question, what kind of swap did you do? Just wondering if you had pics...I'd like to see how it went.

 

rent a tool like this


use it to put some pressure on whats left of the balljoint, then hit the knuckle around the balljoint with a 3-4lb hammer. it will pop off.

 

thanks for all the advice, I tried soaking it with PB blaster, banging it with various hammers and a 4 foot axe (the back of the head of course!), that is hitting the threaded stud upwards and the spindle around the tie rod end, neither dislodged it. I tried a chisel attachment on my air hammer. Okay, so I decided it's time to remove the whole spindle, and the axle nut is what I was scared of, but I got it with my sister holding the brakes down. The rest of the spindle removal was relatively easy, and hopefully later today I'll drop it off at a machine shop to get that tie rod end pressed outta there with some hydraulic force. I hope it's only $10-15 bucks.

btw, I swapped in a D15Z1, or rather it's jdm equivalent labeled D15B VTEC-E. This comes from the 92-95 Civic VX which gets 50 mpg. Although it sucks for me now that gas is only $1.60/gallon I won't be saving nearly as much. thanks for the replies and sorry mine took so long, I was moving, well now I'm moved, and I have a carport attached to the house that I wanna convert to heated garage and do some work in. **** yea! excuse my french, it's just freaking exciting.

 

after all that, a local machine shop popped it out for me in about 5 minutes for $5 bucks. I was expecting to pay $20 or so, of course I was excited. I walked in, those guys were like, "give me that spindle, that ain't ****," and they pressed it out with a hydraulic ram table thingy. So I go to put my car back together, and then the freaking driver side tie rod nut was stripped out....wtf? Now I gotta replace another one damit, but this time no machine work, because it popped outta the spindle no problem. And to realign the car I have just been counting the number of threads showing before and after installing the new tie rod ends. I guess I might need to get an alignment when I'm done too.

 

i was gona say use the drill but my second tought was a machine shop