Drive Shaft Replacement

[deejay1272]

I'm in the process of replacing my passenger front drive shaft and I'm having difficulty separating the steering knuckle from the tie rod. Wedging a breaker bar between the shock absorber lower bracket and the steering tie rod and applying pressure (standing on it) didn't free things up. Does anyone have a suggestion for how to proceed without the special tool that the FSM suggests?

(I'm speaking about page FA-8 in the FSM, step #5).

Thanks in advance.

[ARCHINSTL]

Do yourself (and the car) a HUGE favor and just rent this from just about any chain-type parts store:
http://www.tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtop ... one#p41274
Tom M.

[Highlander]

Deejay- What Tom said, after you apply load to the tie rod end, hit the steering arm sharply with a hammer perpendicular to the taper of the tie rod, it should pop out. DON"T hit the end of the tie rod taper bolt, it just wastes your time and fringles the threads.

[deejay1272]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I will give the steering arm a good few whacks to see if I can pop things apart. I'll investigate Tom's suggestion as a plan B!

[Petros]

whacking it in the right place is all you need, I have never used a puller in 35 years of working on cars, it always works. put downward pressure on it with your bar, and give the connection a sharp whack right on the arm end of the joint with a large hammer. the shock through the part causes the taper to pop out.

good luck