Beretta.net

Hey there folks, I have a bad drivers side outer tie rod end. My alignment has been bad for awhile and this end predictably failed state inspection so i gotta replace it. I did both outer ends a year ago but cannot get this end off. I can't get the end itself off because when i rotate the castle nut the whole joint rotates with it. I only have 1/2" to clamp onto below the castle nut and so far haven't been able to clamp it hard enough to get the nut to move without the joint moving with it.

What should I do, grind the castle nut off with a cut-off wheel tool or what? There's no way I'm taking this to a shop. Anybody out there had the same problem and solved it??

I had to do that, (here I go) on a Plymouth Reliant of my wife's when she owned it.  I believe the threads were stripped on it and couldn't get it to back off.  Had to grind it off, then pound it out.

Angle grinders are fun, and educational.

ok, angle grinder it is, its a useful addition to my toolkit so i'll get a decent cheaper model. Another question, what type of cut off wheel should i get for it? i think the castle nut is hardened steel...

still have'nt gotten around to this yet...

Can anyone tell me if this castle nut is hardened steel?

And for that matter, how does one tell differences between normal, hardened, and/or heat-treated bolts and nuts generally? Just want to make sure I buy the right tool for the job. I might try a nut splitter instead but still need to know:

hardened steel or not??

What I would do is take a tie rod fork and JAM it in there then try undoing the castle nut.  The nut should be just a regular automotive nut.  Now that shaft is hardened.

lift on the fork when you use it. or use a long pry bar.
you want pressure on the tir rod so it will not spin.

the thing is an impact gun works great, but im sure you may not have one lying around.

and electric one works well too if you don't want to buy an air compressor.

I can't remember for sure what the wheel was called on the grinder I used.  It was at a friends house and it was about 1/8 inch thick and had like a criss-cross pattern in it.  It was some type of really dark grey or black composite type stuff.  Worked awesome though.  Went through like "butta"

cut off wheel, used for cuttin damn near everything. works good but a little slow on steel.

I've used the fork jamming method many many times with mucho success.  If that doesnt work then grind away.  Just a friendly tip......COVER YOUR CV BOOTS WHEN GRINDING IN THE WHEEL WELL.  My boot melted while grinding off an endlink for the swaybar.  Talk about a terrible end to a terrible day.

Thanks for all your suggestions, guys    
This was a learn by doing problem.
I got a $10 nut splitter at Autozone which i didn't really need anyway. I hauled out my compressor and impact wrench, plugged in the right size socket, pried up hard on the joint below the boot with a pickle fork I just bought with one hand and used the impact wrench with the other. The nut came right off.

I could have solved this problem awhile ago but was too lazy to haul the 100lb. compressor out of the basement. duh!@...\

OK, just one more dumb question, I know berettas have 2 lube points, ball joints and outer tie rod ends. What is the proper proceedure for greasing them? Do I grease until the boots feel firm or do i grease until it leaks out the edges of the boot?? I have a feeling I overgreased my old ends and that may be why they failed, though I may be wrong about that given my lousy front end alignment (soon to be solved with an inner tie rod repair kit, 4 new snow tires, and control arm assemblies with balljoints/poly bushings to replace the wasted originals)...

anybody?...we can kill this silly topic forever  

You can kill  it by deleting it.

do i lube the tie rod ends until the boot feels firm or until grease starts leaking from the boot edges?? same question for the ball joints...

I think empty is:  4squirts or 1.5oz.  I am unsure.  I just fill it until I see the boot to flex out a little.  You dont want it be hard/firm/ready to burst.

dang...i think i've already given each side 6-7 squirts from my grease gun. each boot feels pretty firm so i'll just leave it at that if you think that's alright. does that sound good to you?