Hi everyone,

Just another quick question. I'm trying to replace the outer tie rod ends on my 91 240. Whenever I attemt to loosen them, the entire tie rod rotates. Any advice is appriciated, and I've gotta get my car back together soon. Thanks in Advance

You should be able to break these loose while the outer is still in the steering knuckle. It's a 7/8 wrench usually (is that 22mm? I forget). Anyway, it can be tough to break apart an outer from the nut on the inner. It should be possible though with normal tools. Maybe you can use another wrench or pipe for better leverage.
Just don't UNDER torque this when reassembling it- I saw an 89 244 today which had been for an "alignment" at a cheapy shop- they DID NOT tighten the tie rod jam nuts back down, either side. The passenger side finally stripped out and parted company. We rolled it into the garage after threading it back together- in 200 ft it came apart again (luckily broke next door to the dealership I was at!) adn it parted again just before getting in the bay. Inner and outer TRASHED. Then, lo and behold, grabbed the other side- could wiggle it up and down even though it was still threaded together. This guy was a HAIR away from a very violent crash and total loss of steering control. The other shop that did it is paying for the parts.... damn lucky they don't have a very expensive lawsuit on their hands. BOTH SIDES had stripped hardware, because NEITHER side was properly torqued after an alignment. SCARY!

I will check mine from now on, and go to a reputable alignment shop. Unfortunately, many of these discount tire chain stores hire very inexperienced people, and these mistakes can be par for the course becuase of that.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 744GLE, 91 244: 808K total

That's an eye-opener.

From what I can recall I have a couple long open-end wrenches angled such that I can wrap my hands around the ends of both and squeeze. Not sure, but may have resorted to the manual impact method once -- put a shorty wrench on the jam nut and give it a swift whack with a two-pounder.

As he's undoing the tie rod end, I figure that is the nut he's speaking of instead of the one retaining its ball joint to the spindle.

I've a "left-the-coffee-pot-on" phobia or compulsion about tightening critical hardware. One trick that has helped in the past when doing many things to a car is to apply a drop of paint to the fastener after being done with it. I have an old bottle of touch-up that stores easily in the tool tray.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Yeah I actualy couldn't tell whether we were talking about the nut on the tie rod end to the spindle or the inner tie rod end threaded end. Just had to share that story though- it literally happened yesterday morning and I helped my friend do the emergency recovery lets-try-to-drive-it-to-the-shop thing.
In my experience you can usually get the nut off the spindle end without much heartache, and then you have to fight the inner nut with two wrenches or something similar. A pickle fork (tie rod/ball joint separator) makes poppoing these apart SO much easier, as well.

If anyone wants the name of the shop that did this, email me.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 744GLE, 91 244: 808K total

I found this $6 separator to fit 240 tie rod ends just like it was a volvo special tool T-12345 or whatever for those occasions when you want to re-install the part with seals intact. But then, I hear a lot of comments from people who say they just give the stud a tap with a hammer to get it loose.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Are you talking about the bolt that holds the tie rod end to the steering arm at the wheel, or the connection that holds the outer tie rod end to the inner tie rod? The inner tie rod is everything from the outer tie rod to the rack and pinion shaft. The inner tie rod disappears into the rubber boot and connects with a ball and socket swivel joint to the rack and pinion shaft.
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Thanks to everyone for the help, Doug C. 81 242 Brick Off Blocks, stock; 86 240, 129K

Hold the rod end with channel locks, vice grips, etc., and loosen the jamb nut. It should come off. Try some pb blaster also. Good Luck.
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92 244 lowered, Bilsteins, IPD sways, Unitek cam/header, TSW Revo 18x8's - 94 965 Niiice MONEY PIT! - 76 Datsun 280Z lowered, modified head, cam, headers, intake

put a floor jack under the bottom of the tie rod and apply some pressure. Not enough to lift the car by it!

But this binds the joint up and the nut comes right off!

There should be s flat spot on the tie rod between the dust boot and the threads that attach to the outer tie. Get a wrench on it. You might need to use a pipe on the wrench for more leverage. This is an area under the car that is exposed to lots of road grime and in many areas lots and lots of salt. So parts can easily corrode and freeze together. Also make sure to use plenty of liqued wrench, or some other penetrating oil.

Good Luck... 1987 245DL 228k

I think the replies are confusing two different bits here.
1) is the ball and socket at the outer end of the tie rod, connecting to the steering link on the wheel assembly. The jack method works well if the whole pin is rotating when you try to undo the nut. With the nut off you may then need a seperater or splitter.
2) is the lock nut on the tie rod itself. This can be very tight, and may need a wrench that virtually destroys it in the process. Remember that all the nuts undo counterclockwise. It is easy to get confused when lying under the car, especially if you are used to cars that have different rotations left and right.