I had to cut and drill mine out as heat and a lump hammer did nothing. It nearly bent our ball joint splitter. By the time it came out there probably wasn't even a mm of metal left and it still fought a fight.

As I was on the floor while doing it, I managed to touch my wrist with the hot drill bit moving around and still have the mark to show.

 

Another option is if you've got a new tie rod going in - replace the damper too (as it probably needs it anyway) - then don't even bother separating them.

Heat the tie rod section if you must separate it, you want the part holding the stud to expand - once hot, hit it with some PB blaster, tap it with a hammer (vibration, not separation), repeat a few times, then heat it up and try to tap it out.

 

I do not own a ball joint splitter, but I'll see if I can borrow one from my neighbor who works on cars.

I'd like to replace the damper, but I'm out of money (a common theme with owning a Jeep). My parents already gave me some money towards the project, so it's unlikely I'll get any more. I'll probably end up replacing it later on when I get some more cash on hand.

Anyway, I'll just try using some heat on it tomorrow when I have some parental supervision.

 

Success!
Eventually got them split using a bearing puller and some heat. After that, got everything tightened, greased, and a pin put through it.

Still just a tiny play in the wheel, but the improvement is so drastic I'm just gonna leave it. After all, don't fix what ain't broken

Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

Great to here it's improved.

 

Nice!!!!! Glad to hear that you got it done!

 

hi everyone i recently bought a 97 cherokee, completely stock.
My problem is when im driving down the road and im going around a corner whenever i turn to the left i feel and hear a vibration, it doesnt do it when i turn to the right though. It only does the vibration when going over 10mph. I have a lot of play in my steering wheel also.
if someone could list the things that could be causing the vibration so i could check them i would appreciate it.

Also i do plan on buying a lot of parts to lift my jeep and other fun stuff i just want to make sure something isnt messed up with the steering too bad before i get into all that stuff.

thanks, Devin

 

It's probably your axle u-joint. Jack up the front end and inspect all steering components. See if you can wiggle it with your hand.

 

Make sure you didn't bend the brake backing plate doing your other work so it's touching the rotor now.

 

A bad tie rod end will cause some vibe at speed and also account for much of the slop in the steering.

As mentioned often around here - you can completely rebuild the steering for only a couple hundred bucks and it will feel like a brand new Jeep. If you're going to lift it though, I'd only replace the parts that are NOT going to be replaced anyway as part of the lift. There's no reason to put a new part on that you'll have to replace as part of a proper lift.