Offroad-Express

So I was fitting a new Tie rod (Pitman Arm to Drag Link) and was having trouble getting the castle nut down to where I could get a cotter Pin through. Long story short I over tightened the castle nut and now it sits with about 7mm of thread above it just spinning there on the remenants of the tie rod end thread.

So I managed to track down a tie rod end from OS in Whangarei but Ive got to get the knackered one off.

My first guess was to use the splitter to apply pressure to the thread and back the nut off hoping it would grab but that didnt work.

Im not overly handy with but do have an angle grinder if needs must. I was hoping someone else might have got a nut to the same situation and have an easier "out" for me.

Are you sure it's spinning on the thread and not just spinning the whole stub of the balljoint around in the taper?
If it turns out that it is spinning the stub around you can make it grab tight in the taper by levering down onto the top of the ball joint with a big arse screwdriver or jack handle or anything you can get your hands on really.

I still dont see how you managed to strip the thread without a metre long lever, you must have guns of tungsten carbide tool steel.

as for getting it out, a Big hammer strike onto the side of where the taper is will pop it out after a few hits.

Also agree with jack handle/ large peice of wood / spare pipe to lever on top of the baljoint, as this was the case alot for when i was changing tie rods. they always spun in the ball join assembly.

I wish. I marked the thread and used a ring and open end instead of the socket I could see the mark remain and the nut turn. This is when I used the ball joint splitter on the TRE to try and force the nut back up the thread but the darn thing just sits there spinning with a "your fu#$ed now look on its face". To top it off my trucks sitting in the inlaws garage because they have the only flat workspace I have access to and they ned their garage back so Tue nights gonna be interesting...

Rookie question: I thought I could leave the wheels on to do this operation - should I have taken them off and sat her down on axle stands??

Well in that case put a cutting disc on your grinder and chop off the stub/nut.
You may need to use a punch to get the stub out after you've ground it off unless there's still a bit sticking up you can whack with a hammer.

Chuck your old one back on if you need to get the truck out of the shed before the new one arrives.

+2 on the whacking the side of the female part of the joint to break the taper out.

I'd say hit it like you mean it but since you have already proved you have the guns to shred a 9/16" bolt with only a ring spanner perhaps you should not hit as hard as you can.

You could also cut the side of the nut off with a hacksaw or your grinder and hit the rest of it off with a hammer and cold chisel.
That would at least leave you a stub to hit back through if it's jammed.

Take the pitman arm off too, remove the whole shebang, remove the rooted TRE outside of the vehicle. Pitman arm back on, draglink back in with new TRE. Pitman should pop off easy enough with a ball joint splitter/fork.... just make sure the pitman position is marked first.

Sorted. Bit more pressure got the nut to grab.