280CE Tie rod replacement

The 280CE was making a knocking sound while steering and it had failed its rego due to a bad tie rod, necessitating a replacement.   The job is not that difficult, especially if you have the right tools.   There are a few good resources on the Internet, but a few things I found:

1. I couldn’t remove the ball joints with a pickle fork, but it was straightforward with the specialty tool.
2. Raising the car off its wheels put more stress on the joints making the job harder, ramps were easier
3. The joints will break free suddenly, so be careful

Ideally you would have the car aligned after the tie rod is replaced.  The 280CE already required an alignment, so no big deal.   We replaced the entire tie rod rather than just the end.

Web resources:

• Diesel Giant
• Peach Parts