is there a special tool needed to get the locknuts loose on the tie-rod (91 tracker)?

Mine were a bitch to get loose.

There are lock nuts on both ends of the centre hex shaft.  

Grab two combination wrenches. (One to fit the hex shaft, and the other to fit the lock nut.)  You will probably need a snipe bar too so you can get more torque on the wrench.

One of the lock nuts is reverse thread so you will need to pull the other direction to loosen it.

What I did was took a propane torch to the lock nuts until they were hot (this expands the metal) then I hit up the hot metal with some WD40.  Take the combination wrench for the lock nut and slip the snipe bar over the end so you can get some torque on the nut. Use the other wrench on the hex bar to counter the torque you put on the lock nut otherwise you will be putting a lot of stress on your ball-joint which may fook it up.


Pull real hard and they should pop loose.

Before you tighten everything back up make sure you put some grease on the tie rod threads so you wont have trouble next time you loosen them.

thank you, sir. always there to save the day for little ol' mechanically declined me

The use of a cheater bar will be very helpful....  Be careful when heating it up and then spraying with WD-40, it's flamable....
I've found that PB is much better than WD-40 to break seized items free....  Use anti-seize compound when assembling......