PItman arm removal. WIll not budge

[Marc_01]

Putting my 4in rusty springs and pitman arm on and the thing will not move. i have the pitman arm puller and have cleaned the groves above the arm and shoked it will PB. My impact gun will not get it off and nether will a breaker bar with a 5ft extention :(

Any suggestions?

[Iron Horse]

A *very careful* application of heat might be the ticket. Just be easy....you don't want to cook the steering gear-box. Otherwise just keep soaking it with PB blaster or liquid wrench....sometimes that stuff takes a few days to work.

[Damage, Inc.]

An old guy I used to turn wrenches with ALWAYS tapped the part he was lubing with a hammer. He claimed the high-frequencies induced on the part would allow the lube to penetrate better.
Still don't know if it's true or not, but I've been doing that for 10 years now and haven't had any problems. After you spray your WD-40, tap the part with a hammer a couple of times then move on. Re-apply and re-tap as many times during the day as you can. Also, try tightening it first; you don't have to move it, but the back-and-forth actions works for alot of things... :cool:


If you still can't get it, try heat.

[Marc_01]

I only have a propane torch. will that be enough?

I heated it a little, but stopped because i didn't want to melt a seal in the stearing box.

I should just apply heat to the arm it self right, not the shaft?

I've done the tapping, got that from my dad smile.gif I'll try the tighting and see what happens.

[ July 18, 2002, 12:32 PM: Message edited by: Marc_01 ]

[Rogue]

my 2 cents, i apply pressure with puller, take my 5lb sledge and hit the pitman arm as hard as i can, check your puller it should have come loose, retighten, hit again, retighten, hit again, etc, etc, etc ive been a pro mechanic for 10 years and have done this at least 20 times, since you have a pitman puller i won't tell you how to do it without one

[ July 18, 2002, 12:47 PM: Message edited by: RogueStar ]

[jode]

Originally posted by RogueStar:
apply pressure with puller, take my 5lb sledge and hit the pitman arm as hard as i can, check your puller it should have come loose, retighten, hit again, retighten, hit again, etc, etc, etc I just about broke my back with this technique a few weeks ago, but it finally worked. you gotta love a BFH!

Anyhoo, the heat (from a propane torch) will only serve to enhance the above recipe.

And if the above fails...get a bigger FH :D :eek:

[Marc_01]

RogueStar,

Should i take the puller off every time i strike the pitman arm or should tighten it up, hit the PA, then tighten more with the puller still connected?

[andy d]

tension the arm with the puller,tight as you can. then whack the arm on its side. retighten and whack again. it may take a few tries, but it will come.why is the hammer my most used tool?

[jode]

Originally posted by Marc_01:
RogueStar,

Should i take the puller off every time i strike the pitman arm or should tighten it up, hit the PA, then tighten more with the puller still connected?I aint Rogue star, but hte answer is no!
Every time you hit it, it gives the puller a bit more slack, you take out that slack by tightening it a bit more, then when there is no more slack, hit it again, then take out the slack, then hit again....never take off the puller until the arm is off.

AS far as hitting it as hard as you can, I say that is a bit of an overkill and could be rough on the equip, but tapping (as was previously mentioned) worked fine for me. I would do a little tapping, tighten the puller, do a bit more tapping...etc....

[Gwamp]

I had to use a heavy duty 5 ton 3 arm gear puller instead of the 2 arm pittman arm puller to get mine off. that and the hammer and tighten/loosen/penetrating fluid combo got it off in a matter of several days. Getting that off was the hardest part of putting on my lift.

[blt2krl]

I had the same problem and I heatd mine up with the puller on and it came right off after that.

[kyjman]

you might try heating the nut a hot as you can get it with the propane, and then squirt cold water on it from the garden hose. The sudden shock of it cooling will break the "rust seal" loose where the threads are. The heat and sudden cold ALWAYS works for me. I wouldnt worry about getting it too hot...not with a propane.

[Marc_01]

My bad Jode ;) ..

Thanks guys for all the input, i think a combo of all these will do it!

[Rogue]

i wouldn't splash cold water on anything i've heated up unless you intentionally want to make the metal surface hardened and brittle! I hit the pitman arm where it is connected to the box and yea i do hit it as hard as i can its only a 5lb sledge vs. 2" diameter steel, of course it only takes me about 15 minutes to change a pitman arm ( some have rod ends on them - dodge dakota for example - that get loose ) i also would use heat as a last resort - its all about the seals

[irbob]

I used a crowbar and 5lb. sledge hammer. Stood in front of the truck, put the flat end on top of the pitman arm with the curved end up, pulled upward against the bumper (when I had one)to keep a downward preassure on the arm, put on a pair of confidance builders (Gloves) which increases my strengh by 5, wacked it like I wanted it to come off, it came off. Good luck bro Jeeper.

[Stolen76]

When the BFH method fails, I have heated the nut and then shot the center with freon. It's a last ditch effort but when all else fails use this method and it will almost fall off in your hands.

After applying the heat, plan on replacing the seal, if you don't it will leak... Murphy Law #136, I think the "Black Cloud Law of Porkchop" also applies, but I would refer you to him for the actual statute number.

[Hump]

I had the same problem. I "rented" a pitman arm puller from Autozone. What a piece of crap! I went back to get my deposit, and complained while standing behind the counter. The guy showed me this tuning fork looking wedge thingy. He said rent this and give it a whack. Basically it's just a wedge with a slot for the shaft, and this big arm sticking out so you can whack it. Just slide that baby in between the box and the arm and drive it off. It's basically the same thing that irbob did, only I don't have as big of male genitalia to be smacking a crowbar. tongue.gif

[irbob]

:D :D ROFLOL :D :D to funny...Hump.

[kyjman]

I've used the cold water on heated things for a long time and NEVER had a problem with the part becoming brittle. Thats an old wives tale about the metal getting too hard.....

[Rogue]

ummm...wasn't downing your method KYJMAN you gotta do what you gotta do to get it done, quenching hot metal will make it surface hardened and brittle its called metallurgy, its one of the first things they teach you when you take welding class

[RustyJeep]

huh....I have done 3 different pitman are removals on FSJ's in the past few months and I didn't have a one that wouldn't come off with enough gusto from the impact wrench. But I do have a pretty strong impact too...not one of the whimpy ones. Just when you think it's not going to move, then all of a sudden it pops, and comes right off. I have done countess ones at work too, and never really had problems. Huh..I must be lucky or something.

[ July 19, 2002, 03:56 PM: Message edited by: RustyJeep ]

[Marc_01]

RustyJeep,

How much pressure you tanking up the compressor to? I have put the impact on the end of the puller with no luck, but the compressor was set to about 110 psi, that enough?