trouble removing pitman arm (FAQ) (1 Viewer)

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slickrock

slickrock

Joined
Aug 15, 2005
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Lemoore, CA (south of Fresno) / Cortes Island, B.C
Top o' the morn'n to ya.

I am trying to remove my stock pitman arm to install in on my mini truck box and I can not get the dang thing off. I wacked on it for about a half an hour with a fork style pitman arm remover.

Any suggestions? What works better . . . one of those clamp style ones that you ratchet? Anyone have a tool number so I know which one to rent? I'll probably go to auto zone for a tool loan program.

Thanks.
 
Buy a screw type puller and a propane torch.
The screw puller should do the trick, if not heat the pitman arm up first.
 
Snap On CJ119B


Everything else is a waste of time and money.


:beer:
DSCN0476.JPG
DSCN0477.JPG
 
^^^^ Poser x2.


Anything but a screw type cast steel/iron puller WILL NOT get it. I've even broken a Snap On puller on a cruiser pitman arm...
 
Thanks all. Hey this made a FAQ! Nice.
 
The splines on the arm and sector shaft are slightly tapered, so smacking the big end of the Pitman arm with a BFH after you tighten the puller helps to get them off. This isn't easy to do with the snap on type pullers, but OTOH, you may not need it. Heat helps too, but you need to pour on the heat so that the outside heats up quickly and expands while the shaft stays cool. Heating it up slowly isn't so useful.
 
they were a bitch on my 1970 FJ55 project, 100 degrees in the garage this summer sitting there with a propane torch and a BFH. I got them off but it took awhile sitting with the torch. I would heat them up as much as possible, hit them with some penetrating fluid (pb blaster) and then wack it as much as possible.

noah
 
be real carefull with the screw type pullers. I was wrenching down on one and the pitarm was not going to give. When that fawker went off/broke it sounded like a .308 rifle going off. it was loud enough to bring the wife running into the garage and the neighbor stuck his head in the garage to make sure I was not dead. Wear eye protection-maybe even a full face shield.
 
A propane torch will heat too slowly and be less useful, as Pinhead indicated. Oxyacetylene will make quick work of it. Be careful.
 
get the screw type puller very tight, then about 10 seconds with the rosebud, avoiding the shaft as much as possible then a sharp hit with a hammer and be ready for the gunshot as just stated, it worked on mine:D
 
The autozone/kragen pullers don't work well. The first one I purchased bent instead of pulling the arm off. The second one (return) worked with the BFH trick. If yours is that stuck, the cheapo puller is probably a waste of money.
 
There was a method someone used to remove a pitman arm that I read about somewhere. It involved taking two small sledge hammers, and hitting either side of the pitman arm (where the shaft is) exactly at the same time, and the thing will fall right out. I don't remember where i read it, but a lot of people swore by that method. Supposedly an old school trick.

I bent a cheap puller trying to get mine off, I finally tried variation of that method and it worked. Held a hammer one one side, beat the other side with a hammer (I don't have the coordination to hit them both at exaclty the same time). Seemed to loosen it up enough that the next puller got it off fairly easily.

Well whaddya know, it was on this forum

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=86616&highlight=pitman+arm+removal

Courtesy of Rezarf. He explains it better than I could
 
Last edited:
Last time, since the box was out anyhow, I just threw it on the 20 ton press.............no problem. :idea:
 
CruisinGA said:
^^^^ Poser x2.


Anything but a screw type cast steel/iron puller WILL NOT get it. I've even broken a Snap On puller on a cruiser pitman arm...
Click to expand...

That is what I use... Snap on is the best.
 
big pickle fork and hammer took mine off.
 
Well I only have access to a 5 ton 3 clamp puller (the type that you ratchet down for tension). I got my stock one off, but no luck on the one that is attached (and mounted) to the mini box. I rounded the arm a bit when the thing popped off so I am going to try to angle grind the surface flat again. Next will be the two hammer option and finally and last resort, good old angle grinder and cut the mini truck one off. I'll just cut until I am almost at the thread in two places and pry it off.

When I was trying to get the mounted one off the cruiser I hit my head on the wheel well. Something sharp but it was a usual thing. I thought I was sweating down my neck and kept working. Got in side fustrated and the wife freaked. Guess a scalp wood bleeds more than I thoguht :).
 
On a pitman arm that you don't plan on using again (such as the one on the minitruck box) - the easiest way is to put the puller on it...tighten it up, and then if if won't come off - fire up the mig welder and run a few beads around it. The instant heat usually breaks it right off.

The problem with using a torch (either oxy or propane) is the potential of ruining the seal in the box, but that isn't a concern for the seal on the manual box, so a torch there works well....

bk
 
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