Drag Link End really STUCK in Pitman Arm

[mrbobharris]

Hi All,

I am fairly new to the world of TLC's - just bought my first FJ60 about 2 months ago - and spent a lot of time on the forums here, and gotten a TON of info that has helped me in getting it up and running. So, thank you everyone.

I now have run up against something that I can not seem to get past. I'm currently in the process of replacing the drag link end, and what should be a 2 hour job has turned into a 4 day (and counting) ordeal, and I'm not sure what to do next.

As of now, the connection of the steering damper to the drag link end came off relatively easily, and the drag link end easily will unthread from the drag link, but connection to the pitman arm is stuck and seems to be nearly impossible to break. The main part of the drag link end is no longer connected, and it is just the threaded bolt (that the castle nut would thread onto) that is stuck in the pitman arm. To make a long story a little shorter, I have tried:

- 2 different pullers - one puller was a little too wide, and the ends kept slipping off of the pitman arm as more pressure was applied, and the second puller got great grip, but it bent the threaded pin as pressure was applied
- a lot of heat from a handheld propane torch
- a lot of time soaking with pb blaster
- a lot of beating with a hammer

I know that one option may be to bring in some heavier heat, and get it really hot, but that is not very accessible to me, and I would rather avoid it.

Another option is obviously to just replace the pitman arm, but I'm a little leery to go that direction since A) I don't really want to spend that money since this pitman arm seems to be in fine shape, and B) who knows how hard that thing is gonna be to get off if the drag link end is giving me so much grief.

Where I'm at right now is that I might cut off what I can of the bolt (not sure of the tech term for this bolt) that is stuck (without cutting the pitman arm, obviously), then drill out it out as much as possible, and remove the rest.

Like I said, I am new to Cruisers, but I have been working on cars (and other things mechanical) for many years, and have run across many stripped, frozen and seized bolts, and have never seen anything like this - it literally feels like someone welded this bolt in the pitman arm

So, any other thoughts? If anyone has any ideas, I would love it, as I'm not too excited about going at this thing with a hacksaw and drill for multiple hours.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Biche]

Welcome on mud!

Here's my answer for you from a thread I started last year: https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/524462-tie-rod-end-stuck-pitman-arm.html#post7017212

Don't forget to read the FAQ and the Search is your best friend!

 

[snye]

If you are replacing with new drag link end, then you can do what I did and beat on the old one with a hammer for five minutes straight until it finally popped out. Never could get the puller to do it. Good luck!

 

[lovetoski]

Welcome on mud!

Here's my answer for you from a thread I started last year: https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/524462-tie-rod-end-stuck-pitman-arm.html#post7017212

Don't forget to read the FAQ and the Search is your best friend!

The OTC tool mentioned above works awesome . Use map gas, it's hotter. It will be hard to drill out w/out messing up the taper in the pitman arm.

 

[mrbobharris]

Thanks guys,

Biche - Yeah, that is a great thread you have - I actually spent some time combing thru it over the last few days trying to pick out any little hints, trick, or bits of info I could - it has definitely been helpful so far. Thank you.

snye - I am indeed replacing the drag link end, so I will have to try the "hammer on it for 5 minutes until it pops out" method.

lovetoski - Great point on the mapp gas - I think I may run and grab some and combine that with the "hammer on it for 5 minutes" that snye recommended above. Also, excellent point on drilling it out and potential danger to the pitman arm taper. I have had drill out enough stuff in my life that I know it is far from an exact science.

Thanks everyone - I will definitely update as things progress.

 

[Godwin]

Where I'm at right now is that I might cut off what I can of the bolt (not sure of the tech term for this bolt) that is stuck (without cutting the pitman arm, obviously), then drill out it out as much as possible, and remove the rest.

I once overtightened this nut/bolt and had to cut and drill to remove the stub from the pitman arm. But I also had the steering box off the truck which simplified this process.

 

[Biche]

I fight that bolt for a couples of days (heat, hammer) without really success. Until I bought the small tool I pointed above, which I solve the issue in less than 3 minutes. Was a good investisment.

 

[ntsqd]

A trick that a friend showed me was to loosen the nut and use two hammers, one decidedly bigger than the other. In your case get a friend to hold a full size sledge hammer against the far side of the pitman arm centered on the pin. Then use at least a 3 lber and HIT the side of the arm opposite of the sledge with the pin directly between the hammers. What you're doing is using the taper to "squirt" the pin out. You need to hit the arm hard enough to slightly elastically distort the tapered hole. It may take a couple solid hits before it pops out, but this method has yet to fail me.

 

[IndianDoc]

Heat and a air hammer fork will get em nearly every time. If not more heat and a bigger air hammer, I really can't say how much easier it is with the pickle fork air hammer they just come loose that way.

 

[Spike Strip]

A trick that a friend showed me was to loosen the nut and use two hammers, one decidedly bigger than the other. In your case get a friend to hold a full size sledge hammer against the far side of the pitman arm centered on the pin. Then use at least a 3 lber and HIT the side of the arm opposite of the sledge with the pin directly between the hammers. What you're doing is using the taper to "squirt" the pin out. You need to hit the arm hard enough to slightly elastically distort the tapered hole. It may take a couple solid hits before it pops out, but this method has yet to fail me.

An old-timer showed me this some years ago, too, and it works like magic... I had a 1990 Isuzu trooper that broke a Snap On puller, then I tried this and it let loose with a bang!

 

[2mbb]

A trick that a friend showed me was to loosen the nut and use two hammers, one decidedly bigger than the other. In your case get a friend to hold a full size sledge hammer against the far side of the pitman arm centered on the pin. Then use at least a 3 lber and HIT the side of the arm opposite of the sledge with the pin directly between the hammers. What you're doing is using the taper to "squirt" the pin out. You need to hit the arm hard enough to slightly elastically distort the tapered hole. It may take a couple solid hits before it pops out, but this method has yet to fail me.

This is good to try, especially if you can do it with the OTC puller installed and providing tension.

What worked for me was using the OTC puller and, once tight, hit the top of the puller screw/nut with a hammer. This is on the instructions for the puller.

impact under tension seems to be the key...good luck.

 

[mrbobharris]

It's out it's out !!!!!!!

Oh thank lord, the bolt is FINALLY OUT! And more importantly, A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who chimed in on this one, and basically to everyone on the forum.

I didn't get to try the trick that ntsqd recommended, but I am definitely going to keep that one in my back pocket as I'm sure I'll run into this at some point again.

So, since my last post, I kept going with a regular regiment of heat and hammer, and then some heat and hammer, and then some more heat and hammer.

I eventually got to the point where I cut off the bottom of the bolt (just a bit short of the underside of the pitman arm), and surgically drilled out the bottom. As was mentioned earlier, one pitfall is that if you're not careful, you'll drill into the pitman arm and mess up the taper. So, with that in mind, I made a series of smaller holes up into the bolt, attempting to remove as much material as possible, and also (hopefully), remove some of the tension keeping the bolt in place (that is, since, if there's that much pressure pushing inward on the bolt, and some of the material is removed, theoretically, the bolt would start to kind of collapse in on itself).

Well, after I drilled out as much as I thought I could, I went back at it with heat and hammer, and after it was good and hot, I hit about 4 times, and shazaam, out it came.

Attached is an image of what is left of the bolt.

Thank you again everyone - this might be my first thread, but it definitely not the first time that you all have gotten me out of a jam.

Matt

 

[Biche]

Great, glad you make it happen!