I will say I completely agree with you, I have a real good puller and it gets to a point when I think it is going to break and then, snap the pump is loose. I pulled the one on my 99' P/U first because that one still has no front clip on it, so I can get to everything really easy, then did the 97' Troopy and it was a bit tight with that puller on the front, but ended up working ok. When I swapped them out again, I did not even need the puller.
On another note I found the changes to the timing cover and idler for the 99' and up model a welcom improvement over the older version, I think the tensioner works like it should with the new design, the old one ended up sticking and not holding very well under heavy excelleration. I also like the bolts instead of clips for the entire timing cover.
Cheers,
Michael
The "snap" is a terrible noise. I looked down expecting to see a shattered alloy timing housing.
Havent had a chance to look at the new type of tensioner