Real time Center arm removal ideas? (1 Viewer)

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cruiser_guy

Out of Africa / North Africa
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Jan 20, 2003
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Wherever the truck stops!!
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I'm in the process of replacing the guts of the center arm on the FJ55. I've got the big nut and lock washer off and there is a puller on there right now that is so tight the holes in the arms are elongating!!
I've been wacking the backside of the center arm with a hammer and steel pipe as a drift. The center arm is dripping with WD40, but it is still not moving!
I'm afraid to tighten the puller up any more because I might very well shear off the arms!

Ideas? Bigger hammer?
 
1. use a penetrating oil, not WD40. Lot's of people like PB blaster, but whatever you can find is probably better than WD40.

2. use a torch to heat up the female part.

3. The instructions that came with my puller said to hit the end of the tightening bolt with a hammer (use the tightening bolt to transfer the shock into the male part.

4. Get a stronger puller.

Be careful. when this thing comes apart stuff will fly around. I left the castle nut on loosely to prevent the arm from going to far.
 
I used a pickle fork on mine and it came off fairly easily. Its the same tool used to seperate tie rod ends.

Jim:banana: :banana:
 
H E A T. Propane or MAPP. Heat it up, smack the puller with a bfh, tighten puller and repeat. Sometimes it helps to loosen the puller and rotate it 45-90 degrees and start over.
 
Well I smacked the end of the puller with the hammer and all that happened was that the puller fell off.
I'll be picking up a pickle fork on Monday. No stores that sell those will be open before then here in Guatemala. I'll be trying heat too if the pickle fork doesn't do it more or less right away.
I've got access to an oxi-acetylene torch but I'm concerned that would be too much of a good thing!
 
I just rebuilt my center arm and was having the same problems. I tried pullers and the pickele fork. I was really frustated. I finally got it off by whacking on the pickle fork many more times and much much harder.
 
This is one stuck center arm!! We took the top guts out of the center arm pivot (so the pivot has somewhere to go when the arm comes free, loosened the nut on the bottom and took out the lock washer and then used the jack and a 1/2" drive extension to try to drive the pivot out of the arm. We ended up lifting the front of the truck off the ground and the center arm did not budge!!
IMG_3260.JPG
 
Well with the weight of the truck driving the pivot up (the guts from the top are taken out and the nut is backed off a good 3/8" so the pivot has somewhere to go but the nut will stop it going too far), heat (oxi-acetylene) and a hammer it STILL won't let go!?!?!

Has anyone else had such a stuck center arm?

I'm about ready to take the tie rod ends and stabilizer off and bring the pivot AND mount in to someone with a 20 ton press and force it apart that way.

I'll be getting a pickle fork tomorrow but in the meantime, any other ideas?
 
The pickle fork should do the trick, although it might mangle the dust cover.

Is there supposed to be a dust cover on the steering center arm assembly? I have the complete center arm rebuild kit that have everything but the housing and arm. No dust cover but it does include a seal.

Do you recommend that the weight remain and I heat it up before using the pickle fork?

The tie rod ends and steering stabilizer are all original as far as I know. I am considering replacing those too to get rid of the steering slack.
 
IIRC, there is a little sheet metal cover on the bottom of the housing that serves as a dust over or something.

Try the pickle fork alone first. It should do the trick that it was designed for.

If you have to heat it, pour on the heat with the OA torch on the outside of the arm forging so that it heats rapidly without heating the shaft. It is the heat diffeential that results in a differential expansion of the metal that loosens things up.
 
IIRC, there is a little sheet metal cover on the bottom of the housing that serves as a dust over or something.

Try the pickle fork alone first. It should do the trick that it was designed for.

If you have to heat it, pour on the heat with the OA torch on the outside of the arm forging so that it heats rapidly without heating the shaft. It is the heat diffeential that results in a differential expansion of the metal that loosens things up.

No sheet metal cover on this one! I had the heat (blue flame) directed solely at the arm forging while the weight of the truck was on the pivot and I got NO action (the boot on the stabilizer was starting to melt even though the heat was not directed there). I did it twice with a 2 hour or so time span in between to give things a chance to cool and me a chance to think about other options.

This is one STUCK center arm.

We'll try the pickle fork on the center arm first but if that doesn't do it I'm pulling the whole thing and using a press.
 
I wouldn't expect the weight of the front end to remove any of them. No offense, but it isn't that much force. You need the right tool for the job.
 
Just get another center arm and cut yours off.
 
I now have a pickle fork set so we'll see what happens tonight when I start wailing on it.
 
I now have a pickle fork set so we'll see what happens tonight when I start wailing on it.


BEWARE! I once had a pickle fork split in half before it would break a center arm loose.:eek:

I now own the $100 Snap On puller that is made for this job.;)
 
Well I tried the pickle fork for a bit and it was not moving so I took off the two tie rod ends and the steering stabilizer and then removed the whole assembly and I'll press it apart on a press.
 
It came apart with the press finally!!
In hindsight this was probably the easier way anyhow.
 

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