Pitman Arm Removal Problem

[davvet2]

I have an '87 TC, and need to replace the pitman arm due to wear.

I'm having a terrible time getting it off the steering box, I must be doing something wrong and any help will be greatly appreciated.

Didn't have a pitman arm puller, but did have a 2 jaw gear puller, and rigged a way to get it behind that arm and tried pulling.

After removing the nut and washer, I cranked for a while and ended up using a 4 foot cheater pipe on a breaker bar -- the most I moved it was about 1/4" ! I'm buying the right puller tomorrow, and will try again -- it could be that the gear puller's legs were too long and I wasn't getting a straight pull on the pitman arm.

Is there anything that's hidden that could be holding it on? Do I need to soak it with penetrating oil to get it loose?

If there weren't seals in the steering box I'd have fired up the hot wrench plasma cutter and smoked it off today.......

Thanks,

Jim

[Duck]

You can rent a puller at some auto parts stores. Do Not apply heat to the gear box. Spray it down with a good penetrating oil, let it soak for a while, then use the pitman arm puller. Clean up the shaft before installing the new one.

[Tman70]

Ditto the above. You GOTTA have the puller!

[davvet2]

Thanks for your help....

Thought I had a pitman arm puller; but can't find it. The pitman pullers I've seen on the internet are short and have a heavy cradle that goes around the back side of the arm, the legs on the gear puller I tried are about 3 1/2" long -- so I had some flex there.
You'd think that with the torque I was putting on that pitman arm it would've popped right off -- but it didn't.

I don't rent tools, I figure if I need it and don't have it, I should buy it. They're around $15.00 here. I was just too lazy to go get it today thinking that the gear puller would get it done.

No, I wouldn't use the plasma cutter because the heat would melt the seals ... but I sure was tempted !!

[Duck]

Here is the type puller you need:
http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/kd2289.html

[davvet2]

Thanks, Duck --

That's the style I was looking at -- it's $30.00 at Sears --

I hope that Pep Boys or Autozone has it. Zone has one for $15.99, but there's no photo.

At least we're past Black Friday and maybe the traffic will be lighter!

Jim

[gadget73]

If you have one, a good impact gun plus that puller will buzz the pitman arm right off.

[davvet2]

Gadget,

I have an old CP impact that will probably get it done -- I've used it to pull harmonic balancer bolts and they're on pretty tight...

Thanks,

Jim

[v8_dave]

I rented that one at autozone for free. But with 4ft of pipe on it it still would not come off. I was sure that tool would break so I gave up. Then I read that if it did break, they would loan me out another b/c it has a warranty. So good luck, mine didnt want to move a hair.

[Scruffybeast]

A suggestion. When you have the puller on the pitman arm and it is cranked up tight, get two large hammers, and hold one hammer on one side of the pitman arm where the shaft goes through it, and hit the other side sharply. A few good licks and it should come off. Scruffybeast

[davvet2]

I'll try the 2 hammers if need be Scruffybeast.

Bought the Lisle pitman arm puller today at Pep Boys, it was $24.99 vs $31.99 at Sears. Interestingly enough, I saw it on a tool website for $19.99 --- and they said the retail price was $25.99. If that's correct then Sears is selling it for OVER retail price. I buy a lot of Craftsman tools, and I'm going to remember that!

Thanks,

Jim

[Steve Moran]

I have almost always gotten by with smacking the pitman arm on the upper outside corner (Radious) with a BFH and they drop off most everytime.

[davvet2]

I have several BFH's -- and will strike it accordingly.

I do a lot of work on my cars, and can't ever remember having this problem.

We've had this '87 AHA Formal TC since it was new, my wife loves it and won't give it up -- so I'll just have to keep fixing what's wrong with it. The car has always eaten tires, 6 exhaust systems and until I finally fixed it -- alternators. Last time I had the tires replaced they found the idler was loose, and I'm replacing the pitman arm because it's worn as well.

I'll post my results tomorrow.

Thanks,

Jim

[davvet2]

The new Lisle puller pulled the pitman arm.

I still had to use the 4' cheater pipe to get it done, but it did come off without damaging the puller.

Installed it, and then went about pulling the plenum so I could replace the pcv screen and the valve cover gaskets. I'll also pull the throttle body and clean it, plus replace a lot of old vacuum lines that are dry rotted --- especially the one under the plenum that feeds the MAP sensor.

Then, I have the wonderful task of pulling the window channel on the drivers door and replace the moleskin. It's got holes worn in it and the window sticks. After that, I get to adjust the headlights!

[gadget73]

Might want to have the thing re-aligned at a different shop if its chewing tires. It should not do that unless the alignment is poor, the tires aren't properly inflated, or your wife drives autocross style all the time. I had my car aligned 3 times now, and its still not right. The first time, they only set the toe. Caster/camber were way off. I took it somewhere else, and it was aligned but they didn't tighten the control arm up and it moved. I had it re-done, and it pulls. I swear nobody knows how to do a decent alignment anymore. At least it doesn't eat tires.

[lairdt]

Got mine done at Sears when I put the TA's on it... tracks great.

Of course I had to take it back to have them re-balance the tires, but it tracked fine. :)

[davvet2]

I had planned on an alignment, Gadget 73.

I have had a hard time keeping it aligned over the years.

When it was new, it ate up the front factory Michelins in less than 15K miles -- they aligned it under warranty, but I had to buy the tires. I used to have it aligned every year when I drove it; but it's hard to get it away from my wife long enough to get it done yearly.

I've been buying tires at a local tire store for about $160.00 mounted and balanced every couple years, and they'll last about as long as a set of $300.00 Michelins.

[Scruffybeast]

davett2: The object of the two hammers is to distort the pitman arm to steering box shaft connection momentarily, thusly allowing the two pieces to separate. It is not an extreme measure, and is used frequently by line mechanics in dealerships. Scruffybeast

[gadget73]

Davvet2: wow, 15k miles to a set of tires is terrible. They should last twice that long. If its not holding the alignment, something must be funky. I'd wager on dead upper and lower control arm bushings for one. They are extremely seldom replaced, and if bad, the caster and camber will wander all over the place. It will also somewhat affect toe. It makes for very sloppy handling, poor alignment characteristics, and I can imagine bad tire wear. No reason at all it should have been doing that when brand new though. I can certainly see that as being the problem now at 20 years old. How are the ball joints and the rest of the suspension/steering parts?

[davvet2]

Gadget 73,

I replaced the upper and lower control arm bushings about 5 years ago, and they're still in good shape.
The ball joints are still tight, and the tie rod ends are in good shape too. I'm hoping that the loose idler and pitman arms will help with the problem as I can't find anything else loose.

I'm going to have it thrust aligned by the best tech in town on a Hunter machine and see what happens.



Scruffybeast,

I had the hammers ready -- just didn't have to use them. You did give me a good idea, thanks.

[Tman70]

Just curious... Exactly HOW did the tires look when the were worn?
1. Outside edges of both tires
2. Inside edges of both
3. One outside edge, one inside edge
4. Cupping on outside edges
5. Etc., Etc.

[davvet2]

Hard to remember, but I think they wore on the outside edges last time -- I know that the belt was showing on one of them.