Hello, been quite awhile since I have been here, probably because I own FORDS and they don't break down as often as other brands.
But I am trying to get the pitman arm off of my 86 f150 Lariat to change out the steering box because of excessive looseness and wear. I have had the whole front end rebuilt but it still wanders and is a real challenge to drive it.
I jacked it up and put some stands under the front end and started trying to get the pittman arm off. Got the nut and washer off and soaked it down with PB Blaster thinking this will be fairly routine------ Well, it's anything but routine! I have gone thru 2 pitman arm pullers, beat the u no what out of it while the puller was on, prayed, then cussed, then think I may have almost cried. Tried using a pickle fork but not enough room to do any serious hammering. I don't have a torch to heat it up, just a little propane torch for soldering things which I also tried.
So here I am In all my humbleness asking for any help from you guys that may have had to do this before.
I am mechanically inclined and have rebuilt engines and even swapped out the 5.8 for a '69 460 that I rebuilt with a good torquer cam, Performer rpm intake, Dove valvetrain, C9VE heads and tri-y headers. beefed up C6 and fresh 9 inch.
Thanks for any help you can send my way. Bud

 

I assume it was one of the cheaper style ones such as this.


These are Ok for cars and the like (barely) but as soon as you move in to trucks you need something more substantial such as this style.



If you still can not get it off crank it up as tight as you can and leave it overnight.

If you still can not get it off time to break out the side grinder with a zip disk.
Cut a chunk off the arm parallel to the sector shaft leaving about an 1/8" of material above the splines. Then it will pull off. New arms are like $30.

 

A little vibration of the part after applying the penetrating fluid helps it get down in the part. You can use an impact driver on a bolt nearby. You don't need to remove or tighten the bolt. light pressure to get it vibrating will do it...then spray some more and vibrate some more. I've even made progress with a small hammer with rapid light taps on stuck parts.

 

I used one of these to remove my 34 year old pitman arm, and it worked (with heat), but barely. I ended up ruining the tool in the process, but it was cheap anyway, and I got it replaced under warranty with no questions. It seems to have worked fine for later removals.

With the rust around here, I use zip-cut disks all the time to cut bolts and nuts off. In difficult areas where you cannot get a zip-cut disk, I use a drill to put holes in the side of a nut until it weakens or I can split it with a chisel. (Think of the nut inside the front coil spring that holds the spring seat on the radius arm).

In any case, my point is...use the puller, with heat, and give the pitman arm some good smacks if need be, with a hammer, or a hammer and a drift. If that fails, use the zip-cut disk as Matthew mentions. If that doesn't work, drill a hole (or holes) in the side of the pitman arm and crack it with a chisel.

Have fun laying on the floor.

 

It may be a little easier to take the small end of the pitman arm off the steering linkage, and then take the whole box and arm out together. After that you might have more room to work on getting the arm off. One thing you can do is put as much pressure as you can with the puller, and then take the socket off the end of the puller and pound on it some with a hammer. Then tighten it some more and then pound on the end of the puller again.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions fellas, I will try to find a puller a little more stout like was suggested and as a last resort will try again to get the other end of the pitman off but have tried that but limited on room under there. don't want to use a pickle fork on the drag link cuz it's new and would ruin the rubber grease boot. Any suggestions on that ?

 

A tie rod separator see below. Or a few good whacks on the pitman arm on the side 90° to the taper with the nut off the drag link. I pretty much just use ball joint separators now i have few different ones for various applications as you can't be beating on aluminium, FRP or CF suspension components. If it wont pop with the puller a light tap with puller installed will pop them 99% of the time. You can find tie rod separators for as little as $20

 

I ordered a OTC 6497 super heavy duty puller off Amazon. I have to put a rebuilt steering column in while waiting for this so that will keep me busy enough with my beer breaks.
Thanks again for the info, it's appreciated! Bud