i got the front end off today.the question i have , it look's like it will be easier to take out steering column to make cab removeable better. has anyone done this that way. i know it come's out steering box and all in one piece.( i know my spelling is not that great) but it don't stop me from asking questions.thanks

 

I find it easier to take the steering out before removing the cab. You will have enough trouble trying to clear the peddles little lone the steering column. Plus you won't have to raise the cab as hight to clear the steering column. The truck I am working on now, '48 F-4, I did not remove the steering column and had to move the cab back as I pulled the cab off. You cannot have a box or any kind of body directly behind the cab because it has to come off at an angle. I have a forklift truck and I did it out in my parking lot so I didn't have to worry about overhead clearance. I didn't like having the cab so high up in the air though. I am going to have to go through the same high lifting when I reinstall the cab but my shop has a pretty high ceiling. The hardest part of removing the steering column from the truck is getting the nut and pitman arm off of the splined shaft. They can be really stubborn. You can get the nut off easy enough with a good socket and some penetrating oil. I usually apply heat to the pitman arm to get it off. There are a lot of guys here that will flip out when they hear I do that but I have never had any problem with the pitman arm afterwards. I just get it hot enough to expand a little and use a pry bar between the pitman arm and frame and it pops right off.

Keep asking questions and eventually you will be answering some.

Good luck,

Bob

 

thank's. ceiling clearance is a problem , i have very little in my garage, will have enough to clear peddles i hope. i am going to have to rigg something to raise the cab. it will be totally emty when i do this.maybe a pole and two comealong's on each side. no forklift to use.darn it.

 

Hi
Take the box off the frame. Jack the front end as high as you can get it, the box and tube slide out the bottom. Remove the horn button to see is there are 2 threaded holes 180 degrees apart. you need them to pop off the steering wheel.
Reamer.
Been there, done that

 

another question, the gearshift, do i have to take off top plate of trans or will arm remove from shifter assembly. it is a floor shift.

 

At the top of the gear box tower, the top cap unthreads. Put the tranny in nuetral and unthread it. The shifter handle will pull out. Be careful not to lose the 1/4 inch pin in the side of the tower. Stuff a rag into the shifter hole. Also, do as Bob J. says. That's exactly the way I remove them, thru the cab.

Barry

50 F-1

 

thanks , i printed all of this so i won't forget.

 

Autozone and other like places will "Rent" you a pitman arm puller for free.
The will ask for a deposit on the tool and when you bring it back the whole deposit is refunded. They have other special tools also.
I like it because I don't need them as often and I can better spend my money.

 

I took the bare cab off Willard several weeks ago I did it in the garage alone without a lifting devise (PS I am in my 6th decade of life). I removed doors, shifting lever, and steering column. I tillted it to one side and shoved blocking between the cab and frame and then slid it to the side onto the shop floor. I will need to go a different route once all is in final paint. Bare cabs are not that heavy. My son went to a $25 pick and pull day about 10 years ago where you had to carry your #25 prize for about 50 feet over the "finish line". No setting it down and no helpers. The crowd at the finish line went wild when a guy got a bare cab over the line! He made hump straps out of old seat belts to go over his shoulders, set the cab on its side, lifted it by squatting and then coming up with the load and walked in the cab doorway over the finish line!

 

Bill,

I would have loved to seen that. It would have been worth the price of admission.