Help stuck pitman arm
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Elder User
Joined: May 2007
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From: North East, MD
Help stuck pitman arm
I've been fighting my pitman arm the last few days trying to get it off to replace the seal in the bottom of the gear box. It won't budge iv'e bent one gear puller adn broke another. I've been spraying it with penetrating oil with no results. I thought about heating it but decided no as the fuel lines are in close proxciminty. What should i do? i dont wnat to pull the whole gear box but its looking that way
Hotshot
Joined: Aug 2006
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Originally Posted by F0rdF0rever
When I replaced my pitman arm with a drop one I had to heat mine with a torch. I wedged the puller in there and then put some heat on it. Popped right off in about 1 min of heating it.
.....x2.....
Tuned
Joined: Mar 2006
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From: PNW
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Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Ridgecrest, CA
this happened to my friend in his f350, right after he put his lift on and his steering failed. what happened was somehow when he put on the drop pitman arm, he didn't line the keys in the p-arm up with the keyed shaft coming out of the steering box; then he just cranked on it until it moved up the shaft. then, after about 10 miles of driving, the mis-aligned keys sheared off and he lost his steering. we got the truck to a parking lot and looked at the p-arm, it was completely stuck on there. we went out and bought 2 large pickle forks, shoved both in there, and started whacking at it. we didn't have to add heat, but it will certainly come off there with enough force. my friend's could not have been done by himself, get some help if you need it. i bet the thing is wedged on there because of mis-aligned keys, otherwise i'm not sure why it'd be stuck. good luck man
-erik
-erik
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Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Ridgecrest, CA
yes, we used two. it was pretty tricky cause you've gotta get them to stack on top of each other, put the good part is that by using two (one wedged in across from the other), is that there is no binding torque induced on the steering box shaft. ex: with one pickle fork, the opposite side across from where the p-fork is inserted, might get bound up as the side with the p-fork is wedged downward on the shaft. i'm not sure if that makes much sense, but that's about the best i can describe it. plus, two pickle forks and two mini-sledges means twice the banging on the sucker! it'll come loose.
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Silver Lake Dunes, MI
I usually just remove the steering gear and place it on our welding table and with a bit of pressure with a puller back up the shaft with an anvil and hit the arm with a 3 or 5 pound sledge. it pops loose everytime. I can't tell you how many pullers I have broken just trying to use a puller.
The biggest problem with a pickle fork is that the other surface you are pushing against is where your seal is going. If you mess that snap ring groove up your never goign to keep a seal in it.
The biggest problem with a pickle fork is that the other surface you are pushing against is where your seal is going. If you mess that snap ring groove up your never goign to keep a seal in it.
Junior User
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Ridgecrest, CA
yes, good point, i forgot to mention that. using the pickle forks forces you to apply pressure on that rubber seal. fortunately, the seal on his truck was fairly resilient and was not damaged. that sounds like a pretty good method though, tj.
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Elder User
Joined: May 2007
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From: North East, MD
I finally got the thing off today. When I went to the auoto parts store to look for a bigger pickle fork I found a pitman arm puller(didn't know they existed) for $13 with a liftime guarantee so i bought it. I tightened it down and wacked the arm 3 times it poped right off. I guess it pays to use the right tool sometimes
