alright fellas, im helping a friend install a 4" lift on his jeep and we got it pretty much finished but when it came time to take the pitman arm off it wouldn budge, we broke two pitman arm pullers in the process, and am not to sure of what to do now. id like to do it myself instead of taking it to a profesional, just gotta have the satisfaction that i did it and didnt have to pay anybody to do it.... or have my friend pay anyway. thanks for the help.

 

I cut my old one off, but i didn't need the old one anymore. I bet u've tried the blue tip wrench....sometimes if u wack it with a hammer as well you can get it to budge.


Primary rig is:
95' F-150 XLT 4x4, 302, 5 spd, MSD 6A, Sunroof, and some kablamo Firestoner Wilderness ATs .

Pictures coming soon.


Then theres:
99' Mustang GT 4.6L
88' F-250 Superduty 4x4 351/c6
95' Mercury Cougar 4.6L V-8
80' E-350 300/6 with a
3 spd column shifter. Top speed is 65mph, Go Baby Go!

 

Yeah, get the puller on snug and start tapping with a hammer around the part that is on the splines. It will come off. Use anti-sieze when putting it back on.

 

i was thinking about cutting it off but isnt that metal really hard/strong?

 

You can do it. I cut mine off with just a small disk grinder and it cut pretty well.


Primary rig is:
95' F-150 XLT 4x4, 302, 5 spd, MSD 6A, Sunroof, and some kablamo Firestoner Wilderness ATs .

Pictures coming soon.


Then theres:
99' Mustang GT 4.6L
88' F-250 Superduty 4x4 351/c6
95' Mercury Cougar 4.6L V-8
80' E-350 300/6 with a
3 spd column shifter. Top speed is 65mph, Go Baby Go!

 

Forgot to add that you might want to cut it in two places..and get as close to the shaft as you can, it will allow the arm to flex and come off.


Primary rig is:
95' F-150 XLT 4x4, 302, 5 spd, MSD 6A, Sunroof, and some kablamo Firestoner Wilderness ATs .

Pictures coming soon.


Then theres:
99' Mustang GT 4.6L
88' F-250 Superduty 4x4 351/c6
95' Mercury Cougar 4.6L V-8
80' E-350 300/6 with a
3 spd column shifter. Top speed is 65mph, Go Baby Go!

 

If you have acces to a torch you can just heat it up around the shaft and with a good puller it should come off. I dont like to see a lot of heat around there due to it transfering into the box and also possibly making the sector shaft weak. Good Luck!

 

the pitman arm itself is cast so it will cut easily if you use a die grinder or a torch. If you use a torch just get it red hot making sure you don't get the sector shaft to hot just the cast pitman arm and use the puller it should come right off. One trick to useing a puller is get it good and tight then tap it with hammer and tighten alittle at a time and tap with the hammer the vibration will aide it in coming loose. If you just go cranking on it you usaully break the pullers.

 

Here's my pitman arm removal story....I installed a 4" Rancho suspension lift on my 93 F250 4X2. (Yeah I'm one of THOSE guys) Anyway, After some fairly smooth sailing on the install I came to Pitman arm removal step. With a borrowed pitman arm puller I proceded with the process. After carefully positioning the puller I proceeded to crank it up. And crank. And Crank!! I had that sucker tight. 2 foot breaker bar tight. Nothing. Started rappin' on it with a hammer. Leaned on it a bit more. It was so tight it was singing when I hit that thing. TING. TING. I only wanted to use heat as a last resort.....so I broke out the rosebud. Nothing . I then called on a friend with the full on welding truck rig. Meanwhile I thought I would remove the puller and reposition it for another try. NOT! I had cranked that thing up so tight I had gald up the tip. So now I could not tighten or loosen the thing. . My buddy pulls up. Breaks out the monter rosebud. He's heatin' I'm rappin'. Heat rap heat rap...Nothing nothin nothing. Finally he suggests cutting it. I really wanted to save the arm but I wanted it off even more!! Ha ha ha ha! I'm going to win . My buddy surgically applied the heat. After about 5 seconds he kicked in the O2. I drew my hammer back and at the apex of my swing guess what happend? Came off you say? HA!!! Remember how tight I had that puller? That pitman exploded off the spline like a flippin' Laz Rocket. A molten cherry red missle. YIKES! The only thing moving faster under that truck was the guys with the torch and hammer. That's my story.

Lessons learned...1) I will tie off or otherwise secure any potential missle hazards. 2) NO exposed flesh while working with heat. Long sleeves, pants and a face shield ain't enough. Coveryour neck too. 3) Before making any exteme rapid movents caused by a panic situation while working in a fairly confined space.......well, need I say more?

Good luck!
B