pitman arm removal from crosslink

-
L

loyal0ne

Member
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
trying to get my manual steering box out. everything is unbolted however i'm having a lot of trouble getting the pitman arm disconnected from the "crosslink"???. ive tried pulling it apart and even taking the rubber mallet to it some, that dang thing just wont budge.

am i missing something???
 
is the "pickle fork" the normal way of removing it? just slip it between the gasket and crosslink and bang it in there? never used one before...
 
or loosen the pitman nut to centerlink, and hit the center link with a BFH and it will drop. don't worry you ain't gonna break it.
 
you can use either way both work good if you do it right the only problem i have had is if you use the pickle fork you are likely to tear the boot if you dont need it anyway or if its already ripped go for it if you need to save it go with redfastbacks suggestion
 
thanks guys. the boot is in ok for now - so i might go with the "beat the hell out of it" method. i hit is a few times with a hammer but was afraid to break something. now that i know it pretty much wont break, i'll go beat it pretty good...
 
loyal0ne said:
thanks guys. the boot is in ok for now - so i might go with the "beat the hell out of it" method. i hit is a few times with a hammer but was afraid to break something. now that i know it pretty much wont break, i'll go beat it pretty good...
Click to expand...


If you do not have an imapct ahmmer with a pickle fork, you can get a low buck fork like a KD tools one. They make ball joints, idler arms and steering parts much easier to pull apart. I have seen them for under $30.
 
It's better to use a pitman arm puller and a little heat from a torch that way it does no damage to the splined end of the steering shaft.I had mine off in less time then it took to put the tools away.
 
well i tried beating the $hit out of the crosslink - that didnt work. i guess i gotta go out and buy the pitman arm puller or pickle fork set.

is there any difference between a pitman arm puller and a gear puller?
 
go to autozone or any of those dime a dozen auto stores and do the borrow me a tool. You pay for the tool and when your done with it you take it back and get your cash back. simple as that.
 
You need to put a "bigger"FH or similar solid metal object up against the other side of the joint, THEN smack it with the BFH.
 
I was trying the BFH method and one of my buddies came over to help me with the car. He saw what I was doing and just happened to have a pickle fork in the back of his truck at the time. Don't know why he had it back there but it's way easier with the pickle fork. It never budged with the hammer, but was out in less then a minute with the fork.
 
I'm in the process of replacing my power steering box, actually having it rebuilt by steer & gear. I had a lot of trouble getting the steering box out of my 65 cuda- I had to remove the starter, jack up the engine and used a pickle fork on the steering link and I still couldn't get the pitman arm off of the box - damaged the rubber on the end of the pitman arm that attaches to the center link - can this rubber (looks like a tie-rod end) be replaced without buying the entire pitman arm? I finally got the steering box off with the pitman arm attached - I will put some heat on it tomorrow to try and get the pitman arm off. I don't mean to hijack this thread - but hopefully this might help the original question.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top