Stuck Drag Link & Pitman Arm

[ldmack3]

To put the new ball in you will have to press it in so you might as well get that arm off now.
Once off you can press out the old ground off shaft.

 

[Hummer Guy]

Back at it, I put the puller on the other side and still nothing, it even bent the bolt in pulley so now I'm in the processor of drilling it out. I don't get how this thing is so stuck in there. I may take a look auto advanced and see if they got any stronger pulleys

 

[Hummer Guy]

This is much harder than I expected. I wonder is there any sort of puller to get the steering arm off, at this rate I prefer to just buy another steering arm than fight this if there's a puller for it, if not than I guess I'll keep drilling. Going to finish drilling this small hole in it and than use a bigger bit to get the rest out

 

[NDT]

If only you could get the arm off the knuckle, just one whack with a sledge hammer on the end of the threads and it would pop out easy.

 

[Hummer Guy]

If only you could get the arm off the knuckle, just one whack with a sledge hammer on the end of the threads and it would pop out easy.

Yep, should be like that, I even tried using a torch to heat it up, I hit with a hammer for about 30 minutes and its still stuck, tried the scissor jack and that couldn't even push it up, tried the puller and that didn't work. I'm going to try and just change the steering arm now. The steering arm only has them 4 bolts holding it down right? Or is there something else secretly holding it in place?

 

[NY Tom]

Should be able to wire brush around the four studs on top of it. Blow it out and get some penetrating oil on it. Give it a few good whacks with a big hammer near the end there and it should come free. Nothing else holding it down. Just those four nuts you already have off.

 

[Mullaney]

Yep, should be like that, I even tried using a torch to heat it up, I hit with a hammer for about 30 minutes and its still stuck, tried the scissor jack and that couldn't even push it up, tried the puller and that didn't work. I'm going to try and just change the steering arm now. The steering arm only has them 4 bolts holding it down right? Or is there something else secretly holding it in place?

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Your first post was on Friday at around Noon.

We talked about the "cones" under the bolts and washers back then. Today is Tuesday - and I have to ask - but have you continued to spray more penetrating oil onto those cones? They have a "split" up the side. Those cones are about the thickness of the plate they fit in to so they grab the threads. Water and metal makes rust eventually.

Hope you don't think I am being a jerk, but have you tried more penetrating oil and bumped the plate with a hammer occasionally?

 

[Hummer Guy]

Should be able to wire brush around the four studs on top of it. Blow it out and get some penetrating oil on it. Give it a few good whacks with a big hammer near the end there and it should come free. Nothing else holding it down. Just those four nuts you already have off.

Aight, going to give that a try

 

[Hummer Guy]

.
Your first post was on Friday at around Noon.

We talked about the "cones" under the bolts and washers back then. Today is Tuesday - and I have to ask - but have you continued to spray more penetrating oil onto those cones? They have a "split" up the side. Those cones are about the thickness of the plate they fit in to so they grab the threads. Water and metal makes rust eventually.

Hope you don't think I am being a jerk, but have you tried more penetrating oil and bumped the plate with a hammer occasionally?

Yep, been spraying it with WD40 ever since, at least about 5 times. I had tried getting it up with a crowbar and hammer, I never could get it to budge any further than what it has so I went back to trying to remove the drag link. Now I have a slightly bigger hammer and I brought my torch there. Tomorrow I'll try and see if I can get it up

 

[Mullaney]

Yep, been spraying it with WD40 ever since, at least about 5 times. I had tried getting it up with a crowbar and hammer, I never could get it to budge any further than what it has so I went back to trying to remove the drag link. Now I have a slightly bigger hammer and I brought my torch there. Tomorrow I'll try and see if I can get it up

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Happy to hear it!

The torch on the cones - all four of them - quickly - and then thump it with a hammer. Of course the heat kills off the penetrating oil, but if the cones pop up even a little you can see some progress.

Hopefully the torch has a rosebud top so you can throw down a lot of heat quickly.

 

[Hummer Guy]

.
Happy to hear it!

The torch on the cones - all four of them - quickly - and then thump it with a hammer. Of course the heat kills off the penetrating oil, but if the cones pop up even a little you can see some progress.

Hopefully the torch has a rosebud top so you can throw down a lot of heat quickly.

Yep and right, would you think putting a scissor jack from the axle to the arm be better or a hammer?

 

[ldmack3]

And be aware the cones may come shooting out.

 

[cbrTodd]

A few thoughts / ideas...

It looks like there may still be serrated washers on top of those cones. If so, get those off there first. Use a wire brush to clean off the gunk and verify. I had to use a small screwdriver and a small hammer to unread them the first bit and then they came loose easily.

WD40 is useful for preventing parts from rusting and has some minor lubricating properties, but it is essentially USELESS when it comes to being a penetrating oil. Get some Kroil, PB Blaster, 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF, etc. in there to start actually doing something. WD 40 will never creep far enough in there to do any good.

Once the above is done, take a 3 - 5 lb hammer and hit the front of the spot where you cut the ball stud off from. HARD. Once to try to rotate the arm rearward, then once to rotate the arm forward. It should pop the cones out after a couple whacks. If you use a carpenter's hammer or don't put any effort behind it, you'll be there another week wondering why it hasn't budged.

 

[Hummer Guy]

A few thoughts / ideas...

It looks like there may still be serrated washers on top of those cones. If so, get those off there first. Use a wire brush to clean off the gunk and verify. I had to use a small screwdriver and a small hammer to unread them the first bit and then they came loose easily.

WD40 is useful for preventing parts from rusting and has some minor lubricating properties, but it is essentially USELESS when it comes to being a penetrating oil. Get some Kroil, PB Blaster, 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF, etc. in there to start actually doing something. WD 40 will never creep far enough in there to do any good.

Once the above is done, take a 3 - 5 lb hammer and hit the front of the spot where you cut the ball stud off from. HARD. Once to try to rotate the arm rearward, then once to rotate the arm forward. It should pop the cones out after a couple whacks. If you use a carpenter's hammer or don't put any effort behind it, you'll be there another week wondering why it hasn't budged.

Going to try and yep I didn't take the washers off. I'll report back tomorrow how it goes.

 

[Weldman]

.

 

[davidb56]

Lastly keep the scissor jack off, you are only binding yourself up more lifting it at a angle and if you do see a gap after doing what @Mullaney said to do, try and wedge a dull chisel in there and work it up evenly on all sides.

mine was stuck on real bad too. I used a chisel/wedge also and a 5lb hammer.

 

[bprzyw]

I’ve been using fluid film lately. That with an air compressor to push in the penetrating fluid.

 

[Hummer Guy]

Finally got the steering arm, used some ATF, hit, and beat it with a hammer, now I got something else stuck, the steering wheel. I tried using a gear puller and it didn't work so next I tried a ratchet strap and that didn't work, plus it got stuck. My next plan is to try and get a puller that can go directly on the back end of the steering wheel. Is there any chance the shaft can be taken off the steering box and I could just pull the whole steering wheel and shaft out that way?

 

[Mullaney]

Finally got the steering arm, used some ATF, hit, and beat it with a hammer, now I got something else stuck, the steering wheel. I tried using a gear puller and it didn't work so next I tried a ratchet strap and that didn't work, plus it got stuck. My next plan is to try and get a puller that can go directly on the back end of the steering wheel. Is there any chance the shaft can be taken off the steering box and I could just pull the whole steering wheel and shaft out that way?

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Happy to hear you got the steering arm off! Yeah!!

More penetrating oil. ATF seems to have worked well for you. Weasel Pi$$ is mixture for that work.

 

[ldmack3]

Finally got the steering arm, used some ATF, hit, and beat it with a hammer, now I got something else stuck, the steering wheel. I tried using a gear puller and it didn't work so next I tried a ratchet strap and that didn't work, plus it got stuck. My next plan is to try and get a puller that can go directly on the back end of the steering wheel. Is there any chance the shaft can be taken off the steering box and I could just pull the whole steering wheel and shaft out that way?

Yea!!!
That was a tough one. Glad you made it.