Pitman Arm Removal

[Toyaddict71]

Great suggestion. I requested a quote from Redhead. I'm cringing on what I expect to hear back. Especially after they see pics.

 

[Toyaddict71]

Just in case anyone else is in same boat in future, here is another option for rebuild. Unfortunately I don't trust my core would meet their satisfaction.
https://bluetopsteeringgears-com.3d...7-Ford-Bronco-Saginaw-Steering-Gear_p_25.html

 

[ba123]

So, I fought and fought. Tried every trick I could find online. Eventually just had to bite the bullet and either cut it off or take it to a shop and let them try. I went with later. I MANGLED my box putting so much torque on it. Deformed the opening for the shaft. Destroyed the internal bearings. And the shaft from inside the box looks gouged up and corroded as well. Not sure how if all came about, but the bearings and casing damage is surely from me torquing on it too hard.
So now I need to decide how to proceed and looking for advice. Anyone rebuild the original box with new internals. I found a rebuild kit easy enough, but the shaft needs replacing and no luck there yet. Replace the entire box is other option. The only kit I see that is a one piece bolt in that will accept the shaft, hoses, etc. seems to be the Tom's box. Are there other options to consider? The cheaper boxes (delphi) I find need many adapters, etc. to work and eventually come out to nearly same price as the $895 Tom's unit.
Thanks for any help!!!

Holy crap! You must have beat the hell out of it.

As mentioned earlier, a Pitman Arm puller is cheap and it works, and it puts ZERO pressure on your steering box internals.

Next time, do it the right way. There is no trick to getting it off. You just need the cheap little puller for leverage in the right place.

 

[Toyaddict71]

I used a puller. thats what did it

 

[ba123]

If you used a puller, you did the right thing and no way was that how your box got messed up. A puller only pulls on the end of the hardened shaft and puts zero pressure on anything internal. Any chance the shop you brought it to did something else?

 

[Shimmy]

Great suggestion. I requested a quote from Redhead. I'm cringing on what I expect to hear back. Especially after they see pics.

last i checked, they had rebuilt units in stock.

 

[Toyaddict71]

If you used a puller, you did the right thing and no way was that how your box got messed up. A puller only pulls on the end of the hardened shaft and puts zero pressure on anything internal. Any chance the shop you brought it to did something else?

yeah, you got me thinking hard.I agree with you and I have no idea. The damage was hidden behind pitman arm and unit worked perfectly except leaking fluid that started very quickly. It was not a slow start and consistently getting worse. I've had the truck 20 years and never touched it, so can't understand how I bought it like that and ran it 20 years. The shop I took it to, SWEARS they only used a puller. Something doesn't add up. At the end, I can't prove how it was done, and must decide next move. I've tracked all above options and more. There is a shop fairly local I'm waiting to see what they think about rebuilding it, but expect to go with a known upgraded plug-n-play solution from Tom's. Thanks!

 

[DirtDonk]

If I’m hearing your description of the damage correctly, to be “fixable”, would probably take specialty knowledge and skill and be far more expensive than a new box.
And it would still just be a stock box. Some replacements are definite upgrades over Original.

I’m guessing they did use a pullar, but they used the wrong tools and techniques, and probably wedged it against the frame, pushing the box (literally between a hard place and the proverbial immovable object) beyond its limits.
I think we’ve all heard the horror stories of how strong pro shop air tools can be.
I’d like to see what puller they say they used.

 

[Toyaddict71]

If I’m hearing your description of the damage correctly, to be “fixable”, would probably take specialty knowledge and skill and be far more expensive than a new box.
And it would still just be a stock box. Some replacements are definite upgrades over Original.

I’m guessing they did use a pullar, but they used the wrong tools and techniques, and probably wedged it against the frame, pushing the box (literally between a hard place and the proverbial immovable object) beyond its limits.
I think we’ve all heard the horror stories of how strong pro shop air tools can be.
I’d like to see what puller they say they used.

I think you're on the right path and unfortunately I think it was me that did it in reality. I torqued the hell out of it trying to get it to relese in conjuction with your lateral hammer trick and lots of PB Blaster. Below is the puller I used.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ETWGKY/?tag=classicbroncos-20

 

[Gsav69]

I just used the one pictured above that I borrowed from autozone to break my stock 66 pitman arm loose amd it worked great. I have since replaced the arm with the beefier updated one wild horses sells and now I wonder if the puller I used would fit around the bigger head. I'll be watching this thread as well.

 

[Toyaddict71]

Just to let people know where I landed on this. I installed a new box from Tom's. It was a direct fit. Ran into an issue centering it while using my "keyed" pitman arm. I am waiting on a new arm without the key slots so I can center the box. I went from the 6 turn to a 4 turn box. Big difference. steering is much tighter. I never had slop in steering, but could easily go from lock-to-lock with a single finger on the wheel before. Not so much now. It is precise, but just different and I need to get used to it. I'm also a little concerned if it will stress my stock pump out over time. Steering is so tight in fact, I have a three-steering stabilizer set up that I'm planning on trying to drop back to the single. I've talked about it on another thread. It came with the rig 20 years ago, and steering was always always good so I left well enough alone. Thanks for all the input and recommendations!!!

 

[Toyaddict71]

I just used the one pictured above that I borrowed from autozone to break my stock 66 pitman arm loose amd it worked great. I have since replaced the arm with the beefier updated one wild horses sells and now I wonder if the puller I used would fit around the bigger head. I'll be watching this thread as well.

That new arm looks similar in diameter as my drop arm. The tool i borrowed from Autozone was about 1/4 inch or so too small. I eventually found the tool I linked above through Amazon that fit it. However, beware of meathead pinching it against the frame and torquing the box like I did.

 

[thegreatjustino]

I am waiting on a new arm without the key slots so I can center the box.

Take a triangle file and file splines into the keyways of your stock arm. Problem solved for free.

 

[DirtDonk]

What was the actual problem with using the existing keyed arm?
Was it that when you center the box, the arm was pointing slightly to the driver side? If so, that’s normal on a lot of Broncos.
Straight back along the frame came later, but either position usually works.
We just had a discussion about this recently and it wasn’t working for that member, but it can be made to work.
Are you running a stock, nonadjustable drag link? Do you have a suspension lift? Is the new arm a dropped arm? Was the old one?
Some more details please

 

[Gsav69]

What was the actual problem with using the existing keyed arm?
Was it that when you center the box, the arm was pointing slightly to the driver side? If so, that’s normal on a lot of Broncos.
Straight back along the frame came later, but either position usually works.
We just had a discussion about this recently and it wasn’t working for that member, but it can be made to work.
Are you running a stock, nonadjustable drag link? Do you have a suspension lift? Is the new arm a dropped arm? Was the old one?
Some more details please

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you guys. I ended up keeping all the original 66 steering stuff in tact. I live in FL 6 million miles away from every bronco company and shipping takes forever. When ordering the adjustable drag link, Wild Horse's website has a part number for pitman arms that are for the 66s which my part didn't match so they build the drag link for the newer/bigger end and it gets here and doesn't fit. At that point it was easier and cheaper to have them ship me a pitman arm to match and than have me disassemble the arm, and have to ship it back to get the replacement while also keeping the original one in case I or anyone ever wants to go back. Finally got horn wiring almost all sorted which will allow me to get the steering and dash buttoned up soon. Thanks again for all the support and advice.