Dry ice will cause the metal to contract, thus, holding on TIGHTER to the steering box..... Not what you want.

Try Scooter's suggestion, along with the puller, and the BFH.

 

Acetone should be at your local Homes Depot/Hardware store.

 

Take the box put with the arm still on it.

Tighten the puller.... Then tighten it some more.

Hit the back of the pitman arm.... Til it comes off.

Good luck.

 

(Wombats post)

Check the paint/finish dept of the Hardware store. Thats usually where it is in my local shops. Acetone by itself evaporates very quickly, so be sure to seal the container when you arent pouring it. It seems to stick around a little longer in the ATF mixture though. I have left parts soaking in a bath overnight, and didnt notice any excessive loss of the mixture.

 

mopar penetrant is an amazing thing as well. had this issue on my buddys 99 1500. the box was toast, so i heated the **** out of it, then sprayed some penetrant on it while it was hot.

waited a bit, then heated it again. put the puller on it, and smacked it real good, and off it came.

good luck WN!

 

A few bolts, two hoses, a tre to remove drop the box, then take it over to the hyld press and press it off. Probably take less time than you have already spent working on it.

 

about Acetone!!

Yeah I live in a house of women'z....so finger nail polish remover, plus I used the stuff extensively in college. however the college provided it.

Some brake cleaner cans also have it as the solvent. durrrrr

I like that trick though and will try it. A bowl held up to submerge that SOB!


As for the dry ice, I'm fairly certain that QCL was meaning to apply it only to the sector shaft. Just spin the nut off and you have a good amount to expose the dry ice to. Pretty simple and also a sound method. On the flip side putting heat to the pitman arm shoulder only to accomplish the same thermal coefficient difference effect.


If my steering box was broke, I'd have to problem going hulk on it.

One thing I should have done after getting home last night was to reapply the puller and let it sit over night. The cool temperature might have been enough to help it let go.......in the night.

Thanks guys!

 

If only I had a press layin around.....

It's on the "bucket tool list" though.

 

I have often thought about building a press, for just such an occasion. I think I have enough scrap metal laying around, and an old heavy duty bottle jack. Then again... for less than $200, I could just buy one. http://www.harborfreight.com/20-ton-...ess-32879.html

 

In almost every situation where a difficult to remove Pitman arm is eventually seperated from the box, it'll start leaking after a few months and/or suddenly feel LOOSER than it had before. I did the job a while back and just took it off as an assembly, arm and box, replaced both, problem solved and saved a headache. Also my box was loose and had been "adjusted" already once.

FWIW Steering is so tight it reacts to less than an inch of input on the highway, maybe more like half an inch. The truck I have has 37s on it so I just wont fool around with something that could cause problems.

Ohh, and if you must seperate the two, propane torch to the PITMAN ARM while the puller is very tight, tap on it with a BALL PEEN HAMMER not a BFH since it'll wreck the bearing races inside. rinse and repeat until it finally comes loose. If you feel you've abused the box getting it out, replace the works, trust me on that.