1969 Pitman arm off of power steering cylinder

[Joe T.]

I know this must have been done, but I am having a tough time getting the pitman arm off the stud on the power steering cylinder. I took the nut and two washers off, easily. The pitman arm will not budge. I have treated it will silicroil for several days, used different pullers pitman and ball joint,tie rod separator tools and all I've accomplished is to distort the stud to the point where the cotter pin hole is collapsing. That takes a LOT of pressure! Is there some attachment I've missed or is this just being stubborn? How much heat can I apply without damaging the internals in the cylinder. Is a propane torch likely to get it hot enough to help?
Thanks and regards...Joe

[Mark M.]

Re: 1969 Pitman arm off of power steering cylinder

Joe , many years ago a friend and top mechanic showed me a little trick that has worked for me many times. He just took two hammers and with good timing hit opposite sides of a steering knuckle which was giving us a hard time releasing the ball joint. It popped right out and so did my eyes. Obviously good access for the swings and timing are needed. I've used this technique on tapered studs of different types and most the time , it works. Set up is first. The pitman arm is on steering box to power steering control valve. It sounds like you may be working on the control valve , so I would pull the pitman off the sector shaft first than ps hoses , valve lock bolt and spin the valve off the relay rod. With the pitman arm in a vise, theres a better chance of not damaging parts. Good luck

[Timothy B.]

Re: 1969 Pitman arm off of power steering cylinder

Joe,

Go get a tie rod puller and it will pop right off. Don't use the fork because the rubber seal will get torn.

[Gary R.]

Re: 1969 Pitman arm off of power steering cylinder

As the guys said it should come off with a tie rod puller. I believe it's the same taper as a ball joint or tie rod end. The 2 hammer trick may work too.

The pitman arm is supposed to be torqued to about 140-180 ft/lb, I set them to 150 ft/lb when I install them. Removing some of them is tricky too and I have broken the common 2 jaw pullers sold at the parts stores. I have a HD one now that gets them all off so my point is I would look at the arm to stud removal over pulling the arm off the box. Better to damage only one item if need be.

[Joe T.]

Re: 1969 Pitman arm off of power steering cylinder

Thank you Gentlemen: I added some pictures so you can get some idea of where I've been with this. I am contemplating the tie rod forks, since replacing the boot is the reason I am even doing this. The puller shown on the arm doesn't get a perfect grip, but it holds long enough to damage and distort the stud with a 14 inch breaker bar pulling. One more question (for now): If I use the tie rod fork solution, will it damage the cylinder? This little arm seems determined to stay where it is. OBTW I also tried the puller shown in the package

[Patrick H.]

Re: 1969 Pitman arm off of power steering cylinder

The silver one is way too tall.

I suspect that the short one has an opening that is too large side-to-side. Is that correct?
I would look for one similar to your short one in the package that has edges a bit closer together and will actually work. It should then pop off with zero issues.

As you can see, AutoZone is not the standard for high quality tools.

[Joe T.]

Re: 1969 Pitman arm off of power steering cylinder

The silver one is way too tall.

I suspect that the short one has an opening that is too large side-to-side. Is that correct?
I would look for one similar to your short one in the package that has edges a bit closer together and will actually work. It should then pop off with zero issues.

As you can see, AutoZone is not the standard for high quality tools.

Hi Patrick: Roger the comment on auto zone tools and it is a little wide for my needs, but both pullers grip well enough to start to distort the stud. I would think that kind pf pressure would "pop" this bad boy off, before crushing the cotter pin hole? I also am trying the double hammer process to see if that works or at least helps in combination with pullers and or pickle forks. I even tried driving the arm down on the stud with a drift to break it loose. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Again, thanks to all for interest, ideas and encouragement. Everything I do on this car seems to need a BIGGER hammer. ...Oh well, I could probably get myself a C7 Z06 for the time, money and effort this is costing, but the car deserves to be restored and I will keep at it!

[Mark M.]

Re: 1969 Pitman arm off of power steering cylinder

Joe , I've seen studs this stubborn too. Another trade trick used in many mechanical fields but if done carelessly can do damage, is heat and quench. I do it all the time on rusted and rotted parts and it never falls. I use an oxygen acetylene torch because of the control there is with focusing high heat quickly where it's needed without over heat soaking other parts. Torch adjustments set for any size part. A propane torch should work but there's less control, the lower temp. would take longer and the grease may burn a bit more. The main thing is to not overheat a part depending on its design. A pitman arm is drop forged hi-strength steel. I wouldn't get it get to 800 degrees, which is near the point of it glowing red. 400 is safe and shouldn't hurt the arms temper. Try short heats first and quickly pour water on. The expansion contraction shock frees the most stubborn parts. A plastic bottle with hole in cap works great for the quencher. It's a bit messy. With practice there's no parts a torch wrench can't tame. You could hold arm in vise , put a nut on stud below tip and choose the hammer of choice. You probably got it by now.

[Joe T.]

Re: 1969 Pitman arm off of power steering cylinder

I GOT IT! Thank you all for your help and interest. Short version: I tried most of the recommendations and I really believe it was the combination: The opposing hammers; the silikroil; the pullers; just beating on it; some heat; a pickle fork on and air hammer and the final blow (actually little more than a couple of taps with a big hammer) on another pickle fork. Most of all perseverance. I was too far down the road to do anything but finish it. One surprise, and I should have picked up in it from Mark's post. I thought it was splined. Imagine my surprise to see it tapered when it popped off. Special note to Patrick: Quality tools DO make the difference! Thanks again and deepest regards to all...Joe
OBTW: I never got to the heat and quench, but now I have it for future reference. It would have come in handy on other tasks, and I will use it (judiciously) next time I get stuck,,,jt