Very stuck steering box drop arm

[morgant]

Okay, I've wasted about two full days trying to get the drop arm off the splined shaft from the steering box in my 1982 Series III. The first day was mostly because I didn't have a pitman arm puller and so tried to jerry-rig a number of different solutions, all of which failed (though knew as a pretty heavy duty puller powered by a scissor jack). I purchased the only pitman arm puller the FLAPS had and it fits, but doesn't have much grip (almost too wide to hold onto the base of the arm and far too narrow to hold onto the nubs on the side of the arm) and so I've started to round off the edges off the arm (no big deal, except it's harder to get a grip now).

Now, this is all in addition to having sprayed with tons of penetrating oil, cleaned up the splines with a wire brush, driven wooden wedges (that I normally use for splitting logs) underneath the arm for further pressure, hammered on the arm to try to help drive it off, and heated the arm with a propane torch and then sprayed it with Freeze-Off to try to break the rust with a temperature snap. Much of this has been done with & without the pitman arm puller on for added force.

Wooden wedges and the pitman arm puller worked wonders on removing the arm from the steering relay, but the arm on the steering box is just really stuck. Any further suggestions?

At this point I'm hoping that letting a week pass will allow the penetrating oil to do more work than the first few days did.

[mearstrae]

Sounds like you've done everything you can with what you have. Try using a Gear Puller instead of the Pitman puller. They have more adjustment, and some have a feature that locks them into place for pulling. I use a product called 'PB-Blaster' penetrating oil and pretty much follow the steps you have used; soak-heat-soak-beat. I have the added advantage of a 1/2" impact gun to aid in breaking such things loose.

'95 R.R.C. Lwb (Gone...)
'76 Series III Hybrid 109
'70 Rover 3500S

[SafeAirOne]

Be careful using heat here--IIRC, there's a rubber o-ring that seals the output shaft of the steering box.

[LaneRover]

Wow, I usually have to keep mine tight so they don't wobble about . . .

[morgant]

Thanks, I will definitely look at gear pullers.

Thanks for the warning about heat. I was trying to be a bit mindful anyway as the steering box is aluminum. Hopefully I kept most of the heat away from the o-ring, but this is part of diassembly for a frame-over refurbishment, so I intend to rebuild the steering box anyway.

As for choice of penetrating oil, I used to use PB Blaster, but have mostly switched over to Liquid Wrench as I've found it to do a better & quicker job on bits of this project so far. Plus, gave Freeze-Off a shot in this case.

Being cheap, idealistic, and apparently a total masochist, I'm doing this project in the woods with only hand tools and the occasional cordless drill, but I've definitely been eying the cordless impact wrenches. Maybe a Christmas present to myself. :D

[SafeAirOne]

Another thing you might try is to give the outer band of the splined part of the drop arm a good knock with a heavy hammer while the puller is cranking down hard on the thing. Just a little deformation may pop the whole thing free (quite violently). Use your discretion as far as how hard to hit it--as you know, the box itself is only aluminum.

[leafsprung]

You need to use a better heat source. oxy or at least MAP. Propane will have a hard time getting it very warm. Don't worry about the o-ring if you are intending to rebuild anyway. A good heat source and a quality two jaw puller will remove it.

[LaneRover]

Just in case the obvious has been overlooked (as I have made those types of mistakes often) you did completely take the bolt out and not just loosen it up . . .