pitman arm puller

RenegadeT

RenegadeT

no shirt,no shoes,no dice
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Mar 24, 2005
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I borrowed this POS from AutoZone today. WTF, I should have took a look at it before I left the store. Its impossible to use a socket on it because of the unmachined section, never seen this type before. I tried to swap it with the drive screw from my smaller TRE puller, but the threads are different (metric I guess), the head takes a 17mm wrench. So I tried to fit this thing on an XJ steering box, find out the gap is only 1.3", I need 1.5".
Useless...
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Not olny do they suck they break easy :rolleyes:. its odd that it dident work on the xj though because i had to rent one for my old ZJ and it worked.
 
I figured the reason they don't want a socket on...is cuz they break easily. I've broken one of the AZ loaners before with an impact, returned them, got my deposit back, no problem. Maybe they're sick of that.
I need to look closer at my box. There's some rubber sleeve on the output shaft above the pitman arm. Maybe that's what wrong with my box.
 
They're cheap. Broke 3 of them in an advance auto parking lot a few years ago because I was tired of driving up there to exchange it.
 
Got mine off the Mac truck, it's taken everyone I ever tried to remove, off. But, there were some that it would not fit over. I used an impact, and sometimes it would stall, so, a good whack from a BFH, and it come ome off
 
^x2, except mine was off the Matco truck
 
hurt4x4 said:
Not olny do they suck they break easy :rolleyes:. its odd that it dident work on the xj though because i had to rent one for my old ZJ and it worked.
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this prompted me to take a closer look. The output seal had slid out of the box all the way to the pitman arm. I pushed it back in revelaing the splined shaft, and then the puller fit without a problem. Since its only been a few years since I installed this dropped pitman arm, it didn't put up much of a fight to come off.
 
i brought one home like that one time. i put the flap disc to it and ground down the edges so i could slide a socket over it. then painted it black before i returned it. now the next guy that borrows it wont be pissed when he gets home like i was. now i look at all the tools before i take them home.
 
OK what am I missing - what's wrong w/ just putting a 17mm wrench on the end of it? That's how I use mine.
The one I have (pretty sure it's an $8 AZ-supplied one) has slowly spreaded, I just put it in the vice and clamped it to bring the jaws together again.
 
RatLabGuy said:
OK what am I missing - what's wrong w/ just putting a 17mm wrench on the end of it? That's how I use mine.
The one I have (pretty sure it's an $8 AZ-supplied one) has slowly spreaded, I just put it in the vice and clamped it to bring the jaws together again.
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It'd be nice to get an impact socket on there. Sometimes it takes more than a hand wrench, maybe its a Jeep thang.
 
RenegadeT said:
It'd be nice to get an impact socket on there. Sometimes it takes more than a hand wrench, maybe its a Jeep thang.
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I whack the wrench w/ a hammer or mallet, or put a pipe on it.
Which usually results in the wrench slipping off and sliding across the floor, followed by a lot of cussing...
So ya, I get it - but I wrench will work too :D
 
Use a hand held propane torch and heat half way down the pitman arm while the puller has tension, it will fall off. DO NOT heat it on the end that is froze, if you heat it there you are also heating the sector (splined) shaft as much as you are heating the arm. Both will expand the same and you also risk ruining the seal in the PS box. This DOES WORK with patience. I have used this without a puller and hit the pitman arm with a hammer as well on the trail.
 
I bought one at hf and it's been great a 19mm fits right on it. I just impact the hell out of it and they come right off.
 
I just tighten the puller with a wrench or impact if it'll fit. It doesnt have to be super tight. Then smack the pitman arm here nice and solid with a hammer. It'll make your puller last forever. The shock will jar the splines just enough that pressure from the puller will free it right up. My puller is one of the cheap tools in my box that hasn't had to be replaced with quality tools. Probably done a few hundred arms with it over the years. This method works with TRE's as well. You should never NEED an impact on this type puller.
pitman arm.jpg
 
MarsFab said:
I just tighten the puller with a wrench or impact if it'll fit. It doesnt have to be super tight. Then smack the pitman arm here nice and solid with a hammer. It'll make your puller last forever. The shock will jar the splines just enough that pressure from the puller will free it right up. My puller is one of the cheap tools in my box that hasn't had to be replaced with quality tools. Probably done a few hundred arms with it over the years. This method works with TRE's as well. You should never NEED an impact on this type puller.
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Yep what he said
 
JThomas said:
Yep what he said
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Same here. Reason you're not able to get a socket on there is because they're not impact rated. That's why people break them all the time when they grind the end down, put a 3 ft breaker bar and then a 3 ft cheater bar on there.
 
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