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Help....steering arm removal.

k2mslskier

k2mslskier

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Is there any easy way to remove a stock steering arm that has welded itself to the knuckle? I guess I shouldn't expect easy after it has been on there for 22 years.

Thanks in advance.
 
Are you planning on putting one back on? I would heat it up just a little and SOAK it in PB. Tap with a hammer every 5 minutes or so and keep soaking it. after 30 minutes or so I would smack it real hard with a heavy hammer. If that doesn't do it cut between the knuckle and the arm until you can get a chizzle in there and beat that between them. I wouldn't do that if you plan on reusing it though.
 
Isn it just sitting on there? I am fixing to do mine,now you got me scared cus I want to do my lift in 2 days :eek:
Plus the bolts on the springs.... [:eek: again ]
 
Yep soak it good and hit it sideways, not up or down. It is gonna take some time. I just soaked mine and smacked it around for a couple minutes, soak again, come back in a few and hit some more, repeat.

Also search and you will get a ton of answers.
 
Yeah I'm replacing it with a 4" raised one. I soaked it, beat it, soaked it some more and beat it some more. I guess I'll pick back up with it tomorrow. I thought about cutting it, I guess I'll try that as a last resort.
 
ya,drink some energy drinks or protein shake before, find the biggest sledge u can and go at it, PB blast and keep hitting, o ya, if it moves a little bit, take a screw driver and hammer/spin the conical cones out in the little slots, 99% of the time they have thread printed into them, if u get one loose and spin it out the arm and other conical cones will come out a lot easier. have fun!
 
Dafey said:
Isn it just sitting on there? I am fixing to do mine,now you got me scared cus I want to do my lift in 2 days :eek:
Plus the bolts on the springs.... [:eek: again ]
Click to expand...

they have these tapered washers that smash into the arm and the stud which make it a mother to get off. i tried my first one about a month ago. was able to drive a air chisel on a angle and get one of the washers out. and beat the heck out of that thing with a sledge hammer for a while. ended up just torching the whole set up off. i was going crossover anyways :D
 
those things are a mother to get off. that is usally what takes up the most time while putting on a lift on these trucks.
 
may sound weird but smack on the numbers on the elbow part with a BFH after soaking with PB Blaster it will come off with ease....
 
Soak in PB and hit on the sides closest to the studs. Tap it a few times on the raised portion every once in awhile to get it at a different angle. Once i got the conical washers loosened up it was cake. Only took me about 10 min to get mine off.
 
Well so far I've managed to chisel the h*ll out of 2 of them and pull the third one completely out of the knuckle. I've almost got the arm cut off close to the drag link, figure if worst comes to worst I'll just start trimming around the studs.

By the looks of it though I think I might be able to drill the studs out of the knuckle and just get new ones. I'm concerned about jiggering up the threads. Anyone have to do that? These things are in there tight.
 
Get the cones out first.
Cone pliers are real handy for this, they cost about $10.
I've removed dozens of arms and none took any longer than 10 minutes.

You can make a set of pliers also. grind one side like so /\
Smack the arm up and down a few times to unseat the cones.
Place the wedge portion of the pliers in the split and squeeze. The cone will expand and pull right out.

Or just beat the crap out of it for several days. :rolleyes:
 
Well unfortunately I think I screwed them up. I think I damaged the cones too much to be able to just pull them out now. I'm not sure what I'll do now probably just keep beating the h*ll out of them till I get them loose.
 
Update??? Ummm....I've cut....I've ground...I've cut some more...I've ground some more. I've had to buy replacement studs and cone washers. You do not want to have to do that. I found ONE place here in town that sold the cone washers and they are not cheap. $17.95 a piece and the studs are $12.95 a piece, but don't forget, you need 3 of each. $105 and change total.

Actually I'm still not done. Will post pics tomorrow of what I have done/destroyed. My mistake was not talking to my mechanic first and/or looking for those pliers someone spoke of. I used an air chisel on 2 of them and f'ed them up bad now they are seized to the arm and studs. The 3rd one must have vibrated loose while I was chewing up the others because I pulled it out by hand.

My next plan of attack is to finish cutting the arm off and grinding down around the studs to get the tension off the washers so that maybe I can back the studs out. Allowing me to put the new ones in and mounting the new arm.
 
I had to use-up twenty 1/8" drill bits, chewing the cones out. Even then the steering arm did not want to "fall off". This was after taking the knuckle off and jigging it up in the vise.:doah:
 
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