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Steering Arm Removal

B

Bohemian

Guest
82 K5 Blazer Stock Axles & Steering

Anybody have any luck using a air hammer to remove your oem gm steering arm cold welded in place with those stinking conical cone washers?

I'm not having much luck with pb blaster and a BFH or my craftsman air hammer that I've previously used for knocking the heads off the big ass rivets on the frame before.

I'm thinking my air hammer does not have enough oomph and I'm still recovering from a near fatal motorcycle accident so I really can't get after it with a bfh. So I need to work smarter, not harder...

Before I drop $500 bucks on a snap on, matco, mac or other air hammer for this job I'd like some air hammer feedback from you all as there's an abyss of air hammer info out there that's conflicting, like a 3500 BPM Ingersoll Rand is not as good as a 1800 BPM Astro... it's really confusing from the reviews as to what specs actually make a good heavy hitting air hammer like I'm after for this task...

Not to mention bs reviews listing top 10 or top n air hammers for 2020...
and none of them listed or tested are Snap-on, Mac or Matco air hammers...
All these bs reviews seem to be focused on how much it costs, how much does it weigh, how does it look and not real world, real deal wtf can it actually do, a $40 3500 BPM air hammer is a door stop if it does not pack the wallop a $250 1800 BPM or $500 2500 BPM Air Hammer does...

Finding Country of origin is getting to be more & more of a PITA I don't want to spend my money on made in china or other foreign made crapola...
It seems like a 4-6" hammer bit from underneath the front of the steering arm near the forward most stud and split conical cone washer is a good spot to have at it with the right air hammer, my craftsman is not that air hammer...

If anyone's had luck with using an air hammer on a Factory K5 Steering Arm, let me know what make & model air hammer and bit or bits you used with success.

thanks in advance.
 
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I bought a bh3050b off evilbay with some Mac and snapon bits. For under 200, used.
Gave it a test, it started to move a rubber spring eye bushing. No real test yet.
175 psi reg'd down to 120, 3/8 hose
 
The $200 Ingersoll Rand air hammer is pretty good. Long barrel version
 
Bohemian said:
82 K5 Blazer Stock Axles & Steering

Anybody have any luck using a air hammer to remove your oem gm steering arm cold welded in place with those stinking conical cone washers?

I'm not having much luck with pb blaster and a BFH or my craftsman air hammer that I've previously used for knocking the heads off the big ass rivets on the frame before.

I'm thinking my air hammer does not have enough oomph and I'm still recovering from a near fatal motorcycle accident so I really can't get after it with a bfh. So I need to work smarter, not harder...

Before I drop $500 bucks on a snap on, matco, mac or other air hammer for this job I'd like some air hammer feedback from you all as there's an abyss of air hammer info out there that's conflicting, like a 3500 BPM Ingersoll Rand is not as good as a 1800 BPM Astro... it's really confusing from the reviews as to what specs actually make a good heavy hitting air hammer like I'm after for this task...

Not to mention bs reviews listing top 10 or top n air hammers for 2020...
and none of them listed or tested are Snap-on, Mac or Matco air hammers...
All these bs reviews seem to be focused on how much it costs, how much does it weigh, how does it look and not real world, real deal wtf can it actually do, a $40 3500 BPM air hammer is a door stop if it does not pack the wallop a $250 1800 BPM or $500 2500 BPM Air Hammer does...

Finding Country of origin is getting to be more & more of a PITA I don't want to spend my money on made in china or other foreign made crapola...
It seems like a 4-6" hammer bit from underneath the front of the steering arm near the forward most stud and split conical cone washer is a good spot to have at it with the right air hammer, my craftsman is not that air hammer...

If anyone's had luck with using an air hammer on a Factory K5 Steering Arm, let me know what make & model air hammer and bit or bits you used with success.

thanks in advance.
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If all you need is to remove the steering arm, no need to spend money on a new air hammer.
2 ways to do it based on how badly the cone washers are embedded.
Most times if you loosen the nuts and whack the arm from the sides back and forth the washers start to walk up, once they are a little out if they are still tight on the studs stick a flat blade screw driver in the slot and open it up and they will slide out.
If the cones never budge, it means they were imprinted with the thread and the only way they come out is unthreading them by putting the air hammer at the edge of the cone washer slit and hitting it to turn.
I have yet to fail to remove one.
 
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I use a bottle jack and jack up the truck with it using the steering arm as the lift point--not all the way off the ground,just get the weight of the truck on it..then a few belts with my 18 lb. sledge hammer pops them off ,hasn't failed me yet..
A few I had to use vise grips on the cones to wrestle them the rest of the way off..once you get them up a 1/4" or so sometimes you can pound a screwdriver in the slot ,then they open up and will come off better..
 
I did not use an air hammer. Heat and hammer. I don't think I even had my oxy/acet with me last time, used a plumbing torch. Beat it like it owes you money, don't hold back.
 
Losten the nuts.... leave them on! Drive it around your driveway a bit. I haven’t tried that method but I hear it works good.
 
max 02 said:
Losten the nuts.... leave them on! Drive it around your driveway a bit. I haven’t tried that method but I hear it works good.
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I drove mine for a week with the nuts loose to get it to move.
No luck.
One time I did one that popped with a couple of whacks but most weren't that easy
 
imiceman44 said:
I drove mine for a week with the nuts loose to get it to move.
No luck.
One time I did one that popped with a couple of whacks but most weren't that easy
Click to expand...

I’ve only done three. Two came off easy one I used heat and a BFH and had to replace the ball joint after from hitting the arm that hard.

I think Eric was one of the guys that said the driving with the nuts loose trick works. But as I said I haven’t tried it.

On Toyota’s the trick I used on cone washers was to smack them down with a socket or pipe, what ever fits over the stud, to get them loose. Lots of oil of course. Then like you said a screwdriver to split them.

Good luck! They can definitely be a bitch!
 
Is there enough thread sticking out to double nut the stud and take it out entirely?
 
Smack DOWN on the "c" portion. Took maybe 10 whacks on my '75 to pop the original one off.

It pivots against the last stud and lifts up on the front cone. Keep hitting and the front one comes out, followed by the middle and then the rear.

Hitting up will only force the arm into the cone more.
 
diesel4me said:
I use a bottle jack and jack up the truck with it using the steering arm as the lift point--not all the way off the ground,just get the weight of the truck on it..then a few belts with my 18 lb. sledge hammer pops them off ,hasn't failed me yet..
A few I had to use vise grips on the cones to wrestle them the rest of the way off..once you get them up a 1/4" or so sometimes you can pound a screwdriver in the slot ,then they open up and will come off better..
Click to expand...

When you had the bottle jack under the steering arm where exactly did you hammer with your sledge hammer on the steering arm and from the top or bottom?

thanks in advance.
 
I put the jack at the closer point on the "C" part of the arm to the studs,so it wont want to bend or break the arm --putting it further out gains leverage but also increases the chance of harming or ruining it..

If your not going to re-use the steering arm (replacing it with one for a lift kit ),then you can whale away without fear--if it breaks or bends,oh well..(mine took all the beating with an 18 lb sledge I could muster for several minutes before it finally started coming up--and only suffered a few hammer marks)--I figure if I could break it ,then I wouldn't really trust my life to it on the road--or off road..

I give it a few good whacks down first,then up from underneath,hitting downward makes it lift up on the furthest dowel cone ,upwards loosens the other two closest to the lift point..you'll have to use a 5 lb hammer to do the upward hammer strikes probably..alternate between up & down after it comes loose to make it push the cones up..
 
So the final solution for me given my current injuries I'm recovering from as I mentioned in my o/p...

Was lots of PB Blaster, a new bigger, badder snap-on air hammer, and 4" & 6" mayhew hammer bits, all made in usa from all usa materials & resources by americans.

For about 20 minutes a day for a week; Focusing the air hammer bits on the farthest point on c-arm or steering arm away from the 3 conical nightmares and from the top worked the best for me.

I did not seem to make any headway from the bottom again on point on steering arm farthest away from 3 conical nightmares.

The first cone to come loose was the one closest to the front of truck, followed by the next closest to front and lastly the one most rearward on the truck.

The first two came out timing wise pretty close to one another, but the most rearward hung on for quite a while.

This after breaking my snap-on stud extractor, after using the heat wrench to heat the stud up good.

My truck is a Nevada truck so there was no rust, what appeared to be making the removal of the 3 conical nightmares so difficult for me was the outside of the cones had created impressions into the steering arm itself; like hammer welded or some shiite.

The washers had no thread impressions in them from the studs and the cones are clearly made of harder material then the steering arm because there was no damage to them from digging into the steering arm.

Also there was no putting a screwdriver into the slot of the cones until after it's come lose and can be raised up at least 1/4-1/2" inch or so.

I only had to do the screwdriver on one of them because I boogered up the top of the conical nightmare trying to loosen it by using a chisel & punch to turn the cone counter clockwise. Based on my experience don't hit those conical nightmares at all with a chisel or punch or anything else or try drilling them it only makes them harder to remove.

Focus all your effort on hammering on the steering arm at the farthest point you can hit from the 3 conical nightmares with a hard hitting air hammer and hammer bit or sledge hammer... I had to use a air hammer and IMHO it's way easier to focus your hammering force then a sledge hammer.

Also, once the conical nightmares came lose I only used a pair of vise grips to pull them up & out.

With the exception of the one that I boogered up and I was able to lift it up a little with the vise grips and then lightly tap the screwdriver in the slot & spread it a little which allowed me to pull it the rest of way out.

20200712_120819.jpg

20200712_114228.jpg

PH3050BR.jpg

Mayhew_31987.jpg
 
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Bohemian said:
So the final solution for me given my current injuries I'm recovering from as I mentioned in my o/p...

Was lots of PB Blaster, a new bigger, badder snap-on air hammer, and 4" & 6" mayhew hammer bits, all made in usa from all usa materials & resources by americans.

For about 20 minutes a day for a week; Focusing the air hammer bits on the farthest point on c-arm or steering arm away from the 3 conical nightmares and from the top worked the best for me.

I did not seem to make any headway from the bottom again on point on steering arm farthest away from 3 conical nightmares.

The first cone to come loose was the one closest to the front of truck, followed by the next closest to front and lastly the one most rearward on the truck.

The first two came out timing wise pretty close to one another, but the most rearward hung on for quite a while.

This after breaking my snap-on stud extractor, after using the heat wrench to heat the stud up good.

My truck is a Nevada truck so there was no rust, what appeared to be making the removal of the 3 conical nightmares so difficult for me was the outside of the cones had created impressions into the steering arm itself; like hammer welded or some shiite.

The washers had no thread impressions in them from the studs and the cones are clearly made of harder material then the steering arm because there was no damage to them from digging into the steering arm.

Also there was no putting a screwdriver into the slot of the cones until after it's come lose and can be raised up at least 1/4-1/2" inch or so.

I only had to do the screwdriver on one of them because I boogered up the top of the conical nightmare trying to loosen it by using a chisel & punch to turn the cone counter clockwise. Based on my experience don't hit those conical nightmares at all with a chisel or punch or anything else or try drilling them it only makes them harder to remove.

Focus all your effort on hammering on the steering arm at the farthest point you can hit from the 3 conical nightmares with a hard hitting air hammer and hammer bit or sledge hammer... I had to use a air hammer and IMHO it's way easier to focus your hammering force then a sledge hammer.

Also, once the conical nightmares came lose I only used a pair of vise grips to pull them up & out.

With the exception of the one that I boogered up and I was able to lift it up a little with the vise grips and then lightly tap the screwdriver in the slot & spread it a little which allowed me to pull it the rest of way out.

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Click to expand...

and you could have just used some heat, sat back in a chair and watched it fall off.
 
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