Removing the 'Pitman' arm - or not as it happens'.....

Hi all

Trying for ages now - dowsing with penetration oil, heating up the arm, tapping with a lump hammer and also using a puller to move it off my it's not budging
Pic from today's attempt:



All I am able to achieve is the bending of the puller arms or the thing slipping off.
What next - cut it off and try and get another (I take it no one makes new ones), but are they like hens teeth?

Thanks for looking and your suggestions.

 

This may seem obvious but when you've got the puller tightened up have you then tried a whack with a hammer on the central threaded part?

 

That's the way.
Tony

 

You’re being too gentle. As above, give it a good whack.

 

I have a haudraulic jobbie that's been used by many on here. It really needs LOTS OF PRESSURE, HUGE HEAT and if all else fails a MIGHTY THWACK.

 

You might find you can get the box off with the arm attached.

 

and it will be a lot easier on the bench..

 

You can as long as the nut is off...

But as no one else has mentioned it, if you were to manage to get the arm to pop off, you might also end up with a hefty head injury... Put the nut back on so it's got a full set of threads, but not tight onto the arm...

Also your puller probably isn't man enough... I've got a hydraulic set that'll pull around 10 ton

 

we got it off with the ball joint still attached...ask @top banana racing

 

I did hit it hard - many times - with nothing to show for it.
So - will see if I can get the bolts off and get the steering box out with the pitman arm attached then.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

 

I used a reasonable quality six inch three leg puller which stayed on driven by an 18 inch breaker bar two hands on the bar and feet on the front bumper..
.Your two leg puller is toy size in the picture by comparison.
But I heeded the nut advice so when it went bang the puller just fell on the floor with the arm behind the nut off the taper ..
You could feel the puller stretching as the torque went on the breaker bar..

 

If your removing the pitman arm I take it your planning on working on the steering box.
As the other guys say the box will come off with the pitman arm attached. I tried with the type of puller your using and had the same trouble. After shopping about I found this on eBay think it was around £9 and made for this job.
I got it in the vice and set this up after a few turns I applied some heat and left it a few mins the a few more turns an a bit more heat and it shot off.
Good look buddy

 

as above recommended by @Pablo2000 , took mine off van and did it on workmate with lots of Wd40.

 

@mikedjames - used a large 3 legged puller also before buying the one you see in the pics and that just kept slipping off

@Pablo2000 - yes, will try to get the steering box off with the pitman arm attached.
Once off I will try what you have all suggested.

 

The fix for three leg pullers that slip off is to do up the nuts tightly then wrap it tightly in rope.

 

Tried that that too, but the amount of effort required, it still pinged off.....

 

Yep tried all the same stuff and had all the same problems !!
I tried the big hammer and ball joint splitter still nothing. But the pitman arm puller did it first time.
An it's a solid little puller so sure it could be used for other little jobs on the bus.

I'd removed mine to replace leaking oil seals ! As it happens I'd damage the threads on the main shaft think it was the hammer or the ball joint fork so spent an age with a tread file sorting that little nightmare.

Think that's half the battle working on these old buses not having the right tool for the task in hand !!. So think it's best to get the right bits of kit. As I said I think the puller cost around £9 so you can pick these bits up without breaking the bank.