removing pitman arm

Quote from luis

im replacing the power sterring gear box on my 87yj this weekend. is there anything special i should know about removing the pitman arm? anything i should be careful not to break? is it under preassure?

Thanks DEJA
Luis

Leave the pitman arm on until the box comes off. The remove the nut and strike the pitman arm with a heavy hammer. It should pop right off. If not you can put on a pitman arm puller, get it under tension and hit it with the hammer again.

Harbor Freight sells a cheap $10 puller and will replace it if it breaks.

To get the drag link off the skinny end of pitman arm , pull the cotter pin, remove the crown nut , put the nut back on upside down, loosely so the end threads are protected, then hit it with a hammer. Should pop loose.

Autozone sells or rents a puller for $15. Keep it or return it and get your money back, its warrentied too. Like Steve said put the puller on and smack it with a hammer. The pitman arm nut can be a pain to remove itself. An impact will knock it off, think it is a 1 5/16 socket or close to it. Best to use an impact on the steering box bolts too as it probably has a lot of corrosion on them and you are less likely to snap them with a impact.

The steering shaft probably won't collapse anymore either so you will have to install/remove it at the same time you mount/remove the box.

Its pretty easy. Use a puller as it makes the job nice and easy. If your arm has never been of squirt the bolt with some wd the night before you start the job and it might help you out if the nut is seized at all. I just did mine a few months ago. I would recomend not using the harbor frieght puller though. It might work for a while but eventually it will break and although they may replace it for free that ussually means that you are half way through a job and your rig is out of commision at the time when you now need to go to the store and return it (thats exactly what happened to me). An auto shop will carry them for about 25-30 and you can see the strength difference in the metals. Im not sure about yj's but I know on the TJ you can upgrade to a durango box and it gives you a little more turning power and less turns.

Quote from Tonka

squirt the bolt with some wd the night before

You spelled PB Blast wrong.