Pitman Arm and Idler Arm

[winsett]

Hi all.

Having trouble removing a pitman arm on a 95 k1500 chevy pickup. After removing all of the required steering linkage (and the overtightened nut holding the pitman arm to the steering gear) we were unable to get any pitman arm puller between the frame and the unit itself-there is simpy just not enough space!
I was hopeing somewone else ran into this problem and would have a solution/special tool reccommendation that we could try before we just simply remove the whole steering box itself to get at the pitman arm.

Also, after removing the Idler arm and its mounting bracket, when we went to put the new Idler arm on, the cone-like shaft that the idler fits onto is not stationary and moves WITH the nut as we attempted to tighten it. Is this normal? If it is, how does one tighten the nut back on?

Hopefully someone out there has run into these same problems as the vehicle is out of commission until we figure it out.
I look forward to hearing from you all.

P.S. this is a buddys truck I am helping him work on right now....mine is a 94 Full Size Blazer but i will be attempting the same project as soon as his is out and by the looks of things and part #s we have the same setup.

[maxwedge]

A large fork tool may get the pitman arm off, but a puller is the right way, loosening the gear box for access may help also. Get a "large" pair of channel locks and squeeze the idler arm stud into the center link as you tighten the nut.

[2000CAYukon]

When I did the pitman arm on my 90 K1500, I unbolted the gear box and rotated it 90 degrees. I was then able to get a pitman arm puller on it.

It helps to have a 2nd person that can hold on to it so that it does not pull on the power steering lines.

//2000CAYukon

[winsett]

Originally Posted by 2000CAYukon

When I did the pitman arm on my 90 K1500, I unbolted the gear box and rotated it 90 degrees. I was then able to get a pitman arm puller on it.

It helps to have a 2nd person that can hold on to it so that it does not pull on the power steering lines.

//2000CAYukon

THANKS GUYS....WE'RE GOING TO ATTEMPT THE STEERING GEAR MANIPULATION METHOD TONIGHT...i GUESS IF IT COMES DOWN TO IT WE'LL PULL THE WHOLE GEAR HOUSING AND TAKE THE PITMAN OFF ON A BENCH CLOSER TO THE BEER COOLER. I'LL LET YOU KNOW HOW IT WENT TOMORROW.

[2000CAYukon]

Originally Posted by winsett

THANKS GUYS....WE'RE GOING TO ATTEMPT THE STEERING GEAR MANIPULATION METHOD TONIGHT...i GUESS IF IT COMES DOWN TO IT WE'LL PULL THE WHOLE GEAR HOUSING AND TAKE THE PITMAN OFF ON A BENCH CLOSER TO THE BEER COOLER. I'LL LET YOU KNOW HOW IT WENT TOMORROW.

Note that if you do remove the gearbox from the truck, you should bleed the system properly before driving. I have the factory manuals at home and will take a look but I think you need to jack up the front end and turn the wheel from lock to lock (slowly) until there are no air bubbles in the system.

//2000CAYukon

[winsett]

Thanks for the immediate tips and help in here guys..

My friends 1/2 tonne stepside is back on the road with a tight steering system.

We ended up pulling the entire steering gear box off of the truck in order to apply the pitman arm puller because there was not enough space between the arm and the frame. Glad we did too because it took some serious torque, even with the puller and the gearbox in a benchvise to remove the pitman arm as well as install the next one.
Everything went back together as planned smoothly and several lessons were learned:

1. GMC and Chevy use all metric sized nuts/bolts BUT you will find that the *^%#* bastards threw a few imperial sized ones on as well (at least it seemed that way).

2. Nut sizes in particular include the rare 33mm that is an odd sized wrench in order to pull the retaining nut from the pitman arm shaft.

3. Both the pitman arm and the Idler arm are easier to remove/install if one just takes the minor extra time and effort to remove the Steering gear and Pitman arm pivoting bracket.

4. Not all pitman arm pullers are properly sized (grasping gap) for all pitman arms. We had to do some grinding on our $50 puller to get it to fit on the shaft without damaging the spines.

After all was said and done, these were the costs:

$35 Pitman Arm
$42 Idler Arm
$50 Pitman Arm Puller
$ 9 Steering Fluid
$25 15 pack Beer
$161 + 3 Educating Evenings in a warm shop with a good buddy.

Thanks for all your help and good luck with yours in the future and remember....just keep unbolting in order to make it easy!