Pitman Arm... Putter On-er

[Joopin]

I picked up a pitman arm puller the other day, but I never heard how to PUT ON the new dropped pitman arm. Is there another tool for that? This guy that I work with said he usually just uses spacers between the bolts and increasing the spacer #... but he said it isn't a good way to do it because it may break the bolt eventually and maybe wear the threads down. I do need to reuse that bolt so if anyone has any experience it would be Grrrrrrreat.

 

[avyoung]

On my CJ I just slid the pitman arm back on it goes almost all the way back then tightened the nut.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Yep.

Have you removed the old arm yet?

 

[Snitty]

when the old arm is off... spray about 70 bottles of pb blaster on it (if it didn't take that much to get it off).. and hit it with a wire wheel to make sure the splines are perfectly clean.. this will help a lot

 

[Tug-n-pull]

A Dead Blow Mallet is your friend. Hitting not soft and not to hard, but just right. hehehe Tug

 

[TwistedCU]

I had a heck of a time trying to remove mine, and ended up taking it to a body shop up the street. THEY broke 2 pullers in the process. They ended up calling the snap-on guy to deliver a third, beefier one.

 

[Joopin]

I didn't remove it yet, I will be next weekend though. What company makes this "beefier puller"? I got mine from Napa... I hope it's beefy enough. Oh and where can I get some of that PB Blaster? I have been keeping an eye out for it at my local auto parts store, but nothin yet. Thanks for the suggestions though, your input will help. I just hope I don't have to go buy the "Pittman Arm Puller Plen T Pac"!

 

[Tug-n-pull]

Autozone will lend you one to try 1st! hehehehe tug

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Walmart carries PB Blaster.

Tighten the puller and whack the side of the arm with a hammer, where it fits over the splines of the steering shaft. Tighten, whack, thighten, whack, repeat.

When you're really fed up with it, cut a few notches in the arm with an angle grinder, being careful not to cut into the steering shaft. This will relieve pressure and the arm can be easily popped off by tapping a chisel into the groove.

 

[jps4jeep]

YJ pitman arms are a bitch to get off, but they will come off! Like mentioned, tighten, wheck method got mine off! took about 15 minutes! I also used a breaker bar (cheater bar as some call it) with a four foot length of pipe to give me more leverage. The socket size I think is a 1 1/16~ but check cause I am not 100% sure. To put it on, I put a liberal amount of white litheum grease on the splines, put the new pitman arm on (only goes on 4 different ways, you'll know the right way) and used the nut to tighten it up to I think 150 ft/lb's May have been more though!