need help with pitman and idler arm!
 

Are there any tips to removing these??? I've only attempted the pitman arm so far. But I'm picking up a new idler arm tonight(it was out of stock last week). I started out using a pickle fork but, after removing a large chunk from one of my fingers, I decided to use a puller. Tried using a 3" 2-arm gear puller and the threaded "pusher" just bent out of shape. I'm thinking about trying again but buying a 3-arm puller. Does anybody have any tips? I've used penetrating oil, tried heating it up with a propane torch, bashed on it with a 15lb maul..... I'm getting a little pissed. Hopefully I won't kill myself tonight when I make another attempt. I was thinking about cutting out some chunks of metal where the pitman arm is connected to the steering box, then heating it up again, figuring that less metal and more heat might pull it off, but I don't want to screw anything up. PLEASE HELP!

a pickle fork was all i needed for my 92. is your arm bent? if not, you can just replace the bushings inside and it should be good as new. Have you done the visual test where someone turns the steering wheel left and right while you watch the arm. if it moves up and/or down, it's shot and needs to be rebuilt/replaced.

See my post above--and read this--

Idler arm Maintenance

Yes it needs to be replaced. I have way too much play in my steering. I can turn the steering wheel quite a ways before the tires turn. I ended up renting a puller kit that Schucks. But the dang pitman arm puller BENT!!! I think it was already stressed because one of the other tools was missing the head on a clevis pin(sheared off). I got the idler arm off easy enough, but I'm still haveing bad luck with the pitman arm. I'm just going to start cutting. I'm going to cut metal off the part the wraps around the steering box teeth. I'll cut it down as close to the teeth as I can then I'll heat it up with the propane and attempt to knock it off. It's ALMOST fixed!!!

On another note, when I went back to NWOR to pickup my idler arm I had to take back the steering stabilizer I had bought last week. It has "eyes" on both ends(stock style), and my Rancho setup needs pins on both sides(Rancho kit replaces the steering linkage, so everything bolts up differently). Anyway, while I was removing my stabilizer so they could measure it and find a good match, they decided to look up the setup in their book to see what they could find, they ended up having a Rancho Stabilizer in the back and gave me a direct exchange. Saved me $7 over buying a Rancho Stabilizer from one of the cheaper stores! Everybody has horror stories with NWOR, but everytime I go there, they always work hard to help me get everything right.