Quote:
Originally Posted by redz 1970 K5
NOTE- Be prepared to take the driver side knuckle out and take it to a shop for the removal/replacement of the steering arm. It's worth paying $30 for a shop to do this. This can be the very hardest part of the lift, and I am not kidding. Those little tapered cones will NOT come out without a fight, and the older the truck the harder the fight. If I had to pass on ONE piece of advice, that would be it. I spent a good 6 hours with the help of a neighbor torching, cutting and hammering with no luck. The machine shop couldn't even press it out!!! They had to cut it off and replace the studs!
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It's all in where you hit the arm. My 30 year old original steering arm came off in 20 minutes. soak the snot out of the studs up to a week before you start. Soak them every day. Then on lift day, remove the nuts, break out the BFH. Strike DOWN on the curved section where the numbers are cast in. doing so will shock the cones and start forcing them up. Once you can grab onto a cone with some pliers, turn them until the come off the stud. Repeat for the next two studs and the arm will pop off.
I'd at least try this technique before sending the whole knuckle out to a machine shop. It's much easier to do with the knuckle attached to the axle/truck.
Granted, done wrong, you better pack a lunch. I watched my nieghbor fight one on a 91 k5 for an entire weekend. Sounded like a blacksmith's shop from outside the garage with all that banging going on. (it was before I knew the trick or else I would have told them)