steering arm removal (4x4)

[benoit454]

Ok I'm almost lost and tried alot of things to remove the factory steering arm on my 86 k10. 'm trying to take it off to replace it with the raised arm in the lift kit i bought. I removed the 3 nuts and the drag link or big tie rod off of it, and tried beating and prying on it with no luck.

Any ideas?

I know they have thoose wedges in them or something but do they need to come out if so how? Or can they just stay in place and when the arm comes off the knuckle they'll come out easier?

[Southedisto]

Soak the wedges/studs in PB blaster and use a BFH! The cones will "pop" up when they are loose. The key is the BFH!

[scotto0609]

Lots of pbblaster,kroil,whatever u got. Then evenly heat just the steering arm not the studs. Then with the aforementioned hammer smack it on the side of the steering arm( right about where it bolts on)! This has always worked for me. good luck.

[benoit454]

Well the bad thing is I don't ave a torch I only have a little propane plumbing torch and that's it. I don't even know anyone who has one to borrow and I can't drive the truck anywhere right now.

I got some wd-40 I bought before I got started on this lift kit.


Do I need to hit downward on it to pop them up or hit backwards on it towards the cab? By where it bolts you mean right in front of the studs or where the drag link/tie rod bolts?

[benoit454]

I wonder if it would work if I rolled the front end out from under the truck and beat on the arm after soaking it overnight in wd40 and then soaking it again before starting, and slam it with a sledge hammer.?

[Southedisto]

Hit it anywhere downward, laterally, or longitudinally. Just DO NOT HIT THE STUDS!! I would use PB or some type of penetrating oil, not wd.

[benoit454]

I thought wd-40 was penetrating oil?

Yea tell me about it my old man already smacked one stud. So we gotta try and fix it, file the top or chase the threads to make it right. I put the 2 nuts back on in front of and behind it, and had trouble getting the middle nut on, which had a splinter of metal sticking up, so I left it off and sure enough he hit the center one.

[Southedisto]

Its not like PB blaster, or the kroil stuff. It takes a lot of beating sometimes. Dont forget to soak the mating surface with the juice also.

[see ten]

You are on the right track by hitting downward! Place a socket that is larger than the cone washer against the arm, a couple well placed hits should pop em right out.

[cochino12]

If you look close there are some numbers stamped on the arm. Soak it with PB and get a good size sledge and pound it on those numbers, never seen one not come off if you hit it there.

save your self some bump steer though, and order a drop pitman arm from skyjacker though. Forget the steering arm

[trkklr77]

a drop pitman is just as good as a arm if you wind up with a flat drag link. and a drop pit can get mashed on stuff.



hit the arm every way. try and get a skrewdriver, chisle, anything flat that you can hit it to the split on the cone washers/wedges and try turning them, they will ride the threads and unscrew themselves.

or do what i did and get your winch cable wrapped around it and under you tire while moving and it will tear it clean off, the studs too!!

[benoit454]

LOL I actually took a chisel to the wedges and found their splits and started trying that exact thing, knocking them around to get them out.

[89BLAZ]

i just changed the arm on my '86 last week. the little plumbing torch was what i used along with pb blaster and a big hammer. an hour later it was off.

[benoit454]

I got mine off in just a few minutes today. I soaked the studs and matting surface in wd last night, again this morning and once more before starting. Then I hit it with my 10 lb. sledge. It was off in about 10 whacks, just couldn't get a real big swing on it.


Thanks for all the help guys. I had an idea of how to remove it but wasn't sure. I bet heat would help alot.

[ben@speedbarn]

I used vice grips to unscrew the conical washers.

[bigarmzz]

best way is to use a small chisel to peck the "dowels" around (loosen them up), then use a gear puller and an impact....about 10 minutes everytime