Dana 44 Front Steering Arm Removal?

[6 Door King]

Any have any tips on removing the driver's side steering arm that is bolted to the top of the knuckle on a Dana 44/Chevy 10 bolt? I have obviously removed the nuts, but the tapered collars will not budge, nor will the arm itself. I have already used the BFH with no positive results. I do not have a torch, but can borrow one if that's the only way. PLEASE help!

[navysnipe]

All I can say is if you dont have to remove it dont. I finally gave up and put the nuts back on. I did replace everything else in the front end but that really got my goat. I just didn't want to wreck it so I left it alone.

Navysnipe

[Walts_restoration]

Weld the nut to the stud, back it off. Buy the kit from offroad design. If you dont have to remove it, then dont.

http://offroaddesign.com/catalog/Dana44crossover.htm

look for it on this page, part # u9011

[6 Door King]

I do need to remove it, and believe me I have tried to figure out how to leave it in place. I have a 8 lug 44 in my new project, and the arm is on a 10 bolt front from another truck. I know the knuckles are interchangable but I do not want to tear the axle apart (do not have axle nut socket). I did not think about welding the nut into place. I know they will come off because the axle i bought has no arm at all, so maybe I should call the guy I got them from and ask how he did it. Thanks for the ideas.

[Big-Blue]

BFH!!!!

Seriously, I tried ball peen, heat and every kind of penetrating lube around.

Third thump with a 16lb sledge did the trick. I swung her hard too... Once it moved a tiny bit, I grabbed the ball peen and off it came.

I learned from an earlier post....those things are tough and I am not sure you can break them!

[CrewCab59]

Over the years I have tried almost every way and always say I'll never pull another one. I loosen the nut just above the stud and weld the nut and stud togther, let it cool and pull the stud out.It does break the stud off and always reweld a nut back on. The problem is the cone rusting to the stud and don't come loose very often.

Scott

[Walts_restoration]

16lb sledge shock gotta be bad on those ball joints.

[72longbed]

Question:
are those studs press fit into the axle housing or threaded and screwed in?

I'm thinking about removing my stock arm to put a 'lifted' arm on there for the 4" lift.

Thanks.

[Walts_restoration]

Originally Posted by 72longbed

Question:
are those studs press fit into the axle housing or threaded and screwed in?

I'm thinking about removing my stock arm to put a 'lifted' arm on there for the 4" lift.

Thanks.

They are screw in, Id say weld it and buy the stud kit from ORD. Only way Im ever gonna do it from now on. Remember, When you hit that hard on the arm that has to be hard on the joints.

[67_SS396]

It takes a few hits with a sledge, but it's not that hard. You're not going to hurt the arm or ball joints by hitting it. After a few good hard wacks, it should come right off. Don't give up on a steering arm, that's the easy part.
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[Zoomad75]

Soak the studs with liquid wrench for at least a day. Then loosen all nuts. With a good size BFH hit DOWN on the front part of the "c". It will cause the opposite side to come up, forcing the cone out. My original arm came off in 20 minutes without much fighting. It was on there for close to 30 years.
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[special-K]

It's easy. Just soak with PB Blaster every day for a week,then beat both ways on it for another week. I disconnect the tie rod so I can swing the knuckle out more to get a better swing. I have never hurt anything using a 3-6# hammer. Can't hurt any more than a loaded truck running through a pot hole.

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by 6 Door King

I do not want to tear the axle apart (do not have axle nut socket).

That is the first thing you need to purchase when you have a 4x4 truck. You need it anyway....
The best way to remove the steering arm is to get the rotor and caliper bracket out of the way. You need to hit the steering arm as near the tapered cones as you can. It "shocks" the connection and once one "pops" the others are far easier.

Welding the nut to the stud is ok for removing the studs, but not to get the arm loose. I have replaced more than one where the truck's owner broke one of the studs using this method.

[liftlawssuck]

I agree with above. I've seen a lot of broken studs. Try what he said along with heat. Can't stress that enough. You need heat and penetrating oil and hammer. Alternate between the three and it will come off. Not a big deal.

[6 Door King]

Well after dropping the tie rod out of the way I was able to get a good swing on the arm. It eventually yielded to my way of thinking. I was not at all worried about the studs or what else failed in the process of getting the arm, I just needed the arm! Managed to break one stud with the welded nut idea, and just muscled the arm off after removing the other two nuts. I really can not see how a joint could be damaged by hitting the steering arm, seems like they would already be damaged with the 100000 miles of hard knocks they've seen on the road with 35s beating them. Thanks for the ideas and help!

[Maxxd07]

Air hammers work well too, soaked with some kick-ass pentetrating lube that i get from the case-ih dealership. That stuff is so strong it takes off paint.

[72longbed]

Any opinions on just using a 'drop' drag link for a 4" lift instead of wrestling with the steering arm? I already have a drop pitman arm on there and the stock drag link looks to be about 1" out of level from front to back at rest.

Not getting the same turning radius on one side compared to the other, and the steering wheel is about 90 degrees off of straight across when driving straight ahead. Alignment is dead on and drives down the road straight with no pulling or wander.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by 72longbed

Not getting the same turning radius on one side compared to the other, and the steering wheel is about 90 degrees off of straight across when driving straight ahead. Any ideas?

Drop drag links are fine, it does effectively the same thing, getting the angular bind out of the ends.
Your turning radius is off for the same reason as the steering wheel being out of alignment....fixing one will fix the other.
Your drag link's length needs to be adjusted. Lengthen (or shorten) it to get the steering wheel back in line and the turning radius will come back too.

[Tekamah72GMC]

I know this is old, but Life Savers every single one of you. Been struggling with taking that arm off for days. Five good solid hits with a 5 LB hammer and a pair of Vice Grips. It is done!

I have not posted much just been trying to read up on everything.