Steering Box Replacement

[K5Fan]

I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to this one, but I have to replace the steering box in my 70 Blazer. I have looked at past threads, but I couldn't find one that talked about removing the gear box on a 4X4 with the front leaf springs. I have a pitman arm puller, but the leaf springs won't let the puller line up between the leaf springs and the pitman arm. I'm thinking that I have to take off the gear box with the pitman arm on it from the drag link and take off the pitman arm on the bench? Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for a great source of info!!

Chris.

[franken]

I pulled the pitman arm on my 72 PS K10 w/o much trouble so not sure why you're having a problem. I replaced the hoses, pump and box to make sure there was no bad stuff in the system.
Maybe drop or loosen the box to let the puller get in there?

[badpeanut]

I've changed the steering gearboxes in both my '71 K5 and '72 K10, and pulled one from a mid-'70s K5 in the junkyard all without a puller. Just unbolt and tap on the pitman arm with a hammer, alternating sides, until it comes off. Then remove the steering box.

[K5Fan]

Thanks for the replies! I ended up doing what Badpeanut did. The Pitman Arm shaft was directly above the front leaf springs and there wasn't enough space between the leaf springs and the Pitman Arm shaft to put in the puller, with the truck jacked up by the frame and not the axle. I used my pickle fork to get it to separate the arm from the shaft.

Note: My pickle fork wasn't wide enough to go around the shaft, (and I couldn't find one wide enough from any of the auto parts stores) so I just used one side of the fork, alternating sides to get it loose. I still had to beat on it with a hammer to get it off after I got it to the limits of the width of the fork.

Now I have to start a new thread about the Rag Joint. Thanks again!!

Chris.