Hi all,

I'm in the process of replacing pitman and idler arms on a 1994 K5 4WD Blazer, which is a job I haven't performed before. I have the steering box pulled out as discussed elsewhere here, and am trying to decide if it is going to be more painful overall to pull and replace the pitman arm myself or to pay a mechanic to do it!

I have a fairly powerful impact wrench but of course would need to buy a big socket to fit the pitman arm nut. In removing that nut, is it OK to just take an impact wrench to the thing or is it necessary to brace the arm somehow (harder since the steering box has to be removed from the vehicle to remove the arm) so that the removal torque is not transferred into the box?

What model of puller would you guys recommend?

What's required to press the new arm onto the steering box output shaft?

I have a torque wrench that goes out to 500 ft lbs. for replacing the nut, but holding the steering box securely to use it might be a trick and again I am concerned about the torque going into the steering box through the output shaft. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

alot of times that big nut isnt on there really tight. ive even taken them off with crescent wrenches in the past. but that arm is pressed the heck on there.

if you have a impact might be better off doing it yourself. even if you go and buy the socket and the puller its probably still paying 1/2 hour in labor.

so basically remove the nut then get a pitman arm puller. i just use a cheepo from autozone and have used it like 15 times. to reinstall first make sure you are putting it back on the exact same way you took it off. usually the gear box will have notches so you cant screw it up.

and to reinstall it just impact it back down with the nut

 

Thanks abig, it didn't sound so bad to pull the thing so I got a 33mm socket and a good Lisle puller (same as cheaper ones but I trust the steel a little more for a few more bucks). It was a piece of cake with a good impact gun (it wasn't going to happen with my cheap one, though!).

Before I put the new arm on though, I got to thinking: the steering box has 250k miles+, so am I stupid not to plunk down a little cash and trade it in on a rebuilt one now that I've gone through the motions to get it out? Or do these things and their seals last forever, so I shouldn't fix it if it ain't broke?

 

yeah thats kinda up to you. if theres no leaks and its not sloppy at all id leave it alone. i rarely ever see them go bad. even had a car at my old job go 610,000 miles and the gear box was fine.

also in the future you dont have to remove the gear box from the vehicle. if you just unbolt it from the frame and separate the pitman arm from the steering arm you can usually maneuver it around so you can get it at with a impact from underneath. i just did one on a 95 4x4 truck yesterday

 

Thanks for the tips, I'll give it a shot without undoing the lines next time now that I know what I'm doing. Sounds like I probably shouldn't be looking for problems where there aren't any, so I'll go get this box back in there.