Re: Restoring Rusty
 

That's sad. What good is a reman no one can really use? Good luck, Gregski.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Always fun.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

decided to take the steering gear box off, but cant get the pitman arm off the knuckle, can I use a pickle fork on it?

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

That is just one of the many reasons I do NOT buy hard parts from O'Reilly's.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I personally don't use pickle forks they tend to do more damage than help.
I remove my Pittman arms with a good 2 or 3 lb sledge hammer. A couple of good strikes will release it once the nut is off. Like tie rods ends the Pittman arm to shaft is a taper fit.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

ok, well lets get us up to speed on the damage that The Greg has done today, since NAPA had the same crudy pump as Oh Reallys, (they said it's made by BBB Enterprises, that don't sound shady at all) I ordered one from CarQuest (pronounced expensive)

so as I waited for the new(er) pump to arrive I decided to stay busy

what to do, what to do?

I know off with the inner fender

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

those of you who have been with me and Rusty since day uno, know that The Greg likes his inner fenders not black but the color of the vehicle, so this one is going to get treated to a coat of green on it's back and some undercoating on it's belly, but first he'll need a bath, stay tuned

oh by the way, stripped/broken bolt count = 0

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

now where were we, oh yes, trying to remove the steering gear box, so since The Greg is a one clown circus he has to improvise so he used his boy scout knot tying skills and fabed this Russian crane hoist

you twist the smaller 2x4 on top and it lifts the part you are trying to lift, genius I tell you

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

with the steering box literally hanging in the balance I still could not get that darn pitman arm off, yes I tried using gentle persuasion aka my 3 lbs sledge, no go, tried PB Blaster, wedged and broke a large screw driver in there too

I felt as if it was me vs 40 years of stick-to-it-a-vness

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Wow, you got all those bolts out without breaking any? I'm impressed.

Now, I have something else for you to do. In the picture that shows the master cylinder well, I can see some wires that have blue butt-splices. Those things suck for long term connection quality, but they are quick to put on. I'd take advantage of the great access you have to those wires right now to fix those.

In my experience, with automotive wiring, there's no substitute for soldered connections with heat shrink tubing over the joint. They last forever. Nothing is more frustrating than unreliable wiring.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

so off to AZ, to pick up some "specialty" tools

got a fork and a pitman arm puller, the actual pitman arm proved to be useless, LOL

the fork on the other hand got her done!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

You are making it very difficult to procrastinate on those! LOL

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Wait a minute on the steering box. It's far easier to release the tapered joint at the other end of the pitman arm with a pickle fork. Unless, of course, you're looking to replace the pitman arm.

The way to get the pitman arm off is with a puller. You apply a fair bit of tension with the puller, and the tap the pitman arm from the side with a hammer. The puller alone won't do it, at least in my experience.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

ok, so let's see that hunk of junk out in the open

FYI the only thing heavier than this steering box on the truck so far be the Muncie gear box, hee hee

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

That's my job! ;)

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then I spent the next two hours transferring the dirt, grime, grease, and rust off of the steering box and onto myself

she aint perfect, but definitely more better...

I would clean her some more [big lie] but I have to go pick up the new(er) pump from CarQuest

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Says the man who hasn't faced the wroth of the stupid nut that you have to git off first!!! Man not only was it one size bigger than the largest wrench I own, but not even tapping the tool with a sledge could loosen it up... stubborn little fella!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

the 3 lb sledge method only works if the box is still mounted to the frame. I highly doubt the arm will give it up on the floor. Just an observation but it looks like the nut is still on and tight. the nut has to be off or damn near off. The fun begins trying to hold that heavy box up and start a bolt or two.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

what gets me is how this massive 3 ton steering box connects to the steering shaft, via a rubber disc the size of your grandmas coffee table coasters, exactly three of them stacked together???

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Yeah I hear ya. I hate those "rag" joints. Cut from old tire carcasses. LOL

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

True dat... I removed mine last Sunday.

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Hey man who's side are you on? LOL us rookies must stick together, don't let pros tell ya what to do! jk

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Steering dampener?

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Okay, I may have an unfair advantage there. I have impact sockets big enough for all these nuts, and the air impact wrench to drive them.

I did once get the pitman arm nut off with a pipe wrench with a length of pipe over the handle. I think the tighten torque is something like 160 ft-lbs, so you know it'll be tougher still to get it off.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I'm guessing you've seen this, but just in case you haven't Tx Firefighter did a great how-to on fixing a leaky steering box here: LINK.

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Ya, those rag joints cut down on vibration. And they aren't the "final word" because there are two steel pins in slots so that if the rag joint ever rotted out and was too weak, you wouldn't lose your steering.

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Just be glad you don't have to remove the actual steering arm. Those tapered cone washers are hell!

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I worried about how to get my new gear box lined up with the pitman arm and the steering wheel/column.

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Yeah I still hate the things. I have replaced way too many of them. So I just don't trust them. I plan to replace my intermediate shaft with u-joints as both ends. eventually.

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I agree that the rag joint seems pretty bush-league. With proper u joints in there, how much have you noticed the vibration goes up?

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I went to a double u joint shaft in my CJ7 (GM steering system). The pros out weigh the cons to me. The only con (for some) is you will get more "road feel". By going to u joint shaft you take out that insulator of a rag joint. but
I don't notice any vibrations just a very positive steering system where I can feel somewhat where the tires are and going through.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

so picked up my $40 dollar power steering pump for $80 bucks from Carquest, LOL maybe the extra $40 bucks is for the pink blanket it comes with, hee hee

for $80 bucks you think they could afford to put a picture of the actual contents on the box instead of some generic pump photo

I'm pretty sure this is no better than what I got from OReilly's but we'll see, I think some of these parts come from the same source, that's why the resellers rebrand them as their own, Autozone, O'Reillys, NAPA, Carquest, PepBoys

I would prefer to see the manufacturers logo on the box, but then we could compare apples to apples price wise, and the resellers don't want that

[end of rant]

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

so started wire wheelin the frame rail and a bit under the cab in preparation for POR15, not fun, ended up removing the front bumper, again for better access

tomorrow I should paint it black with POR15 to match the other side

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

by the way por 15 doesnt stick as well to bare metal compared to to rusted. from what ive seen, just a quick one over to remove loose rust will work best.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I'd agree with this. I've had por-15 peel off when used on shiny steel. That's when I started using the Metal Ready spray (has some new name now) first, and that cured the problem.

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That is because POR15 like a lot of other products are a "rust encapsulator". If you take your frame down to bare metal then use tremclad paint instead.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

My compliments on your progress as usual and your meticulous approach is a inspiration to all of us, and i wish i had the knowledge to help you with some of your problems but all i have is a tip for you.

I have a Portable Abrasive Blaster Kit it's old and from sears but has saved me a ton of time when cleaning up parts I've seen them at harbor freight for $40 the trick is to capture the media as you use it and just reuse it.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I think you are right, I am learning that too, needless to say I am a bit of a slow learner, lol, that and I have a hard time accepting that I am painting over rust, but I think I am getting over it as removing it is difficult

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

The Greg is a proud owner of Metal Ready (pronounce expensive made up of a tiny bit of Phosphoric acid diluted with a lot of water and a blue urinal biscuit thrown in for color, hee hee) but hey if that's what it takes, The Greg will git er done

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Thank you very much I appreciate that