steering box removal

[69rangerf100]

i trying to remove the steering box on my 69, but i am having troublr getting the steering arm bolt to come out does any body have any suggestions that might help. thanks

[kaptnkaos]

Hey 69rangerf100

I'm not exactly sure what your calling the steering arm.
The pitman arm is attached to the steering box.
It has a castle nut with a cotter pin in it where it attaches to the tie rod..
Remove the pin, if you have the pin out and the ball is spinning, you can take a crow bar and catch the tie rod and put pressure in that joint.. that should help.
You will need a ball joint separater (pickle fork) or a puller to get the pitman arm loose from the tie rod.
Remove the two bolts on the rag joint the are are 3 bolts that go thru the frame holding the box itself on.
loosen all three of the bolts, but only remove the two bottom ones until you're ready to drop it.
It's not light so brace yourself when you remove that last bolt to drop it.

Good luck,
KaptnKA S

[fordman]

yea i got one of those forks that is new. if you want it. i got it in a lot of tools i bought on ebay. i didnt need it i already had one. pm if interested in it.

[Wes]

Pickle fork will ruin the ball socket part, if you want to reuse. If replacing the ball socket part go for it.

[fordman]

how does it ruin the the ball socket?

[fordman]

i use a 12 inch cresent wrench to get those nuts off.

[69rangerf100]

thanks for all the help i appreciate it

[69rangerf100]

ok i still need some help with this i have tried all of the suggestions that ya'll have given me but i still cant get the steering box off. any other suggestions

[FORDification]

I'm assuming you're meaning you can't disconnect the steering linkage from the Pitman arm. If this is the case, you should invest a few bucks into getting the right tool. A tie-rod puller will have them off in a few seconds, and with no damage to any parts:





If you're trying to remove the Pitman arm from the steering box (but there's really no reason to do this), you'll need a much larger puller:

[69rangerf100]

i have a tie rod puller and it destroyed the threads so i stopped using it. is that normal

[FORDification]

Not if you're using it correctly, and the cup stays centered on the tie-rod end. Normally you crank it down and then give the bolt a tap with a ballpeen hammer, and the tie-rod end will pop right out.

The only way you're going to mess up the threads with the above-pictured tie-rod puller is if the lip on the cup is gone, allowing the cup to move off over the end of the tie-rod end. But even if this was the case, as long as it's kept centered on the tie-rod end, it should still work.

[fordman]

i have a tie rod puller and it destroyed the threads so i stopped using it. is that normal

actually that is normal for the ones i've used. they slip off and thrash the threads. and i was using it like your suppose to. i f*** hate those things. after the third time i stopped ever using it again.

[1970FordTK]

I've always turned the castle nut upsidedown and put it back several threads and then put the puller on. That way you don't slide off onto the threads, its worked for me in the past. Hope this info helps, like anything else you can take it to heart or with a grain of sand.

[69rangerf100]

thanks guys i appreciate the advice alot