pitman arm help

[samtye]

i have a 89 s15 jimmy 4x4 and need to change them pitman are and idler arm. is there a trick to getting them out? it doesnt look like theres enough room. or should i just let les schwab do it for $244? thanks

[flanders20]

easiest way is to remove the steering gear box and change the pitman then. sometimes you can losen it and get it in the right spot to change it too

[samtye]

i had lesschwab do it. with the pitman arm,idler arm and all tierod ends it was $657. ouch

[Morgan89]

Wow...im about to change my 4x4 pitman arm. $36 bucks from Autozone...greaseable.

[samtye]

yeah , you can buy them cheap but it looked like too much of a pain in the @$$. besides i have a account through them so i just added it on there. oh well .. good luck . let me know what you had to do for future reference.

[Deeze49686]

heres the trick. unbolt the idler arm and pitman arm from the center link.
seperate the idler arm stud and the pitman arm stud from the center link.
let the centerlink drop. unbolt and replace idler arm, but dont bolt it to the center link yet. now heres the fun part, you need a cut off tool, and a good chisel. cut the pitman arm the vertical way somewhere you can reach easily, and cut almost all the way thru it but dont hit the sector shaft. take the chisel and hammer the tip into the slot cut earlier, beat it in there hard. now hit on the side of the pitman arm a few times, and it should crack the rest of the way, now there is no torque on the nut, as the sector shaft has tapered splines, and should come off easily. put on new pitman, tighten nut to 150 ft lbs, and always use a new lock washer! and then put the center link on both studs, and tighten the nuts till you can install the cotter pins. then grease it.

this whole process takes about 20 minutes, and no steering box removal is needed to get to the pitman arm nut, or to allow the fit of a pitman arm puller.

[ElCaminoManT]

umm....i dont see how the above method works on a 4wd? there is all of 3/4 of an inch between the crossmember and the bottom of the sector shaft on my 98 jimmy, no way the pitman arm is getting out from under that. just trying to get the jam nut off had me stumped. i tried like crazy this evening with no result, im thinking ill have to pull the box out and do it on the bench. replaced all the other steering parts tho

[SickSpeedMonte]

on a 2 wheel drive, at least, the pitman arm is a non-wearing part. If its loose, its the centerlink that needs to be replaced, or the steering box.

[ElCaminoManT]

we had to completely remove the steering box to replace the pitman arm. what a job...