I took a look up under the truck and noticed that there are some MONSTER sockets needed. Anyone have any idea which sized sockets are needed to do this? I would hate to get into this and realize I needed some specialty sockets that are not available at any of my local parts stores. Also any other specialty tools needed? I saw something about a pitman arm separator? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

what do you consider MONSTER ? your not working on a D9 dozer ! do you have a set of
sockets that goes up to 1 1/4 inch ?
there is a pitman arm puller that you should be able to rent or borrow from your auto parts store !

 

I don't think I go much over 1" on my 1/2" drive socket set. I forget which size it was, but I held up the largest and it was quite a bit too small. All the local parts stores are special order only for anything over 1" I guess I need to get batteries for my digital calipers and try to measure them all.

 

Hold on thar Baba Looey, you do not need a pittman arm puller to do a power steering box swap, although a pickle fork attachment for your air hammer might be useful.

Both P/S and manual arms are machined with the same taper at the connection to the drag link. The socket needed (maybe 3/4"?) is much smaller than the big nut on the bottom of the gearbox that holds the pittman arm on, if that is what you are looking at.

If, however the P/S box has NO pittman arm, then you will need to find one. In the case of a Ford box, it will be marked 'power steering', not sure if Bendix so marked..

 

go to HOME DEPOT , LOWES , OR SEARS ( i personally dont like sears any more ) to get the larger sockets if needed ! OLD HARLEY is wright about the pit man arm as they usally will stay with the box when you pull it off !!

 

I, personally, couldn't separate the pitman arm from the drag link with a pickle fork. I beat on that thing for two days and couldn't get it. I ended up renting a professional pitman arm puller from Auto Zone and it came off in seconds. Of course, the pickle fork was from Harbor Freight and I couldn't get a very big swing on the BFH because of limited room underneath there. I don't have an air hammer, but I think I'm going to be needing one.

If you're needing tools for one-time or very occasional use, get the cheapies at HF or AZ.

 

I was talking to the guy I bought the parts from and he was telling me that there was a year that used a metal steering column bearing or bushing rather than the standard plastic. Does anyone know anything about this or which year this might be found on? Is it compatible with other years?

 

I had a metal one at the top and a plastic (nylon) one at the bottom. Both looked fine and cleaned up to look as new. Left the nylon one at the bottom since it looked like it would get less stress since it was near the P/S box.

I am not sure the metal one was really better, though.

 

Gotcha. Well, got the rag joint on the way, both lines, gear box, pump, bracket, steering column and pullies. Should be well on my way to having everything I need for this swap.