can someone tell me how to get the steering arm off of a dana 44? it is the one that is semicircle in shapoe and on the driverside of the axle. we removed the three nuts that hold it on and cant seem to get the arm itself off with the help of our 5 pound friend SLEDGE. we also tried using the gas hammer to loosen it up and nothing changed.

any help would be greatly appreciated

There's cone washers on each of the studs sticking up. You can use a hammer and chisel (or screwdriver) to get them started spinning off, then smack the arm with a BFG to pull it off the studs if needed.

Enjoy!

we tried doig that....we also knew that they were cone washers in it. however, we tried the screw driver idea as well as an air chisle but to no avail. my roommate just got the axle fropm a junk yard so there is no telling how old it is.

we must have beat the shat out of it for about 30 minutes.

any other suggestions?

PRAY!


Seriously, soak that puppy with some GOOD penetrating oil - might have to do it overnight and again tomorrow morning - and start working on it again. If you're not too worried about the steering arm, wail at it from the top and bottom. Sometimes this will start them moving. We just did one a couple months ago that we had to use a chisel at the area where the arm mounts to the top of the knuckle. Wore about 3 of us out trying to get that thing off!

You might try to get the chisel in between the arm and the knuckle. We had to work at mine for quite a while. I had soaked the $h!t out of it with penetrating oil, drove it around with the nuts loosened, BFH. If you can get the cone washers driven out that will help. It took me quite a while to get them out. Ended up using a combination of air chisel and beating on it. Good Luck.:beer:

i will go back out and soak it in some WD40 again. we also have used the air chisel on the spot where the nuckle and arm meet, but only for about 5 minutes or so. thanks for your help

Originally posted by AGGIECJ-7
i will go back out and soak it in some WD40 again. we also have used the air chisel on the spot where the nuckle and arm meet, but only for about 5 minutes or so. thanks for your help

Use PENETRATING OIL. You'll get much better results. WD-40 is not penetrating oil, it's a water displacement solution. I could start an Aggie joke here.............. :D :D :D

well lets hear it.....:flipoff2: :flipoff2:

I'm sure you already figured it out! LOL!

Hmm I must be doing it wrong, it took me 3 minutes 27 seconds to get the one off my 22 year old axle.
I have a set of cone pliers that I use to get the cones out.
A few good whacks to dislodge the cones and the pliers pluck them out.
I have seen the pliers at NAPA, they are the ones used to get the cones out of the ends of semi axle shafts.

You can maybe get a jack between the arm and housing. I have used jacks for all kinds a fun stuff. :)

Charlo

Torch it off. Find someone who is good at cutting and won't mess up the threads. I have tried everything under the sun to get them off without cutting. But I have found that cutting it is the most effective and least time consuming way to do it

Originally posted by Outlaw99TJ
then smack the arm with a BFG to pull it off the studs if needed.

Don't hit it with a tire. Your best bet is to use a hammer.
:D

A little heat and a lot of hitting. It can be a real pain to get them off, but just wail off on it and use a BIG HAMMER. Don't try a claw hammer or anything like that. USE A BIG HAMMER and tag team it with you buddies. Sometimes they will pop right off, soetime it takes a little while, just stay with it.

OK,,and the most important thing ,,, DO NOT BEND, FOLD, OR MUTILATE THE STUDS !!! If you do yur screwed and will have to get them pressed out and replaced,which means you will have to pull off the spindle and take it to someone to have them do it.
what you can do is to put several nut's on each stud leaving about 1/4 at the bottom for movement. once it does move then you can prolly take them off for it will be close to home then.

also,,try pounding stright down on it in the middle of it with yur hammer and a nice solid piece of pipe or steel between the stud's just hope you trust yur buddies and they trust you with their fingers :D: this might help to free it up,,also hit the arm up AND down,,not just one way,,you might be making it bind up .

I couldn't agree with everyone more,,go and soak that thing overnight with penetrating oil,,then tomorrow,,beat on it for about 1/2 hour,,if no movement,,then fire up the torch and get it red hot,,,then beat the hell outta it some more,,it took me 2 or 3 hour's to get my last one off by myself,,it's a real b*%$@ !!!

the problem with heating it is that there is the rubber boot for the ball joint right next to the arm. i am fairly sure that my roommate will not want to replace this stuff as this axle is just going to be used temporarily until he can find that 60 he wants. he hopes that he will find one before he wheels it. it is just in the prerolling chassi stage right now

you might not have a choice though if it does not budge,,ball joint's are $11 to $21 each top's if you do happen to burn the boot. but i think you could just replace the boot can you not ?
you could bend some thing tin around it as a heat shield if your really worried about it that much.just notch one side to slide past the bolt holding in the balljoint and between the fire and the boot, this should keep it from melting.

I have removed quite a few arms and I have never spent more than 20 minutes max getting one off.
I will say it again.... get a set of cone pliers. they cost about $10.
Dislodge the cones and pluck them out with the pliers, remove arm.
The reason I know that it took me 3 min 27 seconds on the last one is because I timed it.
BTW I won a case off beer on that bet, I was bet that I couldn't do it in less than 15 min. :beer:

haha. you call a 5lb hammer BIG? you must be kidding. I used a 15lb real sledge hammer and got the arm off in about 15 minutes. after 2-3 hits i noticed that the arm was already starting to come off. good luck and get a bigger hammer and please don't hit it like a little girl, smack it like a man.

beat the holy hell out of it

thread started in 2002....oops

thread started in 2002....oops

I was reading this thinking......how many times has this been covered?? :laughing: :laughing: