LB7: Took the duramax to get safetied/inspected

[ACiFiC]

Ended up with a nice list... Haha but these are the ones I'm most worried and looking for advice and opinions on whether I could do it my self or if it would do me good to have a tech do it or good places to get the parts cheap.

Anyways here they are.

-Pitman arm
-idler arm & mount
-Right rear caliper bleeder leaking
-steering box needs to be replaced

What do you guys think?

 

[whitetrash21]

Ended up with a nice list... Haha but these are the ones I'm most worried and looking for advice and opinions on whether I could do it my self or if it would do me good to have a tech do it or good places to get the parts cheap.

Anyways here they are.

-Pitman arm
-idler arm & mount
these 2 will take you about 2 hours to replace, i'd do it yourself
-Right rear caliper bleeder leaking
tighten it
-steering box needs to be replaced
another easy job. do it while you're doing the pitman/idler....save on teardown time

What do you guys think?

red

 

[ACiFiC]

Should I rent any special tools? I have a tonne between me and my dad and such any you recommend?

 

[whitetrash21]

2 or 3 jaw puller, steering arm fork, pivot handle ratchet in 1/2"....other than that, it's basic hand tools. Pitman arm can be a bitch to get off sometimes, but nothing a little heat and some elbow grease can't fix

 

[TeaBagger2006]

Get a pitman arm puller($15) take the lower 2 bolts out and leave the top one in, loosen it then rotate the teering box to where you can acces the puller then tighten that top bolt and have fun breaking it loose

 

[duratothemax]

A trick to get the pitman arm off easily is just to cut a slot in it with a die grinder. Dont cut so far that you dig into the splines on the sector shaft though. Once you've cut almost all the way through the pitman arm, take a cold chisel and give it a couple whacks, and the pitman arm will fall right off. No puller needed, and you dont have to take the steering box off the frame.

Personally I would not advise heating up the pitman arm to get it off. You'll most likely burn up/melt the sector shaft seal, and then you'll have a leaking steering box. JMO on that though.

ben

 

[ACiFiC]

A trick to get the pitman arm off easily is just to cut a slot in it with a die grinder. Dont cut so far that you dig into the splines on the sector shaft though. Once you've cut almost all the way through the pitman arm, take a cold chisel and give it a couple whacks, and the pitman arm will fall right off. No puller needed, and you dont have to take the steering box off the frame.

Personally I would not advise heating up the pitman arm to get it off. You'll most likely burn up/melt the sector shaft seal, and then you'll have a leaking steering box. JMO on that though.

ben

Good advice, I might try that

My steering box is already leaking and there is play.. just going to replace it haha, I guess I need a sector shaft seal?

Any other things I should tackle while in there??

 

[whitetrash21]

A trick to get the pitman arm off easily is just to cut a slot in it with a die grinder. Dont cut so far that you dig into the splines on the sector shaft though. Once you've cut almost all the way through the pitman arm, take a cold chisel and give it a couple whacks, and the pitman arm will fall right off. No puller needed, and you dont have to take the steering box off the frame.

Personally I would not advise heating up the pitman arm to get it off. You'll most likely burn up/melt the sector shaft seal, and then you'll have a leaking steering box. JMO on that though.

ben

Not bad... i'll have to remember that next time. I was afraid of bending the shaft on mine when I took it off, I had to pry that hard on it.

 

[DAVe3283]

If you are replacing the steering box and pitman arm at once, don't even bother trying to take the pitman arm off the box. Just pull them as a unit.

The only real special tools needed are the pullers already mentioned. The rest is common metric hand tools.

 

[rms2012]

^^^These guys have it nailed - one more thing:

Use a flare or box end wrench on your bleeder if you can and go slow (back & forth). They are easy to break off, especially if you've got a little rust from the salted roads.

 

[ACiFiC]

^^^These guys have it nailed - one more thing:

Use a flare or box end wrench on your bleeder if you can and go slow (back & forth). They are easy to break off, especially if you've got a little rust from the salted roads.

Yeah I've snapped a couple bleeders before haha,

Would you guys trust rock auto for this stuff? Or local parts stores?

 

[Chevy1925]

If you are replacing the steering box and pitman arm at once, don't even bother trying to take the pitman arm off the box. Just pull them as a unit.

The only real special tools needed are the pullers already mentioned. The rest is common metric hand tools.

He will most likely have to take the steering box back for a core and last time i tried to do that with NAPA, they wouldnt take it lol

Yeah I've snapped a couple bleeders before haha,

Would you guys trust rock auto for this stuff? Or local parts stores?

IMOP, buy a GM pitman arm. Ive heard and seen many guys breaking the moog pitman arms. At some point in the last two years they started making the stud out of some kind of crappy steel and they ball is snapping off. the GM ones are the only ones ive heard no failures of other than the typical back and forth movement from them being wore out. I have a moog pitman arm on my truck from 4 years ago that is finally wore out and i have a lifetime warrenty on it but i wont replace it with a new one. id much rather pay the money for a new one from GM for a good peice of mind

 

[ACiFiC]

He will most likely have to take the steering box back for a core and last time i tried to do that with NAPA, they wouldnt take it lol



IMOP, buy a GM pitman arm. Ive heard and seen many guys breaking the moog pitman arms. At some point in the last two years they started making the stud out of some kind of crappy steel and they ball is snapping off. the GM ones are the only ones ive heard no failures of other than the typical back and forth movement from them being wore out. I have a moog pitman arm on my truck from 4 years ago that is finally wore out and i have a lifetime warrenty on it but i wont replace it with a new one. id much rather pay the money for a new one from GM for a good peice of mind

Ill compared prices, what about idler arm and steering box? Big tires are hard all these components would naps give warranty on that box?

 

[Chevy1925]

idler, jsut get yoruself the moog problem solver ones (Moog makes two lines, the cheaper of the two are not the problem solver series and wear out FAST!). I just bought a reman from NAPA for the steering box. you cant buy a new one, they are all remans and they all have slop right out of the gate....

 

[malibu795]

decent 1/2" impact on the pitnam arm puller and its really easy to get off

 

[duratothemax]

I just bought a reman from NAPA for the steering box. you cant buy a new one, they are all remans and they all have slop right out of the gate....

x2. I would take a low-mile factory original steering box from the junkyard over a "remanufactured" steering box any day. Reman steering boxes are lucky to last half as long as a factory original box. And that figure is being generous. They are all pieces of crap in my opinion.

My buddy bought the Red Head "upgraded/remanned" steering box and it was trashed after 15k miles. Before that he had a Napa/advance auto/whatever remanned box, that didnt last long either.

His factory original one went to something like 300k miles, and when we pulled the factory original one off, it still didnt even have as much play as the junk reman ones we've put on his truck.

Ill tell you right now Im keeping the factory original steering box (im at 200k now) as long as I can. And when it does wear out, im going to get a low mile used factory original steering box.

Im not an engineer or an expert on steering boxes, but honestly, these Saginaw recirculating-ball GM HD steering boxes have been around for decades, why the hell cant anyone figure out how to rebuild them so they last like the factory-new boxes????

Ben

 

[ACiFiC]

Got MOOG problem solver pitman and idler & bracket. Got a new GM steering box coming, managed to pull a good string.

 

[Chevy1925]

x2. I would take a low-mile factory original steering box from the junkyard over a "remanufactured" steering box any day. Reman steering boxes are lucky to last half as long as a factory original box. And that figure is being generous. They are all pieces of crap in my opinion.

My buddy bought the Red Head "upgraded/remanned" steering box and it was trashed after 15k miles. Before that he had a Napa/advance auto/whatever remanned box, that didnt last long either.

His factory original one went to something like 300k miles, and when we pulled the factory original one off, it still didnt even have as much play as the junk reman ones we've put on his truck.

Ill tell you right now Im keeping the factory original steering box (im at 200k now) as long as I can. And when it does wear out, im going to get a low mile used factory original steering box.

Im not an engineer or an expert on steering boxes, but honestly, these Saginaw recirculating-ball GM HD steering boxes have been around for decades, why the hell cant anyone figure out how to rebuild them so they last like the factory-new boxes????

Ben

Only guys i know that cant rebuild them right are PSC but ive been hearing of junk comin from them now too so its anyones guess.

Got MOOG problem solver pitman and idler & bracket. Got a new GM steering box coming, managed to pull a good string.

i really hope that pitman arm stays together for you......

 

[ACiFiC]

i really hope that pitman arm stays together for you......

If you have had yours for 4 years I think I should be alright. I treat my things pretty nicely haha. Don't scare me!!

 

[duratothemax]

Got MOOG problem solver pitman and idler & bracket. Got a new GM steering box coming, managed to pull a good string.

wow so you actually got a new-new factory/OEM steering box???