Re: Crosstube bushing delemma

Herbeam (herbeam(at)cari.net)
Thu, 16 Jul 1992 09:16:16 -0700

Gosh Jarrid ! I wish I had known you were going to attempt to do that last night!! I have learned the easiest way to get that cross tube out is to loosen the nuts on the bottom of the pins slightly and then go out and drive the car hard ! the pins will dislodge from the steering arms and then you can just finish undoing the self locking nuts and gently lift the bar out. The next step is to find a socket or piece of pip a little bigger than the washer atop the pin......put the nut back on the pin and press the pin out in a vice or press. Cut out the old bushings and oil the new ones. Get a new bushing started in the cross tube and using various sockets and their back side too press the bushing into the cross tube. The last step is to find a 1/2 drive socket that will cover one end of the cross tube and press the pin back in using a vice and sockets.....

Oh by the way......Smitty has a special tool to break the pins loose from the steering arms if you cant muster up enough thrashing to break them loose driving! Cheers and poor a little beer on those wounds !!!! -----Original Message----- From: Jarrid Gross (Yorba Linda, CA) <GROSS(at)UNIT.COM> To: Alpine List <alpines(at)autox.team.net> Date: Wednesday, July 15, 1998 8:50 AM Subject: Crosstube bushing delemma

>I tried last night to pull by crosstube so I could replace the sloppy
>bushings in them.
>
>I tried everything to pull the tapered pins that attach to the pitman arm.
>
>I whacked it, heated it, banged it, smacked it.
>You name it it tried it.
>
>Ultimately I drilled through the rivet on the top of the pin to
>allow the washer to be removed, which allowed the crosstube to be
>removed even though the pin was still in the pitman arm.
>
>I then removed the ball joint on the other end of the pitman, and
>removed the whole pitman assembly.
>
>With the pitman out of the car, I backed the arm with a socket,
>and banged on the backside with a 5 lb lead mallette.
>
>Took 5 hard whacks before it came loose.
>
>
>OK, so now one side is out (steering box side is next).
>
>The pin is ruined on the side I pulled, so I am in need of one
>possibly two crosstube bushing pins.
>Anyone got any?
>
>
>Also, is there some magical technique I overlooked?
>I still need to do the other side, and I cant do it the same because
>the steering box would need to be removed.
>
>
>Help,
>
>Jarrid
>(hands scratched and bloody from a late night of close corners)