I've been hacking around for 3 hours trying to get the column and steering box out of a 1973 Toyota Corolla and I'm stumped. I can't get the Pittman arm off the box and there isn't any readily apparent separation point between the column and the box. I expected a U-joint with a typical pinch bolt, but there doesn't seem to be one. Anyone here familiar with 45 year old Toyotas?
If I have to, I'll take a cutoff wheel to it, but I'd like to salvage as much as I possibly can to sell for recoup on my Challenge budget.
Go find a picture of a 65 Mustang, or 55 Chev, or anything from that vintage steering column. If there is no joint in the column, it probably looks like that.
And, you need a pitman arm puller.
Streetwiseguy said:
And, you need a pitman arm puller.
And a bfh. And sometimes you need to split the arm 90% of the way to the splines on the box with a cutoff wheel to remove it. Had to do one like that a couple days ago, all the bfh and tension on the puller wouldn’t break the hold the rust had on the splines, and I wasn’t going to chance ruining something on the box with heat
You need a Pitman arm puller, and the column is probably part of the box.
Mazda used the unified box/column at least up until 1985 with the RX-7, maybe later on pickups. Yes, it is a massive pain in the butt to R&R a steering box, because you have to strip the column entirely, then thread it through the firewall, which may entail such things as radiator or front crossmember removal, if not outright engine removal.
Just think: Before 1968 and mandatory collapsible steering columns, the steering wheel was directly connected to the steering box. Any front end collision hard enough to shift the box would spear the base of the steering wheel into the driver.
In reply to Knurled. :
I'm beginning to think it's a unified box and column. It's detached from the dash but still anchored to the frame rail and it's still pretty rigid. Doesn't seem to have any rag joint or universal in it.The car has no engine, so it will all come out through the firewall once I cut off the Pittman arm. I just figured I was missing some secret to separating the box and column.