HeepaJeep

I recently purchased a 2000 Cherokee Sport with 115,000 miles on it. I live in Michigan with salty roads and rusty vehicles.

The jeep wanders down the road. Tried tightening up the box and that helped a bit, but was leaking pretty badly.

My son and I are having troubles getting the 33mm nut off the pitman arm. We are also struggling with the three bolts that hold the steering box on the frame. We have tried heat, impact wrench, cheater bars on sockets and wrenches and have not been rewarded with even a budge.

My thoughts - leave the pitman arm, 33mm nut and lock washer on the box and replace the whole mess.

Questions
1. Can I grind the heads off of the bolts that hold the steering box on the frame and remove the box that way? Are there any treads in the bracket between the steering box and frame or any nuts inside the frame that makes that a bad idea?

2. If I order a new pitman arm and replacement nut and lock washer that will hold the pitman arm?

3. Can I simply replace the three bolts, if I can cut them off, with grade 8 bolts and plastic lock nuts.

93XJeeper

that jeep actually looks pretty clean for a northern vehicle. Did u try using a breaker bar on the bolts, one easy way to do it is to spend $25 on a propane torch at lowes. Heat up the pitman arm nut and I bet it will pop right off. For the steering box heat up, not the bolt, but the housing around where the bolt screws into the steering box. If that doesn't work, then go ahead and cut the heads off the bolts and replace the bolts with new grade 8 along with your new steering box. And btw, you may want to Jack the vehicle up to where the wheels are off the ground. Then grab the steering linkage and make sure your play isn't in that before you drop the cash on a new box. You can also check for play in the box while doing this, turn the steering wheel back and forth and if the steering column shaft turns before the pitman arm does, then you know for sure that you have play in the box. Oh, and check the miniature ujoints for play in the steering shaft as well.

HeepaJeep

Jeeper,

Thanks for the tips. We cleaned it up a bit where we were working. It is fairly clean though and I think it has promise to be a solid vehicle again.

We did use a propane torch and cheater and breaker bars on the bolts and pitman arm nut. They must have been horsed down. I heated up the heads of the bolts for the gear box. I will try heating the housing instead of the fastners tomorrow. That may do the trick. I already have the gear box due to the leaking and slop. We had a shop give us some advice on what to purchase but good advice from you and will check further upstream/toward the steering wheel on the mini u-joint steering links too. I believe that is what you were referring to, correct?

Thanks again and I appreciate your time in responding.

93XJeeper

the trick is that heat makes metal expand,if you heat around where it threads into the box, it will expand the holes that the bolts are threaded into, therefore, breaking them loose and allowing the bolt to come free.

Gatchmo5710

Yes saw the bolt heads off. Careful not to hit frame. Leave pitman on old Box. Buy all fresh components and even upgrade the steering box brace while your at it. Simple search on that. will yield great info.
Use a washer, lock washer, and the highest grade bolt you can afford. Torque to spec. Re torque after a few miles.

HeepaJeep

Thanks Jeeper - I get the concept of heat, but I had the engineering wrong. I thought there were threaded bits in the frame channel. I am going to give heating around the box where it threads a go after the rain/hail stops.

Gatchmo, It may come down to grinding the bolt heads off, but will be careful to avoid the frame if it comes to that type of mess. Do you have a good source for the upgraded box brace, pitman arm, nut and lock washer? The pitman arms I find on-line go between $25-$75. The nut and washer are unusual sizes and I have not found them yet with limited searching.

I did check my local salvage yard and, shocker, all steering boxes are gone from jeeps and Dodge Dakotas so I won't find parts there until new stock arrives in their yards.

Thanks! I will keep you posted on the progress. My boy just got a job framing up homes so I will be going alone again on the project.

Jeepin'_Aint_EZ

I would recommend buying a new steering box spacer too. Throw that stock cast one right in the trash and get a nice steel replacement. Multiple suppliers make them.

MWMahoneyJr

New steering box brace:
http://www.jcroffroad.com/product/XJSTSPC.html

Or, if you plan on upgrading the bumpers at some point, there is a whole front-end brace kit available, which includes the steering bracket:
http://www.jcroffroad.com/product/XJUNF-PC.html

(I have no affiliation with JCR. The OP was looking for specific recommendations, so I provided a few.)

DFlintstone

My ($40) box had a Pittman arm on it when I brought it home from the JY.

Was wondering, if a Hole-Hog angle drill would fit up in there you could drill off the bolt heads. (even that recessed top one.) tough and tricky, but well...anyway I think they rent them.

OH! And with a six point socket and a breaker, or cheater bar, you might just luck out and just break them right off!!

HeepaJeep

Jeepin', I may do just that. No point in putting junk back in if I am this deep.

MW, Thanks for the direction. I have done work on my old boat, outboard and Ford Ranger, but the Jeep is a new project for me. It helps to have people like you point me in the right direction. I am looking at different bumpers. My kids drive in to things and those stock jobs are pretty flimsy. Back bumper is rusted out on the bottom.

DFlintstone, It would have been nice if I could find a donor vehicle with a steering box still attached. I may end up using the grinder on the heads if they don't come out.

HeepaJeep

So here is my progress today.

Soaked the pitman 33mm nut with PB, gave it a couple of whacks and used my new 33mm socket and a 6 foot pipe and it popped right off.



Here is my wife and helper. She was cheering me on and checking out my progress.

Also got the castle nut off the drop end of the pitman arm. Soaked it in PB, bought a 19mm socket and that stinker came right off too. However, the cotter pin fell apart as I was taking it out so I had to grind down a punch to push it through.

DFlintstone

I did get a little lucky, my little yard had just gotten it. Truth also, I paid $10 extra to have "Mike" pull it. My right wrist is boogered. Anyway my top bolt is ressed in the frame, not sure how I would grind the head off. Hopefully with a good 1/2" breaker bar and a six point socket you can just break them off. (break the bolt)

HeepaJeep

Wow you guys were right about that spacer...

Sheared the upper bolt off the steering box. In the process of attempting to drive the bolt out through the body the spacer was cracking and dropping out. What a piece of crap. Is that cast spacer aluminum?

So I will head down to Portage, MI and pick up a unibody tie-in kit that includes a new spacer at JCR Offroad. Cool that is is 1 hour south of me and I can pick it up myself.

DFlintstone

Does "sheared", mean it broke? What happened with the two lowers? Just the fact's mam!

In my personal experience with three Jeeps, which I use "on-road", as just a spacer with the bolt's tight, I've never had an issue with the spacer.

Nice to hear you have a path to the solution!

HeepaJeep

Yep... Busted the head off the upper bolt. The spacer between the frame and steering box is crumbling apart like Ryan Lochte's Olympic tale.