Strut yoke removal

[KE7WOX]

So not sure if this one goes here or in Suspension.

I'm currently trying to get my Radflos installed (finally!) with the help of a couple of friends, but the passenger side yoke is pretty damn stuck to the strut, we finally got it to rotate, but we still can't separate it.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how to get the yoke out of the strut? It seems like Autozone and Advance don't carry the yokes, so I'd be SOL until I can get a replacement yoke from a dealer or from a website and finish this next weekend, hardly an ideal situation.

We already tried a jaw puller, which got the drivers side out. The pitman arm puller won't fit around the collar of the yoke. And the passenger side strut seems to be deforming a lot more than the drivers side (when hitting it with a hammer and such), and we suspect the shock is blown out (this is also the side that experienced the BDS bushing failure.

[v7guy]

After you get it to rotate half the battle is won.

I usually clamp it down in my vise, then use a crowbar or hammer a chisel into the small gap. Either works pretty well.
I have a few shock yokes laying around if you mess yours up.

[KE7WOX]

I will try a vise and and see what happens.

Thanks for the offer on the yoke, I hope it doesn't come down to having to find one in NY or somewhere else out of state.

[ErikSS]

If he is trying to seperate it from the LCA there is no split. Its just a tapered shaft.

[fishsticks]

Cut the shock flush with the yoke. Use your favorite sawzall or angle grinder. Have rags on standby.

[KE7WOX]

Is there no risk of the shock blowing up if I cut it like that?

We have been thinking about that, but we don't know if there is enough internal pressure to get us in trouble.

Separating it from the LCA was the easiest part.

[v7guy]

it'll just be a nice pfffsshhhh and a spray of oil everywhere, it won't be explosive. It'll spray oil in a mist for quite a few feet though. As a point of reference you are suppose to drill a hole in used shocks before you throw them away. It's messy, and amusing when the guy 6 ft away gets sprayed with shock oil... but not dangerous. After you cut the shock you still have to pound out the shock body in the yoke.

I really prefer to just drive in a chisel (or whatever) to act as a wedge to open up the gap. Just a small sledge and a big chisel gets it out in a minute or so in every truck I've employed this method on, you could also probably use a pickle fork and just jam one taper in if you didn't have a big ole chisel (but why wouldn't you have a big ole chisel, doesn't everyone?). It's my "go to", since it seems to always work no matter how corroded or just generally shitty it is.

[ErikSS]

Oh. In that case Jason was dead on. Man I hate it when that guy is right. Haha
I must have been lucky. Mine came apart with minimal effort.

[TBYODA]

I'd had to use a vise and big chisel also just pounded it in parallel to the strut to get the most meat of the chisel in about 1/8" i think.

[KE7WOX]

The liberal application of the BFH simply drove the yoke back to the normal position. I just drilled a 5/32" hole on the shock body, just above the yoke, and nothing came out, save for a small puff of gas. So at this point I am proceeding to cut the shock. It also seems like it might be easier to drive it the other way around, or cut some slots into it and then try to chisel it out.

[navigator]

you did take the bolt all the way out right?

My first time, I didn't take the bolt all the way out, I just loosened it up, didn't realize there was a groove in the strut that the bolt slid into.

I beat and pried for a good while before i realized I had to take the bolt out.

[KE7WOX]

Yes, the bolt was out.

The shock was stuck in there good. Ended up getting an adjustable pitman arm puller (also called monster pitman arm puller) from Autozone and that pulled it, but it took time and torque. I did cut the shock to make it significantly easier to maneuver around, I'll post the picture tomorrow.

But this should help in the future if anyone has this same problem, that arm puller is almost a perfect fit, the regular puller (used to pull the strut assy from the tapered pin) isn't wide enough to remove the shock from the yoke.