A terrific idea that I will improve upon for use on the 61x.

Today I bought a bicycle crank puller to fit the threading in my 300sd. Get the Park Tool USA CCP-2. It has the same nut and is $12.99 vs $15.99 for the CCP-4. Tomorrow I am going to the specialty bolt shop to get a long bolt to fit the inner thread of puller nut. I'll post the specifics after I get it.

Using your idea, I will build a puller that will work for people like me that don't have immediate access to a welder.

An added bonus for the ethically challenged, do it my way and you can return everything to the sellers and get your money back.

To remove the retaining collar, I'm going to use a cutoff tool to cut a 31/32 half inch drive socket to where it has two ears to fit into the slots of the threaded ring collar. A one inch socket works as well, but it seems more useful in the future than the 31/32, so the slacker gets sacrificed.

Now all I have to do is find the weights.

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1983 300SD "Guderian"
1987 MR2
2015 Camry
2015 Chevy Spark
2006 Hyundai Tucson