good stuff, folks, thanks for your input. i learned a few more things reading this article on enginebuilder.com. in the absence of evidence that these are TTY it doesn't sound terribly cavalier to put one more use on them.

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

Just replace them if there is any corrosion or visible cracks. If not, clean them, put lock tight on and torque them down, you should be fine.

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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

sounds good, moving forward on this. it looks like i have to buy a puller whether i keep the pitman arm on the replacement box, or keep the one that's installed. since i don't have the huge socket or the new locknut, i'm leaning towards keeping the arm that's attached to the box, and opening the ball joints. then, of course, there are two different pullers supposedly needed in different circumstances, with dire warning of damage to a rubber sleeve. presuming we don't exactly need the MB tools, what kind should i buy?

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

If you are going to reseal a steering box then I think removal of the Pitman arm is necessary (I can't remember if you can reseal the output shaft cap with the arm fitted or not).

To remove a Pitman arm in a rusty area you might need to apply a bit of heat as well as having a decent puller. (As soon as you apply heat you will nearly always need to replace seals)

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

gotcha, but i have no intention of resealing it. need to minimize the waiting for new parts and hours i spend on the job.

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

I also have a leaking steering box on my 78 W116 300 SD and have pulled a non-leaking replacement that still needs to be installed.

Before pulling the Pittman arms to switch them out, scribe a witnesses mark at the same relative position on the shaft and Pittman arm of each unit.
This way you can index the old arm to the correct spline on the shaft of the "new" steering box.

No need to buy new tools, I have an old ZIMCO puller (No. 606 style) and 36 mm socket you can borrow.
Left you a voicemail this morning.
Many of the auto part stores have tool lending libraries as well.

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78 W116 300SD 'Desert Rose' new as of 01/26/2014
79 W116 300SD 'Stormcloud' RIP 04/11/2022

wow, thanks alec! i'll give you a call back when i get back home.

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.