So I have been reading for years about the 14-foot cheater bar, the rust dissolver, the thermonuclear bolt heating, etc. needed to remove the stock lower pulley.

Often, when someone is still stuck, someone suggests an impact wrench.

Then someone else says that it can't be done without removing the fan and shroud.

Well, if I am going to remove the shroud and fan anyway, wouldn't an impact wrench be the easiest way to remove the stock pulley? How does the stealer do it?

One benefit of the impact wrench method is that it would give me an excuse to drop a grand on an air tool setup.

Thanks

 

If you have the stock fan, you can't fit the impact gun in there. If you have an electric fan, you may or may not be able to fit it, depending on the model. It's still hard thought. With NO fan or shroud, you can get an impact gun on there.

The "Ford" method is to use a special Ford tool that takes the place of the starter (nice job there) and locks the flywheel and then you use a socket and breaker bar like we all do now. Back in 99 when I was designing the cageless lower pulley, that method wasn't acceptable to me for having the average owner doing it themselves, so I spent a Saturday with a truck on the lift and came up with the flywheel strap lock tool, which of course everyone and their brother has now copied (guess I should have patented it).

I guess it comes down to what you are willing to do. It's not fun removing the fan and shroud, just to do the pulley. I've never had a truck have a pulley I couldn't get off using the method I came up with that we all use today.

 

i did mine on my 00 L yesterday. i have attemtped many times before to no avail. so i pulled the fan and shroud. i did this not for the impact but so i could get at it easy from up top. you can get and impact in there but its still tight. the impact didnt do crap. didnt even phase it, so i went for the natural secret weapon......... PB. i gave it a good soaking and after an hour i threw a 5 footer on there, said a little prayer, and me and my buddie started yankin. sure as hell CRACK!! it scared me a bit. id have to say that an average guy with even a 3 foot cheater has alot more power than a 1/2" impact wrench, but the hammering of the impact can help.

 

hahahahahaha.

I guess you should have patented it for the lightning specific because people have been doing it for years before the lightning came along, as you obviously know because you have a long backround turning wrenches.

It's one of those neat things that people do that no one would ever think they could have made a fortune off of it.

It actually works the other way around. It's usually harder to get something off with an impact then using a breaker bar with lots of leverage.

We have a 300lb capacity pneumatic gun we use at the shop and there times that the bolts and nuts that hold the blades on the lawn equipment will not come off. Put a 3/4 breaker and socket on with a pipe and it snaps right loose.

The problem is with an impact its a sudden shock. With the leverage, it's gradual which allows it to move small increments untill it actually comes loose. Also less likely to strip a bolt or nut with leverage then with the impact also.

 

With the posts here and on NLOC, half the people cay it comes right off and half the people say that it was the hardest thing that they ever did.

With my luck, I will be in the latter group. Everything takes me at least twice as long and costs at least twice as much to get done.

Sal: I will be taking the fan off for an e-fan install. In that case, would you recommend the impact wrench over the breaker bar?

 

the problem is you are trying to unscrew a threaded piece that is like 3-4 inches in diameter with a 14mm socket. That's why it's tough. I would definetely give the impact a shot if you are pulling the fan. But you might end up with the breaker bar.

I've never had a problem taking a stock pulley off, i'd i've done at least a half dozen. All with the bar.

 

"I've never had a problem taking a stock pulley off, i'd i've done at least a half dozen. All with the bar."
I did mine today, it was cake!. Mike

 

I know that feeling, I experienced that with my divorce lawyer, the basturd...

 

I changed my first pulley on my 01L when it was only about 2 months old - and like a lot, really struggled to get it off. Like many, I was up on 8 inch jackstands - and you just can't get much leverage underneath there - even with the longest piece of pipe you can get over your breaker bar. If I had any idea it would have been that that tough - I would have went to a local shop with a lift, even a Jiffy Lube - and see what they would have charged me to "rent" a lift for bit. I think on a lift I could have removed the cage, locked the trans, etc - and armed with my breaker bar and a 5 ft piece of pipe - changed it all in an hour. I could have just removed the cage - took the pulley off - and then drove home and finished the job there. In any event - if I had it to do all over again - I would be seriously looking at taking it off from the top - even if it meant removal of the fan assembly because I could get long piece of pipe on it and get some real leverage on it.

 

i used a breaker bar and no problems here.

 

Tim,
What pulley are you planning to put on? Are you going to continue to run the stock chip or are you going to go to a custome tune?

 

did mine on a lift and it poped right off with just my breaker bar, no cheater. although i was much stronger then than i am now

 

Tim:

Pull the fan & shroud and cut a piece of cardboard to cover the radiator - save your hands and the radiator some abuse.

Using a breaker bar and a six point socket, position the breaker bar so it is laying on the driver's side frame.

Holding the breaker bar firmly onto the bolt and frame, have a friend "bump" the starter (via the relay on the firewall) and it will break it free easily.

I have used this method on 3 installs and it works quite effectively, as long as you pay attention and take your time.

 

4 lb package from LFP that I have had collecting dust for about a year. I bought the RWTD Wideband Commander/Predator package. Still waiting to finish my custom tune specs. It will definitely be a conservative tune, though. I'm chipping more for the shift strategies than to pick up HP. My power expectations are minimal -- a little extra punch out of the hole will be enough to make me happy. When I decide to step up to real power, I will go straight to a Whipple or KB.