Cal-Van Tools 95400 In-Line Dowel Pin Puller Master Set

Works incredibly well!

I purchased this tool to remove the dowel pins on the engine block of my Toyota 22RE motor. I had previously tried to remove them using locking pliers, but aborted mission before I chewed up the pins too badly. I checked out YouTube and found a video about this tool, so decided to take a chance with it.WOW...I'm glad I did. Initially, when the tool first arrived, I was a little disappointed in it. Not a super huge fan of their zinc plated parts, although the collets themselves are fairly nicely made. The tool doesn't have a China or India feel to it or anything, but I just would have preferred the main threaded center rod to be hardened steel (or at least maybe something other than zinc plated). Nevertheless, I just used the tool and I have to say wow, wow, wow.. it worked amazingly well.A few tips:1. throw away their washers. They just cause problems and you don't need them. Instead, make sure you use plenty of high quality grease on the threads and also the surfaces where there is downward pressure.2. Soak the dowel to be removed in WD40 for a few hours. Then rough up the sides with some 320 grit sandpaper. Clean everything off with B12 chemtool (or any carb cleaner) and some compressed air. Make sure the inside of the removal collet is also clean and dry.3. No need to hammer the collet down or the sleeve over the collet down; the threaded rod will reduce the collet just fine and apply more than enough pressure on the sides of the dowel pin. Just make sure to use some grease in the taper fitting where the collet goes up into the sleeve part - also on the threads which thread into the back of the collet (and the surface where the center nut touches the collet sleeve).4. I used two hand wrenches, even though I have impact tools. It's better to feel how much torque you are applying. When setting the main part on the collet, I used two adjustable wrenches is all. I applied a fair amount of torque, but not enough to risk stripping the threads.5. Slide the outer sleeve down and over the threaded post and apply liberal amounts of grease to the nut and top of the outside sleeve where the nut sits - again the washers supplied in the kit are way too thick, so it's easier just to use some grease. I think if I were going to use this tool all the time, I would maybe shorten it about .125" and buy two washers and a radial needle bearing to use. For just occasional use, however, grease between the top nut and outside sleeve should be plenty good.6. Tighten down the top nut and away you go... if you are using handle tools, you can feel the dowel start to loosen and then it comes right out.Once the dowel pin is out, just unscrew the assembly a bit and use the inside rod to help press out the collet. Once the collet is out of the sleeve, it should open and allow the dowel pin out without too much effort. If the dowel pin is stuck, then you can always unscrew the extraction rod and use a brass punch to drift it through the threaded hole on the back of the collet.All in all, a very clever design. Definitely a tool you want to have around if you work on motors or need to remove dowel pins from flywheels, etc.

Bought this for some outboard repair projects; I'd been taking apart and completely rebuilding a 99 Force 40 hp that was in rough shape. Essentially it was my practice motor for another 60 hp merc 2-stroke that I have that has a broken piston (I can re-sell the latter for much more money). On the leg of the motor where the gasket sits between the leg and adapter plate (the adapter between the leg and powerhead) there were 2 dowel pins that WOULD NOT budge. I was finally able to get them out with this.Tips:Tighten the bejesus out of the collett when you are putting it onto the pin to be pulled. If they are smooth or tapered at all it will pull right off. I used a separate wrench (13/16" I think. . . ) to hold the intermediate piece while I tightened the double ended threaded rod.Once the whole thing is assembled, use an impact or sharp pulls on a wrench to get some breaking power. If you pull gradually I find it slides off.Also, when I first received this the wrong colletts were in the kit - there were double of a couple sizes and others were missing. As usual, amazon came through and immediately replaced it and the replacement kit had all the proper pieces (I'm guessing at some point. Luckily the one I needed was in the kit (actually there were 2) so I was able to use it while the replacement shipped.So far this kit has done exactly what I needed it to - I'll adjust it if I have a problem with a later job

Almost able to remove all dowels encountered. There were a few that this tool could not remove. But components of this kit seem very high quality.

Now that I got a new one, once again it wasn’t wrapped in plastic but this time came in a delivery bag and all the pieces were in the kit! Just used it to take the solid 8mm dowel out of this Yanmar crankshaft! Worked perfectly! A little pricey for what it is, but worth it if you need to get a dowel out.

This tool fell apart on me the first time I used it. The collets broke from too much pressure. I was tightening by hand as hard as I could because the tool was slipping. The main sleeve that the collet goes into cracked and made the kit useless. I was not able to finish the job.

Quality is okay but the 7/16” collet is missing and that is a critical size often needed. No where on or in the kit is there a list of parts or even collet sizes. I have bought Cal-Van tools for over 40 years so I assumed this would be a complete kit and was surprised to find a size missing.

Successfully removed a couple of dowel pins (with more to do) from a vintage engine. There's no way I could have done it without a proper tool like this without things getting ugly. This style is a little more involved to use but should be more versatile than a slide hammer type.A couple of tips to counter negative reviews:1) Lube all threads before use. This will ease use and prevent damage to the tool2) Scuff the pin to be pulled 150 or 220 grit paper. Usually they're quite smooth and polished. This will give the collet better grip.3) Don't overtighten the tool. This is subjective and will require some trial. There's no use in going gorilla on it and damaging the tool.4) An old machinist trick if scuffing the pin is not enough: Apply a dab of valve grinding compound to the pin before installing the tool. The grit in the compound will give the tool extra bite and won't hurt anything. Try it!