Thank you all for the advice. It would seem there was no set way of doing this back in 48 without the chance of incuring damage to the steering box or wheel. In 49 they changed to a straight spline I believe, and some wheels I've seen have bolt holes for wheel pullers, which may be newer wheels like the reproduction ones availible for this truck.
Frisco you wrote
"Using a brass or aluminum punch held against the end of the steering shaft, give the punch a good hard wrap with a hammer. This will "shock" the tapered sections apart."
Do you mean using a large diameter punch that sits on the nut, or a thin diameter punch that goes down into the hollowed out section of the shaft, inside and below the nut itself?
Hope that makes sense. Thanks.