Do Pitman Arms go bad?

[89yimmiJ]

Need some help on a steering box issue.

I recently noticed some play in my steering. I finally got around to figuring out it was the pitman arm moving on the shaft out of the box.

I checked to make sure the pinch bolt on the pitman arm was tight and indeed it was tightened to 90# plus.

I removed the pinch bolt and the pitman arm came off very easily. In the past I have always had to use a puller.

I found(visually) no wear on the shaft of the steering box and the splines on both the shaft and arm both look good.

Rather than try and mic up the shaft, I brought it in to Oreilly's and got a replacement as I had a lifetime warranty on the box from 9-10 years ago. I would have mic'd it but didn't have any specs or another box to compare it to.


Here are my questions:
1. Shouldn't I have to pry it open a bit to get it on(almost a press fit)? The pitman arm was snug(no play could be felt, even without the pinch bolt installed) on the new box but I still could take it on and off by hand. The old box you could visually see and feel the play.

2. Do Pitman Arms go bad? Yes, I know anything can go bad, but given the fact that they only source I could find for a new stock arm was GM Dealers, I am wondering if this is a non-wear item.

3. Do all remanufactured boxes re-use the shafts? I ask as it is possible this box had a bad shaft in it when I got it.

Thank you!

 

[rebelgregory]

The pitman arm itself is a non-wear item.

That said any looseness/play changes that. You should not be able to pull the pitman arm by hand. If you can, it's not seated. Or the pitman arm has cracked around the spline diameter - relieving the press fit. I can think of a couple non-pitman possibilities.

1. The nut bottoms out before seating the arm. The shaft has a slight taper so the shaft should eventually seat. You could have tried adding washers to see if it seated the arm

2. Like you said,there could be something abnormal about your old box. MOST reman cores are gone through and all seals replaced, adjusted for slop and re-boxed. It's not too far fetched to think they did some repairs on your shaft due to damage it sustained as a core and it left it somehow undersized. However if this is the case, I would expect to see damaged splines when you removed your pitman from the resultant play in the splines (assuming it had been on there awhile).

Sounds like you're already on your way, but as you get it back together, if the pitman arm doesn't feel solid as a rock on the shaft once the bolt is tight, don't run it - dangerous. I'd suspect that something is wrong with the pitman at that point.

 

[colbystephens]

90# isn't very much torque. Last time I put mine on, I took the biggest breaker bar I could find and cranked it down till it was hard to pull the breaker bar. Do you have a proper split washer in there?

The previous time I fussed with my pitman arm, I set it to the proper torque (which, if i recall correctly, is well into the triple digits), and it loosened up on me over time - though not as loose as yours (but mine only had a year of service on it too...). Slap some loctite on there and crank that sucker down TIGHT!

 

[thearborbarber]

180 ft lbs is the spec floating around the forum.

 

[Russell]

It's amazing how many folks drive around with loose pitman arms! There was all kinds of drama at Blazer Bash one year when a couple fellas were going around torquing pitman arm nuts on everyone's truck, LOL!

 

[owenst7]

It sounds like you're talking about a stock 4x4 pitman arm. That is not the same thing as the crossover setups most of us seem to be thinking of. 180 ft-lbs sounds WAY too high. You'd just snap that bolt (which I remember only being like 7/16" or 1/2")

The pitman arm is much softer material than the sector shaft, so if one were to wear, it'd very likely be the pitman arm and not the sector shaft. Are you positive that the play was between the sector shaft and pitman arm, and not the sector shaft and the box?

 

[89yimmiJ]

Thanks all.

I checked multiple service manuals and they all show between 90-95 foot pounds on torque on a 4wd box. It is only a 9/16 bolt.

Yes, definitely the play was between the shaft and pitman arm itself. I could visually see it move up and down as the wheel was rotated back and forth. I had never seen that before.

I have contemplated going with crossover, or a hydro assist, but felt it not necessary with 35's. and possibly going down to 33's to drive it.

I guess if it happens again, i will go with a hydro assist set-up. Looks like agr is only a few miles from my house.

 

[496truck]

No hydro assist for push/pull style steering. In a flexed out and steering situation you will definitely rip something apart.

If your LF tire is drooped out this effectively shortens the drag link, decreasing turning ability. The hydro assist ram attached to the tie rod isn't gonna care that your steering box can not physically turn any more as it's trying to push the tie rod all the way over. Most likely the drag link ends will pop or worse, the steering box could be ripped off the frame or the knuckle snapped.

As owenst7 said, the push/pull pitman arm slides on to the steering box fairly easily and is secured with the pinch bolt. It is not a press fit and jam nut install like (pretty much) every other pitman arm out there.

 

[colbystephens]

Well, that changes what I said - I'd forgotten that the stock pitman pinches.