Pitman Arm Play - Is This A Problem?

movietvet said:

You are correct. mo-viet-vet. Joined out of KC, Mo. in Jan. 1972.

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Welcome Home, and thank you!

I have a stupid question; does this look right to you guys?


The original (pretty sure factory original) was seated all the way flush with the end of the splined shaft.

I tried as hard as I could to get this flush with a breaker bar and cheater pipe (to the point where I thought I was about to snap my breaker bar) but I could not get it any more flush than this.

The one that was on there has 2 small dimples that make me wonder if it was shoved on with a machine:


Will the arm be okay as it is?

Seymorey said:

I tried as hard as I could to get this flush with a breaker bar and cheater pipe (to the point where I thought I was about to snap my breaker bar) but I could not get it any more flush than this.

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it's almost 200lbs of torque spec on that nut for my 93 so the struggle sounds right....maybe not even enough..lol .. don't forget the lock washer...guessing yours has that too...
You took nut off to peek?
Hard to tell how much is there.... I had one issue with a couple of proforged pitman arms that were machined so tight that I couldn't even set the arm onto the splines and the splines would just machine the pitman material away...Had to ditch them and use a moog with no issues...

Never paid attention to how much would be showing under the nut but maybe someone else will know... does almost look how it does when you first just set it on before torquing but distance is hard to judge....

scott2093 said:

it's almost 200lbs of torque spec on that nut for my 93 so the struggle sounds right....maybe not even enough..lol .. don't forget the lock washer...guessing yours has that too...
You took nut off to peek?

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I did take the nut off for a peak, yes. I’m a little paranoid and would rather not die horribly, hence why I swapped this part so quickly.

Nut and lock washer are on and torqued to 185ft/lb (which was easy in comparison to how hard I was reefing on this) after reaming the absolute **** out of it without the lock washer trying to seat it.

Seymorey said:

I did take the nut off for a peak, yes. I’m a little paranoid and would rather not die horribly, hence why I swapped this part so quickly.

Nut and lock washer are on and torqued to 185ft/lb (which was easy in comparison to how hard I was reefing on this) after reaming the absolute **** out of it without the lock washer trying to seat it.

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I added a few more comments to my reply... I can appreciate your thoroughness... interesting for sure..

That looks about the same as mine. I used a Mevotech pitman arm.

It will be fine. The taper can be slightly different on some manufacturers. I have seen this before. Is the thickness of the arm the same at that point, for the old and the new. Is the gap at top the same? Torque it and drive it.

movietvet said:

It will be fine. The taper can be slightly different on some manufacturers. I have seen this before. Is the thickness of the arm the same at that point, for the old and the new. Is the gap at top the same? Torque it and drive it.

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Arm thickness is the same, gap between the steering box and original arm is not the same - about 1/6th/1/8th inch more than the previous arm.

I just cannot drive it on anymore, no matter how hard I try.

Hang on a fat second

You’ll have to zoom in but, is this a crack in the steering box bolt housing that might be allowing the splined part to spread a bit?

Seymorey said:

is this a crack in the steering box bolt housing that might be allowing the splined part to spread a bit?

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I hope not.
What's the verdict?