Pitman arm

[cgbude]

In the process replacing some components on front end steering/suspension and came to the pitman arm which is on my list of parts. I'm curious if with the steering gear would be compromised with the arm starting to work its way off.

 

[RichLo]

Starting to work its way off?

That grease cake looks pretty baked on to me. If there were bare metal showing, or even some solid cracks in the grease there may be a reason to be concerned but that pitman arm hasnt moved since the day it was bolted onto that steering gear.

No worries there bud.

 

[Vikingdude]

From the factory there was a rubber sealing ring to keep dirt and moisture out that's missing but that gap you see is totally normal.

 

[HawkDsl]

In the history of GM Pittman arms, one working itself off is akin to finding a unicorn dipped in unobtainium, and with perfect teeth. I've seen a many Pittman Arms defeat the mightiest of pitman arm pullers.

 

[GoToGuy]

What indicates to you that it is " working it's way off?". The splined shaft is tapered, so once the nut is torqued down it's not going anywhere.

 

[cgbude]

Ok, cool good to know. I never ended up attempting to remove pitman arm cause it has a 1 5/16 nut and I don't have any sockets that large. Using a wrench or breaker bar could damage bearing in steering box apparently.

 

[Rock Hard Concrete]

I did a whole front end rebuild on my old 1990. I wanted to replace everything for piece of mind, including the pitman arm. I had to modify a puller to get it off, destroyed the puller in the process. Had to buy the socket to fit the nut, which ended up stripping since the amount of torque needed to seat the new arm was apparently the same amount of torque needed to strip the bigass nut. Had to order a new nut from the dealer since it was a specialty part. $$$.

I will probably never replace a pitman arm again unless the steering box is being replaced, too. It was totally unnecessary.

*edit* After replacing the pitman arm with the new one, there was a gap a little bigger than yours has now. It was seated very firmly and never had any issues.

 

[GoToGuy]

So you can use a really big crescent over the end of pitman to hold it while you impact it off. A large pipe wrench can hold it also , my half inch impact rips the nut it right off. If it's not worn out don't mess with it. How do you strip the threads if your using the correct torque settings? If your not using the correct tools for the job, your asking for headaches and problems, that's not a parts problem.

 

[Rock Hard Concrete]

So you can use a really big crescent over the end of pitman to hold it while you impact it off. A large pipe wrench can hold it also , my half inch impact rips the nut it right off. If it's not worn out don't mess with it. How do you strip the threads if your using the correct torque settings? If your not using the correct tools for the job, your asking for headaches and problems, that's not a parts problem.

When I did mine the threads stripped using a ratchet. No power tools.

 

[Vic327]

I've used breaker bars for years. Careful with pitman arm pullers parts fly fast and far when they break. A trick that works simetimes when you have a running car is to loosen the nut then turn the wheels lock to lock. Sometimes the pitman arm will pop off on it's own.