Pitman Arm Problem

[390bump]

Converted Manual steering to P/S (Bendix) using a kit I bought off of Ebay (Dantruckparts). Had the truck's front end alignment checked (truck wanders...) and they noticed the pitman arm was not tight on the steering box shaft. If you take the bolt off the pitman arm comes right off. Even with the bolt tighened all the way there is a bit of play with the pitman arm moving up and down. Been reading other post and usually people have a hard time removing these! Is there more than one Pitman arm for bendix boxes? Looked at the splines on the pitman arm and they looked to be sharp - not dull or rounded off... Unless the Bendix shaft is somehow worn down? Thanks for any help with this!

Before the P/S conversion the shop put in new tires, kingpins and draglink. Driving home truck felt like it was wandering - I was constantly having to straighten the wheel to go straight. Took it back and they said it could be the steering box... Since I was wanting to switch to PS I did the swap before bringing the truck back. They though the new draglink may be the cause so they replaced it under warranty. That is when they noticed the Pitman arm was loose. Don't think the Pitman arm is the problem but I agree it should be on there tight so the overall steering can be tight. They want to eliminate it before spending more time and parts on it.

[forrestbump]

The pitman arm should be tight on the splines of the sector shaft. Have you tried having someone inside your Bump turning the steering wheel while you're underneath looking for movement?

What you're looking for is immediate movement in either direction from your steering gear/pitman arm. If not, I'd suspect the steering gear itself is worn out or needs a simple adjustment.

[390bump]

Checked the part number of the Pitman arm and it is the correct C7TA-3590-L for the Bendix box. Will have someone turn the wheel while i check for play... there may not be any. The issue is the arm should be pressed on. If the two nuts are removed you can just pull off the Pitman arm from the shaft of the gear box. The mechanic that was working on it said he put the large nut on with an impact gun and afterwards he could still wiggle the arm up and down a bit. I don't think there is enough play that you can twist the arm right or left on the shaft - just up and down a bit. Sounds to me like the Pitman arm may have too much wear. Read on the Tech section on here a few minutes ago that Pitman are are bad if there is play with them... Anyone sell new C7TA-3590-L arms?

[forrestbump]

A loose pitman arm will eat the splines right off your steering gear sector shaft if you don't replace it quickly.

Good luck in your quest for a new pitman arm. And thanks for the update.

[390bump]

Thanks for the tip on wearing the splines! This kit i bought from Dansfordtruck on Ebay has been a nightmare!

[fordman]

her is an idea. since this bendix box was rebuilt before you got it. maybe the rebuilder put the wrong shaft in it. or maybe the shaft was remanufactured. and the splined are either too long up the shaft or they were cut too deep. but they pitman arms arent exactly pressed on. but they are a pretty tight fit.they should not wiggle at all.

[390bump]

Funny thing is when i talked to Dan on the phone last week regarding all the wrong pulleys he sent me I asked to go the rest of the kit to see if there any other surprises. It was supposed to be a quick bolt on so i mentioned I had to go get a tool to install the power steering pump pulley... He then mentioned that he did press on the Pitman arm because there are several ways it can go on so he installed it correctly... Now i am suspicious that he put the Pitman arm on because he knew it loose and was hoping no one would notice. With all the issues i was having I wasn't looking for another and installed the Bendix box without inspecting how well the pitman arm was on the shaft. To be fair, the Pitman arm isn't wobbling or anything... but the way it is now does not seem right to me. And the large reputable shop who looked at it says it ain't right.

[fordman]

let me ask since i dont have a bendix pitman arm to look at. but when you say sharp splines do you mean they are sharp like a knife? or are they a formed spline? similar to this picture. if they are formed like this picture it should be a good pitman arm. if they are sharp like a knife. then the pitman arm is worn out and ready to strip out at any time. http://www.fordification.com/tech/image ... plines.jpg this is not a bendix pitman arm splines. but only shows the formed good splines of a pitman arm. and how they should look.

[70_F100]

A pitman arm shouldn't have to be pressed on. It also shouldn't have two nuts, just one nut and a lock washer.

That being said, if there's no lock washer, the nut might be bottoming out on the shaft before getting the pitman arm tight.

It should also require a puller to get it loose from the splines.

[390bump]

I'll probably take it off today to inspect it. At the shop, I had it in my hand for just a moment and felt the splines in the arm but did not look at them. When I said 2 nuts I meant one on each end of the Pitman arm. There is just one nut and lock washer on the end going to the gear box. Thanks for the link to the photo fordman - that will be a big help check the condition of the arm on there now.

[390bump]

Update... Here are pics of the bad pitman arm that had play:



Replacement Dan sent was tight half way on the shaft:




Truck still did not track straight. Kept insisting it was a Caster issue. Shop who did the work (Wheel Works) had a printout saying my alignment was good but they had the manufacturing specs for Caster at .5 - 5.5 ( truck was around 1). Called BS on it and showed them the factory specs of 3 1/4 to 4 1/4. They charge $90 for the alignment but can only do Toe and with such a wide range they pass the vehicle! Told them my next move was filling a claim with the Ca Bureau of Auto Repairs. They then said they would pay for the correct alignment at a shop that can do it across town (up until now they acted like they never heard of bending i Beams). So this morning I visited the second shop:





They bent I beams to 4 on right and a little less (3+) on left (for road crown). Rides way better!! They noticed some play in the shaft of the Bendix steering box and said it should be changed... This would mean almost all the parts in Dan's kit have been wrong or bad... Maybe i'll just leave it for a bit and see how it drives.

Two more notes. Had a nasty rattle that developed while the front end work was being looked at. The second shop looked for it this morning and could not find where it was coming from. It was easy to reproduce while driving slowly over bumps and sounded like empty bottles clinking. Got home and looked around and finally figured it out. The wheel hub dust cap was rattling inside the mag wheel's center cap (front left wheel). Must not of been put on right or knocked off when they worked on truck. Put it back on and it goes on tight so it did not fall off by itself.

Second note - shop who did the I beam bending was good but they tried to rip me off. Alignemnt was paid for by wheel works. After the I beams were bent and Caster set correctly I was ready to leave. The main guy there comes out of the office and tells me " we need to bend the Radius Arms to set Caster and that'll cost $175". I was like WTF! I said the Caster was just done and looked over at the two guys who did it. They sort of did some signs signaling don't pull that crap with him and everyone scrammed for a minute. Then they acted like that never happened and i was on my way outta there.

[fordman]

i have never heard of bending the radius arms. but i dont know much about alignments either. did the other pitman arm fit tight?

[390bump]

Yes, the other pitman arm was tight half-way on the shaft. So i would say it was perfect. Dan's "theory" when i spoke to him was that some of that black paint must of been on the first pitman arm and made it feel tight on the shaft... Don't see any paint on there... Dan is a BS artist.

Oh, I never heard of bending Radius arms either. This world is full of crooks!