Hello I just went to a place to get a checkup on my car to see what was wrong with it, since I just bought it. It is an 85 iroc z. Anyways I was told what was wrong with it in a big list. One of the things that I needed to replace was the pitman arm. I went to shucks and they told me the pitman arm on my car DOES NOT need to be replaced ever. ITs a non wearable part on camaros. So what I need to know is how can I tell if my pitman arm is bad, or will it ever be bad?

It does not need to be replaced, it is a non wear part.

Find another shop.

The only way for it to be "bad" is if has suffered damage from a wreck. All it is is a chunk of steel. Nothing to wear on a chunk of steel. Time for a new shop.

Dose not need replacing under normal conditions. Only reason I can think of is if the car was in accident and the front end was pushed in to damage Pitman Arm....Slim too non for this to happen.

I'm glad the parts person at Shucks is knowledgeable enough to know that. It's possible the repair shop meant the idler arm but using the wrong terminology for a component isn't a good way to do business. I'm just waiting for someone to say that their third gen steering arm or drag link is worn out.

The only way your pitman arm would be bad is if it was damaged in an accident or if the center link was loose and wore out the hole in the pitman arm which is highly unlikely.

Best guess to what the repair shop was referring to would be the center link or the idler arm. As mentioned above, take it to a different shop for a second opinion. I've seen many people being told that parts are worn out and after I inspect it, I find nothing wrong. I had a pickup truck that was suppose to need around $2000 worth of front end work according to an alignment shop. Both me and the boss each went over every component with a fine tooth comb and neither of us could find a single thing wrong. The boss had to check it out also because I told him I couldn't find anything wrong and he agreed with me. Customer was happy to hear that.

Okay so my pitman arm is fine then. The shop told me my idler arm also needed to be changed when I got the check up. But okay thanks guys that's all I needed to know.

The joint to the pitman arm is in the center link. With the shop saying that the car needs a pitman arm really means that it needs a center link. So replacing the center link is the way to go.

Note that a joint to the idler is also in the center link. So dependent upon where the play is in the idler it may not require replacement. That is, the idler does contain a joint that can wear. So there is a 50/50 shot that the idler does/doesn't need to be replaced.

RBob.

Here is the kit from Spohn Performance...One stop shopping & also order the lower ball joints. I have used this kit and they are quality parts that fit 3rd gen cars.

How much would that cost dude? Can I get it from this forum or something else?

Well dude, you can check the prices yourself by going to the Spohn site.

www.spohn.net

Sweet thanks =]

lmao::

Well, i think my pitman are needs replacing, either that or the gear box. Correct me if I'm wrong but the pitman arm comes off the splined gear box shaft and attaches to the center steering link, right? There is a lot of play where the arm attaches to the splined shaft. In other words the pitman arm will move back and forth on the splined shaft. This was cause a few years back. My Camaro is a drag car and I used to run a TH350 trans in it. The tall 1st gear ratio would launch the front end 4' into the air and then crashing back down. After a while, in video, I noticed that when the front tires landed they would rapidly turn side to side a few times before smoothing out. I've seen lots of cars that wheel stand to this. I cured the wheelie issue by putting a powerglide in the car, but would like to correct the pitman arm - gear box issue........thanks

As mentioned above, unless the pitman is damaged, it's considered a non-wear item. As a thought, have you checked the steering box area for cracking?

JamesC