Pitman arm / steering box question - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

Mike1 · 11-09-2009, 09:27 PM

I changed the steering box out and bolted everything back in place but my question is...when I tightened down the pitman arm, I could not get it to seat as close to the steering box as it originally was. It's about centered instead of fitting up real close to the steering box with about as many threads on top and below the retaining nut. Is this ok? I only had a breaker bar to tighten it back down, no impac wrench. Do I need to take it to a shop to get the pitman arm closer to the box itself? Hope all that made sense.

Thanks
Mike

radical82 · 11-09-2009, 09:50 PM

Did you get it on the splines correctly??????

Mike1 · 11-09-2009, 10:21 PM

Yeah it lined up fine. When I went to the parts store looking for a special tool that's supposed to be needed to put the pitman arm back on, I talk to a mechanic that told me I would not be able to get it all the way on with my own strenght, that I would need an impact to do it.

gregsz-28 · 11-10-2009, 04:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike1

...I would not be able to get it all the way on with my own strenght, that I would need an impact to do it.

naf · 11-10-2009, 07:58 AM

You're probably fine. You may now want to adjust the height of the idler arm so they're equal though.