Hey guys, When I got my exhaust done a few weeks back the exhaust guy told me he couldn't give me a safety because..
1. The pitman arm universal was worn out
2. Brights didn't work
3. Hatch brake light didn't work

Now.. I have searched high and low in my town, the pitman arm is discontinued from the local dealership, GM Pontiac Buick.. Part Source doesn't have it, and 4 other shops are telling me all I can get is the Idler arm..

So what are the chances of the pitman arm actually going bad? The car has 164,000 KM on it.. (101,000 Miles) I was going to change the Idler and center link to see where I'm at.. But as far as I can tell I'm SOL as far as local.. Will I have to get it from Summit and load my credit card even more, or is there a Multi-fit part for other GM cars?

 

The pitman arm is a non wearing item on a third gen. It's just a chunk of steel. You might have some other steering component worn out but not the pitman arm.

 

agreed pitman arm cant wear out... centerlink has the joint in it

 

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Damn colors!

Non wearable as in it will never wear out under normal driving conditions or the life of the vehicle. It can be damaged but only in an extreme situation such as an accident. It's not like tie rod and ball joint items which have movable parts that will eventually wear out.

It's a solid chunk of steel. It has holes at both ends. One end slides over the output shaft of the steering box and is tightened down with a nut. A puller is required to remove it. The other end has a hole for the center link ball socket to attach to.

The pitman arm never needs to be replaced unless it's been damaged or someone never attached the center link properly and the hole became worn out.

 

Changed the center link and idler, the steering is now tighter than I was hoping.. The way it looked underthere is like the Pitman arm had a tierod end looking thing...

PS.. I'm not a front end, brake line, or exhaust guy.. I have no clue when it comes to that stuff.. Thanks guys!

 

This posting helped out alot, I jacked up the camaro last night to see why the steering is sh** and thought it was the pittman arm, called around and cant get pittman arm, so was wondering if i was doing something wrong, guess its the centerlink. So gonna change that this weekend

 

Could it be some slop in the steering box? I had a mech tell me my pitman arm is worn out, well I didn't just fall off the turnip truck yesterday. I could see a steering box getting worn but not a chunk of steel with two holes in it wearing out. Duh!

 

My guess would be the idler arm( the other yo yo didn't even know the correct name & just called it the pitmman arm). Before you do anything take a look at the posts before form about steering parts.

 

my pitman arm has slop where the steering box meets the pitman arm do the splines on the arm or the splines on the gear box wàre out?. Where can I find a pitman arm?

 

Mine has slop in the splines did you ever find one? What was the problem the gear box or the pitman arm?