pitman arm; some basic questions?

[cld783]

when it goes bad the the car will feel like it's going around corners sideways and will slither like a snake. i'd replace it to prevent that or at least you'll know when it's time.

[1987cp]

make them get close to rock auto pricing shipped too or lose the sale......my commercial sales guy knows all about rock auto and keeps his prices for my acct darn close to theirs.

Ah, that's how you finagle somewhat better prices than the rest of us! Of course, "normal" customers don't have commercial accounts either.

[gadget73]

There's a wide parting line; = forged?

parting lines usually indicate a cast part. WHere that lives, I really wouldn't figure a forged part would be a significant advantage. There are other parts of the steering linkage that are a fair bit weaker than a cast steel pitman arm would be.

[BerniniCaCO3]

thanks!
Traded for autozone's lifetime warranty duralast parts, same price. Made in china and mexico, rather than taiwan. Oh well.
I was grateful that the installation was quite smooth; pitman arm was not stuck to the sector shaft at all.

Question!
I'd presumed that the new pitman arm would be identical to the old one.
The splines have 4 thick sections, so you can install spot-on, or any multiple of 90 degrees off.
I just made sure the wheels were steering straight ahead, removed the old arm, installed the new one without, of course, rotating the sector shaft or letting the wheels wander off of straight.

Apparently the exact position of those thicker keys on the new pitman arm was not exactly as it was on the old one, because my steering wheel is crooked!
So I need to do an alignment, or at least, adjust the sleeves.
I am in luck, turns out I have the little sleeve-adjusting "claw" in my toolbox. Must've come from a tool lot I purchased a year ago.

I've never adjusted sleeves before; every car I've every done steering work on before, has had a rack, and the tie rods had lock nuts.
Half of those are always frozen, and I end up having to torch them red-hot.
I've heard that sleeves are worse, in part, because they're just sheet metal, and in part, because the number of threads contacted is even greater.

So before I get the car up in the air and start mangling my alignment, what's the best way to break them free? Will a torch do the job, and my existing sleeves should be OK?
If I decide to just replace the sleeves, which is about $20, no biggie; best way to get them free?
Or just spend the $50 and get inner and outer tie rods and the sleeves, and fear no more having to break free years of rust?

[mrltd]

Could pull the steering shaft off the input to the box and fix the wheel. I don't think there is a flat spot on it. As long as the alignment is actually good.

[Ike Clanton]

Could pull the steering shaft off the input to the box and fix the wheel. I don't think there is a flat spot on it. As long as the alignment is actually good.

The steering wheel shaft on my TC is definately indexed with a flat spot.

As for the sleeves, back the clamps way off and give it a try. I've never had any trouble with sleeves. Spread them open a little with the clamps loose if you need to.

[BerniniCaCO3]

Oh, sweet, might do that.
Dunno. No obvious traumatic tire wear, but that's all I'm going on. Certainly I've seen bad toe problems wear out tires lickety-split, so I can only presume I don't have a bad toe problem.
It hasn't had an alignment, or even an alignment check, in the year and a half that I've owned the car.
And probably not for a while before, either, hah.

the duralasts were mcquay-norris brand btw. I still have no clue how to judge quality just looking at hte parts; they all seem the same, and that annoys me. I'd like to be a connoisseur of these things.
But things like metallurgy won't be visible to the naked eye...

[Southern_Pride]

Just count the turns. And use a tape measure. Should be about a 1/8 inch toe in.

[gadget73]

There is a flat on the steering box input, but you can usually still move it one spline each way. That slip shaft is usually rusted solid though so its also a bitch to move half the time.