pitman arm; some basic questions?

[BerniniCaCO3]

Hi--

A year ago when I last shook down my suspension, I found it firm;
shook it down again, now I have some visible play in the pitman arm where it joins with the centerlink.

Now I don't notice a blessed thing while driving-- should I just leave it?
Well, I've always wondered which problems can just be left to fester with no ill effect, and which can cause other damage (like letting pads destroy the rotors if left until metal on metal).

Now, when I do fix this, should I do the idler arm also? Should I do the whole damned setup, take care of my 20 year old tie rod ends and probably the adjustment sleeves (surely frozen) at the same time?
A coworker told me he once worked for a shop that would routinely purchase the whole setup as a package, tie rod to tie rod, rather than buying all the separate pieces, and that it was cheaper. Seen anything like that?

Finally, I've actually never done a pitman arm. Can it be pulled while the steering box is on the car, or do I need to pull the steering box? How hard is it to do? Or if I just borrow the puller tool from a colleague, get a 1/2" impact gun on it, it should come right off?


One last question.
While shaking down the suspension, I noticed the oddest rubbing noise. I found a plastic sleeve that goes on the back of the steering box/gear and covers a U-joint there.
This had cracked and was lying on the steering shaft, hence the rubbing whenever turning the wheel.
Nothing you can hear/ feel from inside the car.
I brilliantly decided to zip tie it, which in retrospect, just cinched it tighter against the U-joint it was previously merely laying on.
The drive home tonight made for some harrowing steering, as it would variously catch and bind and then give way again, hahaha
Anyway-- to get to the point. Important to make it work right, or, can I just tear the whole damn thing off, and the U-joint isn't going to freeze up with rust in a season just for want of that plastic sleeve?

[sly]

the plastic thing on the steering shaft... it's a dust shield. just slather some grease on the joint and go. That should keep it from rusting.

as for the pitman arm... you may not feel the play... but there will be some... mainly in the steering wheel. It'll take a little longer to actually turn the wheels from center.I had mine replaced in my 88 when I had the front end aligned. it had a good half inch of sway (+/- quarter inch). you couldn't tell from the driver seat at all. tire wear was rather obnoxious though. Of course... that's also when I replaced the control arm bushings.

[Southern_Pride]

I replace anything loose in the steering. I like being in control of my direction. Just rent the puller and replace. Can be done on the car. If the idler arm is good id leave it. I'm a firm believer in not replacing parts till they are shot. Hence why 3 out of 4 ball joint haves over 300k miles on them. They aren't wore out yet.

[BerniniCaCO3]

Thanks!
Maybe I'll just get 'er done tomorrow!
I should be able to drop the rest of the steering linkage out of the way, maybe won't even need to do an alignment? Cause if I need to do an alignment, I might be looking at adjusting sleeves too. They look like they're going to be frozen solid.

What are signs of bad control arm bushings? Mine are so greasy, I can't see any cracking ;-) Looks like someone may have undercoated the car at some point.

[gadget73]

you dont need to drop the rest of the linkage, and honestly I wouldn't mess with it more than neccesary. Pop it off the pitman arm and just let it sit on the pin. It will come free when you pull the pitman arm off. I'd check the rest of the parts, but if the idler and tie rod ends are tight, theres not really any reason to replace them. I wouldn't be too surprised if the idler is sloppy tho. If the pitman arm is loose, the idler is usually as bad or worse.

The wheel may be off center when you replace it, but probably not by much. Theres always a smidge of manufacturing tolerance in those arms and they never seem to be made quite exactly dead-nuts identical. It won't pull or eat tires tho so an alignment isn't really neccesary unless it bothers you that much.

[1987cp]

What Thain said ....

Also, steering wheel off-center is easy, if annoying, to correct at home. Just adjust each tie rod sleeve the same amount in corresponding directions (i.e. lengthen one while shortening the other). Torch, PB Blaster, and gator-grips might be your friends if your car has been driven anywhere near Michigan.

[BerniniCaCO3]

Thanks!

Went to napa today and picked up their cheaper "master ride" pitman & idler arms. Noticed that it's made in taiwan. It was $36/arm.
There's a wide parting line; = forged? I'm not sure how to tell quality in these components.

NAPA also sells Dana/Perfect Circle idler and pitman arms for twice the money.

Or, it looks like autozone's duralast might be Moog? same part #, lifetime warranty. $46/arm.
Anyone know if moog, or dana, is made in the US, and any differences in quality for the money? Worth exchanging the taiwan arms?
I'll be keeping this car as a daily driver for maybe 50,000 more miles.

At the extreme end, rockauto has an $11 idler and pitman arm!

[1987cp]

IIRC, I bought a Duralast and didn't think twice.

[1990LTD]

I bought MOOG

[Lincolnmania]

i replace alot of pitman arms, all my panthers have newer ones, the idler arm is probably toast too

i use duralast......lifetime warranty

[Ike Clanton]

The only brand of suspension parts I know for a fact to stay away from is Mevotech from Rock Auto. I believe they are of very poor quality. I replaced everything but the control arm bushings on my TC with Mevotech, and the idler arm was defective when new (slop in the bushing on the frame side) and one of the lower ball joints was machined wrong and would NOT press into the control arm, though it looked identical to the other one.

A trip to AutoZone fixed both issues immediately, though at a much greater cost.

McQuay Norris has done me right many times in the past for less than Moog.

[BerniniCaCO3]

Thanks-- for $20 more, I'll go to autozone. Do you know if autozone/duralast/(moog?) is made in the US?

[Ike Clanton]

Thanks-- for $20 more, I'll go to autozone. Do you know if autozone/duralast/(moog?) is made in the US?

I'm sorry, I don't.

It is worth noting that I bought AZ's cheaper line for both the ball joint and idler arm.

I am a maintenance fanatic and love using my grease gun. It is my opinion that if the part fits and doesn't fail within a few months, keeping it greased will make it last nearly forever. I'd probably keep what you have.

[Lincolnmania]

it's hard to say what is and what is not imported.......i can tell you tho, even the made in usa parts i have gotten lately lack in quality......slymers 93 vic trans mound had to be modified to fit, and that was made in usa.......one of his motor mounts was made in india, i had to enlarge the holes to get it to fit......the other motor mount was made in china, it fit perfectly.....go figure.

for you guys always working on your and your friends cars, open a commercial cash account at your favorite parts store and let your friends use it.......have been doing this since i was a teenager........we used to have accounts everywhere under "midnight auto" usually goot for a 10% or more discount.

[Lincolnmania]

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.