Reinstallation of Pitman Arm

[Barry Maxwell]

I am about to begin the overhaul of the steering gear on my '51 B3C. I am waiting for the delivery of a pitman arm puller I ordered from Tooltopia. The question I have - Is it necessary to reinstall the pitman arm in EXACYLY the same position on the splined shaft??

I am in the process of reading everything I can find using the search fuction, but I have not seen anything regarding reinstalling the pitman arm. It seems to me that it SHOULD go back on in the original position, but I am not sure. Thanks for any information you can provide.

[TodFitch]

At least on my old Plymouth, if you get the pitman arm installed on a different spline the steering wheel will be off to one side or the other (there is no length adjustment for the drag link to compensate). Also on my old Plymouth the steering box is designed so that there is more slop when off center, so having the wheel off center also means more play in the straight ahead position. The end result is that I try very hard to get the pitman arm back on the exact spline alignment it came off from. I am guessing that the later(1940s and 50s) trucks like yours are similar to my early (1930s) Plymouth in that respect.

[HanksB3B]

Is it necessary to reinstall the pitman arm in EXACYLY the same position on the splined shaft??

Not unless you want to make all left turns and use your truck as a NASCAR Pace car.

Wish I had marked it when I removed it..

Duh....

Hank

[JBNeal]

this seems to be fairly informative after the steering box has been adjusted.

[deathbound]

Not sure if your sector shaft (steering gear) is similar, but on my 38 Plymouth (car), there are 4 larger grooves...1 each @3, 6, 9, & 12 o'clock to accept the pitman arm (it can only go on in 1 of 4 positions) when the sector shaft is centered in your steering box (equal left & right revolutions to lock), it should then only go on 1 way...the other 2 grooves either way will be way off. This may help or be totally useless.

[52b3b Joe]

Not sure if your sector shaft (steering gear) is similar, but on my 38 Plymouth (car), there are 4 larger grooves...1 each @3, 6, 9, & 12 o'clock to accept the pitman arm (it can only go on in 1 of 4 positions) when the sector shaft is centered in your steering box (equal left & right revolutions to lock), it should then only go on 1 way...the other 2 grooves either way will be way off. This may help or be totally useless.

Thats how I remember my b3b when I had it apart. When you go to put it back on, it will only work one way if the box is set right. When I put my steering box back together, I just made sure I had equal turns lock to lock to find the center, then I used the steering wheel splines to set the wheel straight. I am waiting to tighten the steering wheel until I finish the truck to make sure its right. That wheel was a job to get off, its on a taper and slpined.

Edited January 25, 2012 by 52b3b218

[MBF]

I just replaced the sector shaft in my box-I'm pretty sure there are 4 indexed grooves in the shaft. I centered my wheel so that the front wheels were straight, pulled the pitman arm, and replaced the shaft and lower bearings. I ran the steering wheel lock to lock and counted the total number of turns, divided by 2 to center the wheel and reattached the pitman arm. I used some neverseize on the sector shaft splines in case I have to take it apart again. I just used a jaw type puller on mine. Mike

[Barry Maxwell]

Thank you guys. Since my steering gear is in my vise on my bench, I went out and confirmed that there ARE 4 wider splines at 3,6,9,and 12 that I had not noticed before. I will be sure to mark the pitman's location before I remove it, and reinstall it in the same position. You would think that the Shop Manual would say something on this matter, but it doesn't. Thanks again. You have been a big help - as usual.

[TodFitch]

Sounds like they improved the design after they built my car as all the splines on my steering box are identical and it is very difficult to get the pitman arm back on in the exact right orientation.