The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Remove ball from Pitman arm

What is the best way (easiest) to remove the ball from the Pitman arm on my '54 3100? I assume I need to grind off the peening at the backside but then press or hammer and punch?

Does the hole have a taper to accept a modern joint or must this be reamed?

Yes. Grind off the end & press it out if you have a stout press. Otherwise drill a hole in the center to relieve the pressure.
The new ones go on as they come out of the box.

After punching the hole in the center as George described,
rather than grind the swaged section out I used a 120°
chamfering tool to take it out. That way I didn't risk
nicking the pitman arm:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/121615915
And no, the ball uses a straight shank:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/121613827
If you want to use a newer style, non-stock drag link
on your truck then you have just become the engineer.

I'm not sure but it would be interesting to find out,
but a '53 -'55 pitman arm and drag link used the new
style ends and may work if you can find one.
GM numbers are 3696469 for the steering connecting
rod, aka drag link and 3694905 for the pitman arm.
But then you would probably have to make changes
because the third arm may not accept the later drag
link, in which case you might be able to use the
3699681 steering knuckle & third arm from the '53-'55.
Are you beginning to see the can of worms you open up
by not staying with the stock steering parts?
dg

On my older truck, '37 the hole through the pitman arm and steering arms was shaped like a hour glass. It's not a true straight hole like you would think. The end is tapered out just like Denny's picture shows, that gives the metal a place to go when they peened the ends over and gives the ball stud its holding power.

Tapered end tie-rods will not fit with out being cut for the taper and tools are available for that from most dirt track, race car parts dealers. Speedway Motors sells the cutters.

Joe

Those tapered reamers range from .5” - 1.0”, the
ES150R & L tie rod ends are the only practical Moog
tie rod end that might work for this application,
they are tapered from .612” to .705”, a 7° taper. The
straight shank on the ball in the pitman arm
is .750”. So that won’t work unless you could make a
sleeve up with a .750” interference fit O.D. and a
612” bore. This could be pressed into the pitman arm
with one of the permanent Locktite sealers and reamed
to fit the tie rod end. Then you have to figure out
what your going to do for a connecting rod, aka drag link.

There was a thread running a while back where the bore
in the pitman arm had been welded up and re-machined
for the smaller taper. It’s my personal feeling that
welding on a forged pitman arm is just asking for an
accident to happen when it fails.

Denny Graham
Stayin’ stock in Sandwich, IL