The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Pitman arm spline (AD)

Got my steering column in today but could not for the life of me get the splines lined up. I see where the splines are "keyed" with different widths but the way the pitman arm is attached to the steering link it makes it pretty awkward to move.

Is there some trick to doing this or should I just remove the link from the arm to get the splines lined up. If so how do you get the arm off the link?

Any help is appreciated.

It can be done Woody, I had every thing off the front of mine this summer. I just pulled the putman arm and folded it back onto the drag link when I rolled the springs and axle out.
I had the steering gear out on the bench to rebuild it and it all went back together ok. I did have to play with it a little to get the splines lined up. I did have the front wheels off the ground and worked the wheel a tad till it lined up.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Well, I got it on. Jacked the wheels up off the ground and found it much easier to adjust the position that way. I guess with two people you could have one person turning the wheel and the other watching for alignment but working alone it's simpler to just jack it up.

Thanks Denny.

Hi Woody and Denny. I found this, too. I didn't jack up the truck but did have to turn the wheels until the splines and gap in the pitman arm matched the shaft.