The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Anybody make a shorter pitman arm for steering box

So in driving my 55 2nd series framed vehicle I learned it has horrible bump steer at anything over 35mph-ish. Whoever built the truck lowered it by putting the springs under the front axle, adding lowering blocks, and notching the frame. The drag link is at a horrible angle and from researching prior posts, that is probably the biggest contributor to the problem.

So, does anyone make a shorter pitman arm that will fit on the stock steering box so the drag link would be parallel? I saw CCP has a shortened one for power conversions, will that fit on the stock box?

Also, does anyone have a picture of their stock steering box/pitman arm/drag link I could gander at? The picture in the manual shows the steering box higher than the frame attached to a bracket. Mine is actually attached to the inside of the frame and the pitman arm goes through the frame.

Thanks for the help everyone, I'd like to keep the truck at it's current height. If I can't do that I guess the only option is to put it back at stock height to eliminate the steering issues.

On the '55 2nd, the steering box is mounted inside the frame, as yours is, exept for the LCF trucks, which may be the picture you saw.
I would strongly advise against a shorter pitman arm, as that will only serve to make the steering worse than it is. The best bet to correct the steering problem and keep the lowered ride hight without subframing or suing an IFS conversion would be to look into a dropped axle, like one from Sid's. You will definitly want to get away from the setup that the PO put under it, as from the description, it sounds very unsafe. The spring under conversion isn't so bad (not a fan of that), but using blocks on a front axle is very unsafe, and illegal in most states.

Thanks for the input Longbox. When going with the dropped axle, would that not also require some type of modification to the pitman and steering arms?

A dropped axle won't change where your steering goes, as the spindles will be in the exact same location. The only thing it would change is the location of the axle in relation to the springs.

Someone should be able to chime in with a solution.

The above advice is good.

About pitman arms, they have a common spline for years and years, browse the junkyard and if you find one (any make) that you like and it appears that it might fit I bet it'll fit. On my truck I currently have a PS box from an IH scout, the original truck pitman arm would have/could have fit, I used one from Astro van..

Grigg

Maybe I'm overthinking this.... The dropped axle keeps the spindle/steering arms in the same place, but would also lower the frame of the truck (including steering box/pitman arm) from it's original height. Therefore the drag link would no longer be parallel with the frame, correct? If so, the dropped axle poses the same issue I have now, just probably not as severe?

Thanks for the info, I was curious if there was a common spline for certain makes. Sounds like with your experience there is. I will try to hunt one down.


Thanks to everyone for you input.

Yes, the dropped axle will affect the Pitman arm angle since the frame is lowered in relationship to the spindles. The simple, but expensive way to handle the problem is to relocate the steering box to the front, and use a later-model box. The bracket for the box can be fabricated to end up with a drag link that's level at whatever ride height you choose.

Lowering seems to be a solution to a nonexistent problem- - - -the engineers spent millions of dollars making things work at normal ride height, and then some hotrodder comes along and thinks he's smarter than the designers. Didn't Forrest Gump's Mama have something to say about that?
Jerry

http://s629.photobucket.com/albums/uu14/kurtdh519/ heres a link to my photobucket pictures I took while I was building my 46 1/2 ton, there are a few front steering pictures that are really clear, I also used a 3" drop axle if you are looking for any custom steering, go to dropped axle.com thats the website for nostalgia sids axles and steering parts,

Thanks for everyone's help/input. I've decided to get the suspension somewhat back to normal so I can start to diagnose from there. Who knows, it might drive fine after that. So I'm going to put the springs back in their original spot on top of the front axle, which will obviously level out the drag link. It looks like at least one of the front spring eyes is actually touching the mounting bolt, so I know those bushings are pretty much done.

Now I just need to relocate the shocks. The builder apparently cut the old shock mounts off the frame, so unless I can find some I'll have to do something else. Will the power steering shock mounts the vendors sell work with manual steering? Looks like the only modification is drilling a hole in the frame for one of the attaching bolts.

And to answer my own original question, Rare Parts has a cool online thingy-majigger where you can input the specs you need for a pitman arm. If they don't have one already made for a different application that would fit they can custom make one, even if it's just for one part.

Make sure you get the caster angle correct when you put the axle back under the springs. And worn spring shackles bushings will give you an unpredictable ride.

If you replace the front shackle bushings, make sure to check the back.

I'm Sid from www.droppedaxles.com. When dropping a axle or flipping the axle it moves the spindles up. This makes the draglink run up hill which causes bump steer. When using a dropped axle what I do is flip the tie rod on drag link over to the bottom of the steering arm instead of the top side. This is done by welding up the hole and changing the taper to the bottom side with a reamer. I offer a adjustable drag link for this. I'm not real sure if you may have the room for the tie rod end on bottom when using a stock axle and flipping the axle on top of the springs. I gain more room for the tie rod end when dropping a axle. Someone also mentioned caster of axle. This is also very inportant. I like to have 4 to 6 degress of caster depending on the tires and rim width you are running.