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I noticed that my pitman arm was a little loose on the sector shaft, I pulled the nut off and I was able to get the arm off fairly easy without a puller. It's a 2" drop arm from pro-comp IIRC and it's been on there for 3ish years. The nut and lock washer are bottoming out on the shoulder on the shaft so I can't get it any tighter. I'm thinking about using a big washer as a shim to push the arm up the shaft a bit farther, is that safe? or should I look at getting a new arm?
TIA
Dave
Shouldn't be a problem using a big washer or two. The main thing is going to be the torque that holds the nut on whatever way you achieve the torque. I have run into that problem before with tie rod ends and on a pitman arm on a couple of Fords and that is what I did with no ill results.
Since you also seem to handy with a welder, when you get the nut torqued down to spec (or simply damn tight) you might want to bump a small tack on the nut to keep it from backing off. I have done this to the jam nut on both my tie rod ends and drag link to keep my heap in alignment, so I don't see why it shouldn't work this. Just something that is easy to grind off if you need to replace it later on. Very cheap insurance.
I checked the torque on the nut and it was still at 185 ft/lbs and it still had play in it. I think I'll try a washer to push it up the splines a bit farther. I just don't want to be driving around with a bad part that could fail, especially there.
Last time I ran Spring Creek we were with a TJ that broke his pitman arm in the middle of the rock garden, that was a bad deal.
[I]Last time I ran Spring Creek we were with a TJ that broke his pitman arm in the middle of the rock garden, that was a bad deal. [/I]
That is a crappy trail fix, too, but can be done by disconnecting the brake line from one front wheel and hooking a winch line up to the other one. Step on the brake, the rig pulls one way, tap the winch line and it pulls the other....You can read between the lines and figure out how I know this one....:lmao:
If it were mine, I'd shim, and use blue threadlocker.
Where would you shim, Mike? And with what? Just curious.....
If the arm isn't tightening up because it isn't being pushed down onto the splines far enough, the washer behind the nut should push it farther down. When you say shim, I can't figure out where you are talking about.
I can see the blue Thread Locker, too, but I usually keep in mind the fact that I may be the one pulling the damn thing off again in the future...
I get what he meant, I think he's thinking the same as I am....I'll use a washer with the I.D. bigger than the splines to push the arm farther up the splines since the nut and lock washer are bottoming out on the shoulder where the splines start. We'll see how it works, I'm just concearned that the pitman arm has somehow stretched and is now weaker in the area around the splines.
I've been thinking about going back to a stock pitman arm since my draglink is fairly flat running it on the top of the WJ knuckle and I can adjust the trac bar too. Maybe I'll go to pull and pay and get one.
That was what I was suggesting to do, too. When I thinking of 'shimming' I tend to think of 'behind' rather than 'in front of' like where the washer would be...
if im reading correctly, you should be able to put the "shim" between the nut and pitman arm. keeping the arm up high to keep good contact with the splines, and it "pushes" the bolt down farther onto the threads to allow for more tightening. right?
Right....Go back to sleep. Take the day off Thomas...:D
Right, the shim (washer) will have to have an I.D. larger than the diameter of the splines or it will just bottom out like the existing nut and lock washer did.
Yup! Shim=washers under the nut.
[QUOTE=Brody;136985]I can see the blue Thread Locker, too, but I usually keep in mind the fact that I may be the one pulling the damn thing off again in the future... [/QUOTE]
If I'm not in my driveway, I'm more likely to have a breaker bar, less likely to have a grinder. I agree that something other than the lock washer should be applied over any shims.
Like I said, if it were [I]my equipment[/I], and I wanted to use that pittman arm, I'd give shimming a try.
There are a couple reasons to not shim:
First, by stacking washers, you are adding more wear surfaces. Any debris, or surface imperfections that are present when the nut is torqued down, will pulverize or flatten under load, which lets everything move around, and wear, which lets everything move around more... When you take apart a critical assembly that is subject to loading, look for shiny spots. They are caused by parts rubbing against each other. I've heard this type of wear called "fretting."
Second, If the washer's outside diameter is much bigger than the nut, it will be hard to inspect for cracks. By the time a crack in the pittman arm is visible, you might be wondering why your steering won't turn.
So, I guess the ideal shim would be a solid spacer, just big enough, tacked to the pittman arm. :2c:
[QUOTE=Hypoid;137005] I guess the ideal shim would be a solid spacer,[/QUOTE]
thats a great idea. maybe a chunk of tubing with an ID larger than the sector shafts' OD.
Dave
Shoot me an OD on the diameter of the sector shaft/nut. I have a bunch of odds and end of various sized tubing kicking around and if I have something that will work for you, I will be happy to cut something to the right size.
Send me a PM. If you haven't changed the box, it may also be the exact same thing I have on the 98 Cherokee I have. Home all day tomorrow working and happy to help out with this if I have some junk that will work for ya.
303-507-3066
If Mike needs the other caliper bolts and I have something that will work, he only lives a little ways from me. So if you end up coming down (north end of town/Arvada off of I70), you can drop them off if you guys work something out.
Got it taken care of today, I had some pinon shims laying around and I used a couple of the thicker ones. Worked just fine. I also went to u pull and pay today and pulled a pitman arm off a ZJ, turns out they are about 1" more drop than stock XJ and the same as the one I have. I thought it was a 2" drop but I guess not. I might change it out but I'll see how the shims work first.
Thanks for all the thoughts and replies.
Dave