Steering gear removal...

[Bonnewagon]

Did you torque the stud to the pitman arm as per the manual? And there is still a tiny gap between the center link and the pitman arm? There is supposed to be a thick foam washer in that gap.It comes with a new center link.Perhaps yours got lost over the years?

 

[83cutlasssedan]

The box I installed had the pitman arm attached already so I just swapped out the old box and pitman arm with the new one. The car has been in my family since new and as far as I know there hasn't been any work done on the linkage. Do you think it will be alright the way it is? The front end feels nice and tight when driving.

 

[Bonnewagon]

You should be good to go. When you got the linkage away from the old box/pitman was there a greasy cruddy looking circular thing in there? That would have been the old foam washer. Not uncommon for it to be missing.As long as you torqued it to specs and put a new cotter pin in-you should be fine.

 

[83cutlasssedan]

Thanks for the reply. I think I may have described this wrong. The linkage I am referring to is where the pitman arm connects to the steering rod. (not where the steering box connects to the pitman arm). Where the pitman arm bolts onto the steering rod at a joint is where there is a small gap. There is a lube nipple on the bottom of the joint and the pitman arm bolts on top of the joint with a nut . There was no washer or cotter pin. I will double check to see if there is a hole in the top of the bolt for a cotter pin. Is that the same thing you are referring to?

 

[Bonnewagon]

Yes,that is what I was referring to. If there's no cotter pin then it should be a "torque prevailing nut" that is a bit taller than a normal nut and has tiny little dashes on the sides. Most replacement center links come with both a castellated nut/cotter pin and a torque prevailing nut to cover all years.. But the little 2mm gap is usually filled in with the foam washer. The pitman arm and the center link should not touch-hence the gap. Again-if you torqued it properly and it feels solid-you will be fine. If you are the paranoid type then get a new nut from a parts store. The factory manual advises useing a new nut each time. That's why I prefer the cotter pin type.

 

[83cutlasssedan]

Thanks a lot for the info. I'm not too concerned about the nut. It looked to be in really good shape and was torqued up properly I think. It was a little tricky getting the torque wrench in there but should be good. cheers.