Hey guys,
I am doing the Toyota steering box swap and the pitman arm is available from 2 diff companies and a $40 diff in price. One company makes one for the 48-50 truck and sells for $99, the other company lists one but says it only fits 53-56 for $59. In looking at the pics of the stocker arm in the NPD catalog, it looks like they may be the same dimensions, but the 53-56 had the bolt that clamped it tight to the shaft, whereas the 48-50 was just pressed on. I'm thinking that if they are the same length and the ball is on the same side, I can save $40 since they will both have the Toyota spline top end anyway. Am I correct in this assumption?

Thanks in advance...

 

The critical difference is the size of the ball. They are different. I think you can use the '53-'56 Toyota pitman arm on the earlier trucks if you also use the later drag link and change to the later ball in the spindle arm. In the end, it's probably just cheaper and easier to pay the extra $40 for the correct arm and be done with it.

 

Yep, took your advice and ordered the 48-50 arm today. They had everything in stock for the Toyota box along with 6 other parts.

Has anyone else ordered from CPP and had the fortune of everything they ordered being on backorder? I ordered the king pin set 3 weeks ago, was supposed to ship in two days but now its backordered. Then yesterday I ordered the front disc brake kit and found out the rotors are backordered but they expected them to be in their shipment that day. Will wait and see if they get shipped to me next week. Hope so, I hate waiting on parts.

 

Ok then riddle me this.... if you look in the NPD catalog for a replacement ball stud, it lists the exact same part number for everything from a 48-56 and F1 - F250.

I ordered the pitman from the more expensive company and was not impressed with the machine work. Very square and crude looking. I have one on order from CPP and in the photo it looks more refined. Will let you know if there is a difference int he ball size or not. Push comes to shove, I will use the old ball from my original linkage and weld it into the new arm.

 

Well, &@!!%&! I just went through a couple catalogs and they show the ***** as being the same for '48-'56 also. For that matter, they show the drag link as being the same too. When I posted earlier, I relayed the information that I've read in our tech article on the subject here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...ml#post5817200

Maybe the catalogs are saying that the later parts can be used to replace the older ones. Maybe they're exactly the same to begin with. It would be nice if someone with an original parts manual could check this out for us. If it turns out that that info in the article is incorrect, then we should get it changed. Sorry if I lead you astray. (sigh) I tried. Keep us posted.

 

According to the original parts manual, the pitman arms are different betewwn the 48-52 and 53-later trucks. The way they mount to the sector shaft on the steering box is totally different. The early truck's arm is held in place by a giant lockwasher and nut, where the later trucks use a nut and bolt clamping method, squeezing the arm to the sector shaft. So those parts wouldn't interchange. There are no dimensions given for either part, and it doesn't show the ball on the end as being serviced separately.

This probably isn't much help to determine what parts need to be used with the Toyota swap, except it seems they would not be the stock pieces. Sorry.

 

A8TZ-3A533-A .. Draglink Ball Stud Repair Kit / Obsolete

Fits: 1948/52 F1/F2/F3 / 1953/56 F100/250.

Listed in Vol I - Text (*), Section 35, Page 131 / Pictured in Vol II - Illustrations, Section 32, Page 63.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8C-3590 .. Pitman Arm / Obsolete

Fits: 1948/52 F1/F2/F3.
-----------------------
TRAA-3590-B .. Pitman Arm / Obsolete

Fits: 1953/56 F100/250.

* Source: 1948/56 Ford Truck Parts Catalog, available on a CD from hipoparts.com.

 

Thanks for the source reference. I'm going to have to get me one of those.

 

Just for added clarity, the drag link ball stud repair kit (old number A9C-3312-B , 48-52 F-1-2-3, 53-55 F-100-250) contains all the pieces to rebuild one end of the drag link; seats, spring, plug, clamp, cotter pin, etc.* If the ball on the end of your pitman arm is bad, you would replace the entire unit.

*Source: Ford Truck Chassis Parts Catalog 1948-55, Nov. 54 Edition, p.80.

 

The photo in the NPD catalog shows pieces from two different kits and applications. The grouping on the right, with the ball stud in it, is for 74-77 F-250 4x4. The grouping on the left shows the pieces to rebuild one end of the drag link, as I described above. The ball on the end of the pitman arm is still not serviced separately.

The replacement ball stud you see (3134) is for the steering arm at the spindle, not the pitman arm. But based on the information in the parts catalogs, it appears the ***** that fit on either end of the drag link are the same size from 48-52 F-1-2-3 through 53-56 F-100/250.

Riddle solved.

 

Ok, just to put all the rumors and speculation to bed. I ordered the 53-56 Toyo pitman arm from CPP and it arrived this week and the ball stud matches my original 1950 F-3 ball stud perfectly. So let it be known that this arm will work on ALL 48-56 F-1 - F-3 trucks.

Now to start the assembly process.

 

Good information, I was wondering about this.

 

bringing this 5 year old post back to life. Has anyone else used the 53-56 pitman arm on a 48-52 f1 with toyota power steering conversion? i'm asking because i can get a CPP 53-56 pitman arm from CPP's ebay page for pretty much free using an ebay gift card i received. although a previous post states it will work, i usually wait until other people chime in with success stories before i attempt it.