ok i had a king pin question but upon closer inspection there is a considerable amount of play between the pitman arm and the drag link...my question is, which is the more likely problem, the drag link or the pitman arm? is there a bushing in the pitman arm? my thought is that the drag link is ok and that i should replace the pitman arm....not trying to be cheap but money doesnt grow on trees...any thoughts on this???

 

Most likely a Pitman arm IMO.....but it's really just a guess on my part......

 

upon closer, closer inspection it turns out the joint on the end of the drag link is broken...the end wobbles inside the pitman arm with no motion from the drag link...sounds dangerous....what exactly is holding that end on??? it looks like its broken clean off and that it could just fall out...im not gonna drive it again till i replace the center link for safety's sake...anyone ever seen the end break off like that?? agagin i dont even know whats hoding it in at this point...

 

Does your draglink look like this? If so, the joint is in the drag link, and the pitman arm is just a tapered hole. You will have to get a pickle fork and seperate the draglink from the pitman arm.

But if the tapered hole is wore out in the pitman arm, you will need that too.

 

you might know.....a 50/50 chance and I guessed wrong......

I would replace them both.....

 

thanks for the replies...i replaced the drag link...the ball joint on the old one was TRASHED...the pitman arm felt smooth in the hole where the ball joint goes, so i didnt replace it...when i put the ball joint back through the pitman arm and tightened the castle nut it threaded way down past the cotter pin hole...it seemed to be much tighter...i drove it and it was MUCH more responsive even though my eyeball alignment wasnt perfect...my question is should that castle nut thread so far down? also whats the best way to align it in the driveway to get it good enough to drive for a few miles?

thanks for the help.

 

If you want to align the toe, and possibly not even have to go to the shop, try the method in this link. It's a little time consuming, but it actually works.

http://www.nationaltbucketalliance.c...ment/index.asp