I posted last night about pitman and idlerarms... when I called the local atuo parts store that wanted to know if I have a 3 or a 4 groove pitman.... I remove the skid plate i hoping ennough of the shaftmight show to determine which i have .. no luck I cant see ****.. any one know if its a 3 or a 4 groove?? while doing so I had my girl move the wheel to see the slopp. It looks like the slopp is in the steerin shaft it not the pitman or idler arm. there was 3/4 of a turn on the steering shaft before movement on the pitman arm.. any suggestions??? need some tips on removing the pitman arm quickly also if I dont have to remove the entire steering geer to replace it!

 

i Recenty had to replace my pitman and idler. The idler isnt that bad but that box gets in the way of the pitman. If you look on your fender wall that box is held by 3 bolts u can simply undo them and hold it up to get enough room to get your pitman off. Shouldbe able to get the parts store to pull up what you need. O yeh if your thinking about bringing it to a shop you will pay about 200 for a install and align, and prolly another 250 for parts. I bought the moog parts with a dealers discount for 170 but i ran into a problem when trying to get a shop to put it on, no one wanted to touch it, but if you look around enough someone will although they may not warrenty it.

 

i spent the day under my truck yesterday i changed oil, tranny filter fluid, front and rear diffs and tranfercase. I know there is other posts about this... all im gonna say is DO IT!!! DO IT!! besides my steering being horrible My H2 rolls like a new truck.

While the truck was on the lift we tryed to diagnose the steering issues further... there is play in my pitman and idler arms but it is very minimalalmost unnoticeable.The steerin wheel itself will go left or right 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn before anymovement in the pitman arm. I can see the shaft going into the steeringgear turning in tune with the steering wheel, but theres a delay on the pitman arm... SO I guess my steering gear is no good. I havent had any clunking like I read so much about. Did they resolve the shaft issue? I have an 05 .

 

Ok, the pitman arm and the idler arm go bad often I've seen them with wear at 24000 miles. The 3 or 4 grooves that the parts store wants to know about are accually called blind splines. They will be evenly spaced out around the pitman arm and pitman shaft. you will have a total of between 24 and 32 splines but they want to know that number of blind splines (thick or wide splines). You will need to take the nut andlock washer off of the pitman shaft to see the splines.One way to check the wear of the pitmanarm andIdler arm is to take a pair of channel locks grab the inner tierod (the big hex headed thing close to the Pitman arm and the Idler arm with the grease fitting pointing striaght down). Rotate the inner tie rod from front to back and see how much play is in thepitman and idler. if you do this with the wheels off of the ground watch the wheels turn left and right as you rotate the inner tie rod. You will be suprised how little wear will make the tires turn so much. This causes premature tire wear and wandering while driving. The dealer will tell you that there is a procedure other than the one I described using a dial indicator. They will tell you that it is .010th of an inch up and down movement in the pitman and idler arms, this is crap.

As far as the clunk in the steering it is the intermediate shaft from the firewall to the steering gear. The dealer will tell you that it needs to be packed with grease, have them replace the shaft.

If you have 1/2 to 3/4 turn in the steering wheel befor the wheels start to turn you either have a bad rag joint at the top of the steering box or the steering box is trashed. Good luck with the repairs.

One other thing, if you buy a new pitman arm install it then after you torque the nut pull the nut off and make sure the pitman shaft splines areNOT flush with the pitman arm. I've seen where the nut has been tightened and the arm is loose on the shaft. it won't show up until after you take it out on the road then you'll have a scary ride.

 

Well guys it looks like I have a worn steering box. Ive tryed all methods ive heard or read about to check for slopp or play in my pitman and Idler arms. they are very worn but It defintly isnt the cause of my problem. the slopp is in the box. I held my hand on the shaft coming out of the top of steering gear and there was no slippage at the connection. I havent experienced any clunking yet... im gonna replace everything.

Will i have to adjust the steering gear as far as setting the "full Turn" points or "stop Points"?? Do i just slap the new one in and tighten everything up?Of course i will have it aligned professionally. but as far as getting rolling anything I should keep an eye out for?