Model A Pitman Arm

D

der_meister77

Junior Member
I have been working on my project Model A (early 1930 sedan) this weekend and ran into an issue with my steering pitman arm. I compared my arm with those in the parts catalogs and it looks like my arm is different! Attached are a couple photos of what I have.

My pitman arm measures just under 8 3/4 inches end to end. It does have a FORD script forge mark (blurry in the one photo).

So is my pitman arm correct? or am I just seeing things when I look at the pictures of the arms from the catalogs? In the catalogs they do no appear to have any kind of curve to them. Mine definitely has a curve and even a bit of a twist.


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I thought of the possibility that this could have somehow become bent over the years. But when i look closely I seem to think more that this was cast in this shape. I think I have a pitman arm from a different Ford, but what? Anybody recognize this?

Or maybe it just really is bent....
 
A replacement ( straight ) is readily available and very reasonable. You might consider the shortened pitman arm which in my opinion makes steering a lot easier.
All the Model A parts suppliers stock them !
Al
 
I love my short pitman arm, however I find it very difficult to believe that yours is bent, looks cast that way to me. It will be easy to test it on your A and see if it lines up and operates correctly.
 
It almost looks as if someone bent it purposely perhaps, in an ill fated attempt to center the steering wheel ???? I have seen stranger things done!

I also like the shortened pitman arm. I have one on my sedan, and it steers easier than the coupe.
 
It's bent and twisted. Don't mess with it. Get a new one. Imagine what it would be like to have a pitman arm break, or have the ball come off. Been there.
 
That arm is bent for sure. The car was probable in a wreck at one time. Might have hit some thing with the front wheel. You might want to check the other steering arms to see if they are ok. The arm is forged so it could bend if hit hard.
 
George Miller said:
That arm is bent for sure. The car was probable in a wreck at one time. Might have hit some thing with the front wheel. You might want to check the other steering arms to see if they are ok. The arm is forged so it could bend if hit hard.
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Seems like the frame of the car that it was on would be bent or twisted due to the fact that the steering box is rigidly mounted to the frame.
 
Geo. H said:
It's bent and twisted. Don't mess with it. Get a new one. Imagine what it would be like to have a pitman arm break, or have the ball come off. Been there.
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Me to! Had a poorly made short pitman arm break while Model A was in motion. Kind of like being a passenger in an airplane that is crashing. All you can do is sit there and watch the scenery go by.
 
The arm should be straight, but have a twist to it. If you look down from the steering box end, and with the steering shaft hole at 3-9 o'clock, the axis of the ball will around 11:30 position. This is because the chassis tapers in and the drag link travels out slightly. The RHD arms are twisted slightly the other way.
 
Ross/Kzoo said:
Seems like the frame of the car that it was on would be bent or twisted due to the fact that the steering box is rigidly mounted to the frame.
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You would think so, but maybe the steering gear is on a different frame now. After 80 years could be anything.
 
That pitman arm looks like the one I replaced on my '29. I though it was forged that way also, but the vendor catalogs show they are straight so I replaced it. The tierod i replaced also had a like four inch bend in it.
 

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That arm is scrap metal.

Not only is it bent, but the ball is worn too much to be used (assuming the picture is not stretched).

If you can feel a ridge on the ball then you have an idea that it is bad. That one looks very worn.
 
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