pitman arm

V4F

V4F

Well-known member
has anyone had their pitman arm fall off while driving ? a friend was just crusing & no steering at all . stopped & the pitman arm had fallen of the sector shaft . it pinched tight when put together , bolt thru the divit , both ends cotter keyed . any ideas ? ... thank you .. steve
 
Geezz,, thats kinda spooky.. I'm sure it got his attention.. About the only thing that could happen is the pitman arm may have been completely closed and still not tight on the shaft and the bolt may have been too small to engage itself in the relief..
 
Yes, many years ago a friend had his pitman arm come off while driving. The crown of the road made his Model A go off the berm. It appeared that there may not have been a cotter key thereby allowing the nut and bolt to vibrate off. Then the pitman arm slid off the sector due to vibration and/or movement in steering. He was very fortunate not having injuries nor damage.
 
steve norcal said:
has anyone had their pitman arm fall off while driving ? a friend was just crusing & no steering at all . stopped & the pitman arm had fallen of the sector shaft . it pinched tight when put together , bolt thru the divit , both ends cotter keyed . any ideas ? ... thank you .. steve
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Was the bolt thru the pitman arm after it had fallen off the sector shaft or had the bolt come out first? It is all but impossible to fall off if the correct bolt was used and was still thru the hole in the arm. Just trying to understand all the circumstances surrounding this situation. Thanks. Don/WI
 
yes it was completely intact . nothing had fallen off but the arm . absolutly wierd .
the comment on the correct size bolt is something i will investigate .
thank you all & ill follow up when we figure it out ! ................ steve
 
I agree with Don....if everything is orig and put on correct it can not fall off...my 2 cents worth
 
i agree ! im not sure what he did as i wasnt there . possibly he did not get it all the way on . scarey thought tho ............... steve
 
Could the shaft have been so worn that it slipped out of the indent? No mention of the condition of the shaft.
 
new sector shaft . he had just rebuilt the entire car (frame off) , most parts were fresh . he did something wrong , just not sure what ... thank you all .. steve
 
"both ends cotter keyed" Not sure what, or if you meant that. The correct bolt would only have a cotter pin at one end. The other end is locked in place by a flat on the head of the bolt. The pitman arm falling off, now that does sound very scary.
 
we have no idea either . put it back on & driving & checking .

cotter keyed on both ends .... the nut on the pinch bolt & the end cap on the drag link ........................... steve
 
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