Pitman Arm Bending

[OLDCHEV4X4]

Anybody ever heat up and bend a pitman arm before?
Did you quench it?
Did it break with use?
Here's my deal: I got the crossover steering almost done on my Blazer, except for the pitman arm. I read on the net that a 78-79 Ford f150 or Bronco pitman will work on a GM 2wd box. It fits, but it hits the frame when the DLE/TRE is installed. And it is angled the wrong direction about 5 degrees. I want to heat it ,and bend it down a little ,and angle it the other way to make the TRE at 90 degrees at ride height.

It seems to be forged steel. I milled 2 flats down on the big end of the arm so my puller would fit it, and my shell mill was throwing sparks.

What do you guys think.

[FormerMember]

I wouldn't do it. Annealing it would make it softer and of course the metals never the same.

I used a Wagoneer arm on mine. Worked well and I reemed out the end for 1 ton TRE's.

[CDA 455]

Originally Posted by grendel

I wouldn't do it. Annealing it would make it softer and of course the metals never the same.

X2

[OLDCHEV4X4]

I found this on Jalopy Journal:

Do NOT cut the Pitman arm, unless you REALLY know what you are doing.


Heat,bend,allow to cool in still air.
Common question:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/search.php

And this too:

I have heated and bent a few. I think all the factory parts are forged steel. It will take it if you let it cool down slowly as allready said here. If you shorten the arm you will change your steering ratio. Never ever cut one in two and weld back togather. I have seen that type of work fail. my .02 Steve

One more:

I have bent one and it worked just fine. But when you heat it wait till it is red hot and bend slowly, with only mild pressure. Let it cool by itself, then when the one bend has cooled, then do the same for the other bend and you will have what you need and it will be plenty strong. I agree, do not cut and weld, besides looking horrible.

And:

Bucket of sand slows the cooling.


It sounds like these guys do it all the time. But they dont run 33" tires on the front and race through the woods.
I think i will try and find a Wagoneer arm and see if that fits my set-up better.

[rdpchevynut]

I have bent one for a offroad truck never failed on me. but I would never ever do this for something I'd drive on the street. If you cool metal really slow it has beter chance of bending before it would snap off.

[sandking]

How about this, saw this in a different forum and thought...........hhmmm, good or not???

[sandking]

Looks like the stock arm had been cut, then a new mount welded to it.

[rdpchevynut]

(A) for trying but a little thin on the metal.For shure that is somthing I wouldn't do myself

[sandking]

I agree and the material used, but using this pic for reference, would this be safe to cut and weld onto the stock arm?

[topdog]

To me it looks like they put bracing around the stock arm you can see part of it inside.

[rdpchevynut]

Even if you welded it and got full penetration. it would still need some form of heat treating.Being a welder myself I'd still go and get one from a offroad shop.$100.00 to 150.00 bucks for peace of mind is worth it for me.

[OLDCHEV4X4]

To me it looks like they put bracing around the stock arm you can see part of it inside.

I agree. They used a heim joint so they probley want to put the bolt in double shear.

I dont want to spend $100-150 for a pitman arm. If the OEM ones are good enough for the factory. They are good enough for me. Its just finding one that works in the junkyard. Im going this saturday to search for a Wagoneer/ Cherokee /J-10/20 .

[FormerMember]

wfoconcepts.com

Pitman arm new should be less than 80.00

I even went and looked:

http://wfoconcepts.com/Steering/Stee...s/HvyDty4.html

75.00

[LONGHAIR]

Personally I wouldn't worry about bending one. If it is heated enough to bend easily and cooled slowly, it should be fine. The worst you can do is "soften" it slightly. This may make it more susceptible to bending, but not breaking. Cross-over steering will take a lot of the load away anyway, it is far easier on parts.
It shouldn't have to be said, but I haven't seen it so far in this thread so....
Be sure you remove the arm from the steering box before heating it. The heat required to make this bend will definitely hurt the seals in the box.

[OLDCHEV4X4]

I found a Grand Wagoneer finally after 3 junkyards. $20 and some dirt in my eyes. ( forgot my saftey glasses). I tapered the hole just enough to get the cotterpin in so that the stud dosent stick out too much.... And it hits the frame too.
Not by much, but it hits.
So i heated it up and bent it a little, let it cool in still air, and hope for the best.
I'm going to tweek the f150 arm too and put that one on because its beefier than the other one. I will carry the Wagoneer arm as a spare.
Crossover is done and works good.

[sandking]

Cool!! Now show us some pics of the project.....

[dan@bluetorch]

here is one we made....






The pitman arm was made from a stock arm. The splined part that engages the steering box was cut off and machined round. The plate pieces were cut on our cnc plasma table. On the end of the arm where the splines needed to be I left a round hole on the arm body. The splined piece was dropped in the hole. The arm was made for use with a rod end. It was built to run the rod end in double shear. As for welding the arm it was tig welded.

I will see if I can dig up some more pics from the build process and post up. Might help explain a couple things for those wanting to make one.

As for heating and bending a pitman arm I would not recommend it. I have seen many of them fail over the years. I am not saying I know all, but I will say it sucks getting it off the trail with no pitman arm. To me it is not worth the potential breakage. As for the pitman arm we build it is on a purpose built comp rock crawler. It is not driven on the road. The vehicle is only used for comp and trail use.

If you have any questions let me know.

-Dan

[OLDCHEV4X4]

Welcome aboard Dan. Looks like you joined the group today.
I am only running 33 10.50 tires. And my race truck never sees to road. And i am going to carry a spare. If it fails i'll change it, and then take the easy way back to the trailer.
And then i too will preach about why you shouldn't bend a pitman arm.
But for now, I'm gonna give it a try.

[dan@bluetorch]

Originally Posted by OLDCHEV4X4

Welcome aboard Dan. Looks like you joined the group today.
I am only running 33 10.50 tires. And my race truck never sees to road. And i am going to carry a spare. If it fails i'll change it, and then take the easy way back to the trailer.
And then i too will preach about why you shouldn't bend a pitman arm.
But for now, I'm gonna give it a try.

when you bend metal is creates small little cracks in it. sometimes they can be a problem and sometimes not. If you want to bend the part go for it. I was just speaking from past experience I have had on the trail.

[sandking]

Originally Posted by dan@bluetorch

here is one we made....






The pitman arm was made from a stock arm. The splined part that engages the steering box was cut off and machined round. The plate pieces were cut on our cnc plasma table. On the end of the arm where the splines needed to be I left a round hole on the arm body. The splined piece was dropped in the hole. The arm was made for use with a rod end. It was built to run the rod end in double shear. As for welding the arm it was tig welded.

I will see if I can dig up some more pics from the build process and post up. Might help explain a couple things for those wanting to make one.

As for heating and bending a pitman arm I would not recommend it. I have seen many of them fail over the years. I am not saying I know all, but I will say it sucks getting it off the trail with no pitman arm. To me it is not worth the potential breakage. As for the pitman arm we build it is on a purpose built comp rock crawler. It is not driven on the road. The vehicle is only used for comp and trail use.

If you have any questions let me know.

-Dan

Very nice!! How much shipped to So Ca?

[dan@bluetorch]

Originally Posted by sandking

Very nice!! How much shipped to So Ca?

LOL... we built one for our Red Bull comp car. They changed the rules shortly after building the car. They can is now running full hydro. The pitman arm is actually in So Cal.

It is very easy to make one. Let me know if you need some pointers.

-Dan

[FormerMember]

Originally Posted by dan@bluetorch

LOL... we built one for our Red Bull comp car. They changed the rules shortly after building the car. They can is now running full hydro. The pitman arm is actually in So Cal.

It is very easy to make one. Let me know if you need some pointers.

-Dan

That is provided you can weld like Dan... and understand metallurgy like he does.

[sandking]

Originally Posted by dan@bluetorch

LOL... we built one for our Red Bull comp car. They changed the rules shortly after building the car. They can is now running full hydro. The pitman arm is actually in So Cal.

It is very easy to make one. Let me know if you need some pointers.

-Dan

I could easily make my own, but I figured yours is done, eliminating my labor time No problem. Thanks anyway.

[dan@bluetorch]

Originally Posted by sandking

I could easily make my own, but I figured yours is done, eliminating my labor time No problem. Thanks anyway.

the one I made was a one off deal. Sorry. I will see if I have more pics. maybe it will help others with more ideas.

-Dan

[OLDCHEV4X4]

Update:
I finished the Line Mountain race with no pitman arm problems. I did all 5 laps, and they are 5 mile laps, so 25 miles of abuse. The center link was bent up from a side hit against the tire. I didn't know it was bent till i finished the race.
I also developed a power steering leak, a fuel leak, broke one of the RR shocks, and got some more body damage.
I used the F150 pitman arm. Heated it till cherry red. Bent it about a 1/2" to 3/4". And let it cool in still air hanging from a coat hanger.
So far so good. But time will tell.