What are these things made of? Powdered steel? I had finished tightening down the tie rod end on my arm, and was bringing the nut around so I could put a cotter pin in it, and heard a loud "pang!". I wasn't heavily torquing on it either, just my regular barehanded Kung-fu gorilla grip. The hole in the end of the arm where the drag link tie rod goes through cracked straight through. I'd take pictures, but my camera crapped out on me. Who makes a good Vega arm that won't kill me?
the original pitman arms that came on vegas from GM were forged . there is no way you split it doing what you described...unless there is something we don't know. did you heat and bend an original one and cooled it with water? or is this some cheaply made aftermarket piece? who made it?
I'm pretty sure I got it from Speedway, their standard non-chromed, double tapered Vega arm. I haven't modifed it at all, and like I said, I didn't torque on it with a breaker bar or anything. I've never had any tie rod hole crack like this before. It went from the hole to the outside edge, so it didn't snap off, just cracked. I don't really want to buy another one from Speedway if I can. Any source for a good forged unit?
sounds like Speedway is selling some crap, i won't guess as to where they are being made .i like to heat and bend an original pitman arm and then re-taper for the old ford tie rod end..but if i was to buy a new plain one i'd get it from Pete & Jakes http://www.peteandjakes.com/parts/parts_dept/pitmanArms.htm
Pretty scary stuff. It helps to be picky when it comes to things like suspension and steearing components. Speedway items are usually not very good quality.
That sounds like a junk part. On a related note, the saginaw 525 pitman arm I bought from Speedway was in a Pete and Jakes wrapper, so who knows.
Pretty sure there was a thread about this on another forum a year or so ago, Speedway should make it right with you...did you buy the arm awhile ago? Like maybe 2 years or so?
You had a flawed casting, they're not Xraying those suckers and with chinese foundry control one batch could be great and the next full of shrinkage porosity. The forging process is designed to eliminate those defects, so whatever you buy, make sure it's forged.
I was building the chassis probably about 2 years ago... I was driving the car last summer. Was there bad batch?
I'm going by memory, so don't take it as "fact", as I recall from the thread, some guys pitman arm broke as he was driving or just taking off...he contacted Speedway, seems Speedway pulled all the parts from thier shelves etc., then sourced a new manufactuer. I'll try to google it and see if i can pull it up.
offshore shit again! must be that "pakistani potmetal" you know that shit with the rocks mixed in! same stuff they make those "mexican" sbc blocks with
If you Google "broke Speedway pitman arm", you'll get a few hits...but none that i recall reading earlier.
The broken one was for a Corvair box. I think it broke straight across and not near a hole... Normal tie rod end taper has a strong outward push on hole...makes a good test for bad stuff!
The problem with these things is the non-GM "double taper" that is tapered from BOTH sides. This idea is really convienient allowing you to install the tie rod from either side but it reduces the tapered loading area by 50%.....think about it, effectively if you looked at a cross-section of that part, the hole has an "hourglass" look to it. Personally, I won't use one that has a "double taper".......but that's just me, I'm a little anal about steering and suspension pieces.
This is a great thread...a pitman arm is a very simple but important item that some overlook...just look at the one I took off a Hot Rod and replaced.
I think the CE and P&J pieces are flame-cut steel, not cast. I'd check with these guys directly. Nice piece you removed. Were they trying to change the ratio or clearance issue and just drilled another hole?
I agree 100%.........so many people just grab a pitman arm and bolt it on.....or heat & bend it (incorrectly) and even drill the damn things out. I wish I hadn't thrown one away that was a perfect example, the builder wanted to put a different tierod end on his car, the hole and taper in the arm was too small so he just drilled it out...no taper. With some various washers and locktite he drove it that way for quite a while. I got it to fix his "death wobble"......this was just one of his problems.
Call Speedway. They had to pull their crappy Corvair arms off the market. Sounds like the Vega arms came from the same place.
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