Technical Pitman Arm options for Mustang steering box

I'm looking for help in finding options for the pitman arm on a '67 Mustang steering box. I've searched (seemingly) everywhere with no luck. The issue with the arm I currently have, is that the taper is in the opposite direction from what I need. The arm I have looks like this:

Pitman by UncleD posted Jun 12, 2020 at 2:58 PM

But I need the tie rod end to be attached in the other direction. Something like this:

Pitman2 by UncleD posted Jun 12, 2020 at 2:58 PM

Worst case, I'll cut my current arm, flip it and find a pro welder to put it back together. Any help/advice would be great! - Thanks.

 

Won't it steer backwards with the arm flipped?

 

If you are going to use the current arm in it's current orientation and only want the drag link to connect from the outside, it looks like that arm is plenty thick enough to ream half way from the outside with a 7 degree reamer and install the drag link.

 

Try calling Pete and Jake's, I think their Mustang arm is tapered on the outside?

 

Sorry... I just used that picture to illustrate the mounting direction of the tie rod end. I need it to be inserted from the outside in rather than from the inside out.

 

Good idea!

 

Taper ream as said above or drill out and use a heim end

 

Taper ream the small end.
DON'T use heim (spherical rod) ends on the street.
Dust=short longevity. In some provinces/states/areas they fail inspections.
Ideal for racing on smooth tracks, not roads.

 

Well, it's amazing how easy it is for me to get tunnel vision. The heim end is another great suggestion.

 

I used a '68 Mustang box and a stock '67 Mustang pitman arm. Allowed the draglink to be mounted on the outside of the pitman.

 

Now we're talkin'! Thanks.

 

It is not, as Mike said.

 

Make sure you know the diameter of the shaft coming out of the box. There are 1 inch and 1-1/4 inch. I think the size changed between '67 and '68. All mustang boxes in the USA work properly as overthrow arms. If you mount it underthrow, like F-1, F150, etc. you will turn in the opposite direction you were intending. Good luck with that, geniuses!

 

Back in the mid 70's I knew a kid that did just that. Read an article in a magazine on how using a Mustang Box as a push-pull box was the hot lick of the week and ran out and bought one at a wrecking yard and mounted it to the top of the frame rail and ran the arm down. I didn't get to see the show on the first test drive but when his buddy told me about it he was laughing so hard that he couldn't catch his breath. When I saw it they had gone back and read the article though a couple of times and had the box unbolted and the bracket cut off and were making a new bracket. Story was that it had been aimed out of the garage and they got the box and drag link bolted up, jumped in it for a test ride and straight down the short driveway, turned the wheel to the right and went left on the street.

 

Just re-taper from other side. Only go half-way, the tapers will meet in the middle. Did it before in a Vega pitman arm to get the drag link on the side I wanted.
Also some GM steering arms to raise the tie rod.

 

Mustang boxes can be reversed but you'd have to rework the mount!

 

I bought a 7 degree tapered reamer from Speedway Motors a couple decades ago. I have used it on countless pitman arms and spindle arms to ream them half way from the other side to flip the tie rod or drag link. Just clamp the arm to your drill press platen and sneak up on the taper. Keep measuring as it's hard to put the steel back if you take too much.

And, Heim ends don't belong on the street.

 

Again, I appreciate all of the replies. Looks like I need to buy a reamer. Just to complete some the story from the other replies, The box is 1-1/8" output shaft & (luckily) it turns correctly.

 

The stock arm set up seems to work with mine in my roadster. I took the steering box out of a 68 cougar with power assisted steering.

 

In the 4 x 4 world they do make/sell adapters the you straight drill the taper to a certain size and press in a taper bung opposite of the existing taper.

 

C'mon guys. Spherical Rod ends have been used for a long time; and since Seals It came out with seals and Qa1 came out with the sealed rod end series there is no reason not to use them when they will do the intended job. When I built my rear suspension I used greaseable rod ends, back in '74. I did make a mold and made seals, one shot of grease in the spring, wipe off what gets by the seal and good to go..Probably got well over 80k miles, wear is immeasurable. Yes I have checked. When I built a heavy duty front tie rod I used the Qa1 rod ends and the Seals It seals I think in late 90's so would have about 30k miles now and there is no measurable wear as of yet.

 

Heim ends have come a long ways...yes they are a little more clunky if used thru out the steering system...but for single point use there is no problem...if you buy cheapies like some outfits are selling you might have a problem...I use mil spec heims that will support 10x the weight of my truck...and seals can be gotten thru most 4x4 suppliers

 

The taper on the stud of a tie rod end assures a perfectly tight fit. Unless the bolt through the ball of the Heim has zero clearance, there is bound to be a chance for slop there. Nobody reams their Heim ends for a perfect fit to the bolt.

As you can tell, I hate slop in steering systems.

 

I have been running them on the Track Roadsters I build, some over 22 years and one with 27,000 miles. The ones I use are precision, with 3/4" shank and 5/8" eye, never had a failure, or found them to get sloppy. We used to run on some rough dirt tracks, and that is what is used for that application.

 

I can imagine your precision Heims are much better than the average steering kit that Joe Blow buys from Speedway Motors.

 

They also make Teflon lined heims and those combined with Seal-it seals has worked great for me for literally decades. It's not the 1970's anymore.