Has anyone here cut and welded a pitman arm? I`m wanting to change from tapered stud to tapered hole for cross steer on my latest project. It`s an early`60`s GM manual box; Pre Vega. I would appreciate any comments and or photos. Thanks Tom T
Forged parts are weldable. But you should be confident in your welding skills. If you doubt your abilities at all call in reinforcments. Fit it up good and bevel it nice and deep. Preheat the pieces to at least 400 degrees (hot-not glowing red). Weld it up. A good root pass and clean top pass. Bury it in a bucket of dry sand to slow the cooling procedure. Pull it out about 8 hours later and file and shape it.
Pitman arms have been cut and welded, heated and bent and God know what else since the beginning of time. I've seen them on old midgets that were brazed. It is a critical part of the car that needs to be done correctly or not at all. Cras need to do two things to keep you alive... steer and stop. The alternative is to cut the ends off, machine them to be welded into a new bar made of flat bar with a large hole in one end for the pitman arm splined slug and a smaller hole for the tapered end for the drag link. Weld and trim for style. Done.
Thanks, guys...That is what I was hoping...Pre-heat and slow cool Is the part I wouldn`t have thought of, but It makse sense. Tom T
Years Ago, I fitted a Mitsubishi Starion power steering box into a Roadrace Corvette [ it gave me a quick steer and internal power steering instead of the ram ] I used the Corvette pitman arm on the Mitsubishi box.[ technically the Corvette pitman arm was never actually cut ] To do this, I bored out the spline of the Corvette pitman arm and also bored a large countersunk taper on both sides. Then I cut the Mitsubishi pitman arm and machined down the splined piece in a lathe making a "plug" . There was about 2 thou interferance fit with the hole in the Corvette pitman arm. I also machined a taper at each end. I then heated up the Corvette pitman arm and pressed in the Mitsubishi plug then let it cool down. After checking everything I got the tapers welded in at each side [ top and bottom ] Also I had centerpunched index marks so I could press every thing together correctly I paid a certified welder to do this part, then it was sent off to be heat treated. I drove with this set up at up to 176mph on the race track and didn't worry about it!
years ago I had a pitman arm cut and welded at Lincoln Electric, I had a good friend that was a supervisor so he got it welded, X-rayed and heat treated and it BROKE the first time out. DON"T weld pitman arms
This doesn't make any sense, I have a pitman arm on my 32 ford that's been welded together for over 60 years.
So, there is one example. I have been welding them for over 25 years. Zero failures. Many are on desert race trucks, rock racing truggys, rock crawlers, and LSR cars. Perhaps there was a problem with the process or the skill-set on yours.
Why not just drill out where the stud is now, drill it to the minor diameter of the taper and then use a tapered reamer to get the proper taper you need?
I believe a lot of State's inspections will not pass a car with welded steering parts. They probably have a good reason for that rule.
Well over 20 years ago I had the pitman arm on my 27 done by a local welder who did fantastic work. I was using a steering box that had the ball and socket end on it originally and wanted to use a tapered Ford tie rod end. He used half of one arm and half of another and welded the two together. It came back so nice that I had it chromed and it has been that way all these years with no problems whatsoever. I wasn't about to trust my welding with something so critical so I had someone I had a lot of confidence in do it. He also shortened the F1 shock mounts for me and those are still in one piece too. It can be done, but needs to be done by the right guy. Don
I put a Nissan PS box in my '67 Bronco 4x4 and ended up splicing the internally splined end into a Ford arm. I cut the parts in a > > , beveled them to get full penetration, TIG root passes from both sides and 7018 out. No problemo !!
Here is a custom non HAMB friendly one i made. I had the Toyota splined end turned down and pressed into a custom 5/8 thick plate and welded. I have also done some as Dons was, i would never let something go that i would not feel safe using. I have also seen several model A arms shortened to slow steering used without problems.
Tsquared, As stated in the above posts, yes this can be done and it can be accomplished safetly. We had to cut my pitman arm to make it work as well. Just make sure the welds are damn good. We then sanded it nicely and put in the paint booth for a nice gloss black finish. Good luck!
I did not read every post so forgive me if this was already mentioned. Fit up the pieces nice, clean everything u good, have a nice bevel and pre heat. Get one of the temp pens from a welding supply so you know you are hot enough. I would not even think about welding with less than a 220 machine.
The best reason is that anyone can buy a welding machine regardless of whether or not they can use it properly. Wrenches are equally as dangerous in the wrong hands but plenty of crappy mechanics still put cars on the road.
Tsquared, hotroddon is on the right track. However, take a good look at the "studded' pitman arm. Alot of fords have a pressed in ball, lightly heat the end up and press the ball stud end out, then taper ream the desired size out. If the end is to big after pressing it out, weld the hole closed then ream it. I have used this practice several times, I have also simply welded them together as everyone else has described.
I didn't know that about how you press the ball out.......good tip. I have one of those laying in the shop that I'll have to do that to. I have the 7 degree tapered reamer so I can make it work with a Ford rod end. Thanks, Don
good Idea, except my pitman arm is GM, and the stud end looks like a ball joint... about 2 inch diameter. This all brings me back to the early `60s when I was in shop class in HS. I had a broken front main leaf on my `40 ford coupe...I took the spring out and started to weld the "eye" back on the main leaf...The instructor told me i COULDN`T weld spring steel ...I welded it anyway; a bead I was proud of, on top and bottom...I put the spring back in...and made it about 3 blocks before it broke off...He was right... Tom T
Don't weld it for your sake and everone else driving down the road, but press out the ball stud and taper ream it to size.
When confronted with a GM tie rod end style pitman arm, I have always been able to find a normal arm off another box that works. On the other hand I welded a lot of pitman arms over the years, with no problems.
Here is mine, Heat it up, weld it, pound on it with a hammer to stress relieve it and wrap in up in fiberglass insulation and leave it for the rest of the day. It will still be warm 8 hours later.
I have welded all my race cars together,built suspensions, gas tanks and anything else I needed and would not hesitate to do some more pitman arms. I trust good welds with my life. Have a great day Gary