Hey fellas, So I am finally getting around to installing the manual center link and pitman arm from rare parts on my power steering 76.... well with the hooker headers the room to use a pitman arm puller is nil... I ended up loosening the header at the head and collector to get a clear shot at it.. Well with it finally out I go ahead and install the new one and that's when I find out the plined hole is smaller in size... it won't even remotely engage the splines... while the old one slides right on.. At this point, I don't know if the steering box has been changed on the car or if the part is machined out wrong or its just a year change thing... the pitman arm is the 20130 which according to Oriellys is 1.125 at the splines.. I haven't gone back home to measure the one I have... any insight from the veterans?
I put the new arm up to the shaft and slowly rotate it the full sweep and it never engages the splines.. I do the same with the old arm and it drops into place
Maverick uses same boxes as the '68-'71 Torino, Fairlane, Cyclone etc, all should be same size so I'm assuming your replacement is incorrect... I've swapped a manual arm on a P/S sector, with no issue...
I'm looking to see if I ordered the wrong part or if it was mis-packaged or mis- machined. .. I measured from missing spline to missing spline...
I checked Ford's Master Parts catalog but there isn't enough info to determine sizes on the '69-'71 models... Best info I could come up with is Ford apparently upped the ID from 1" to 1.125" in '67...
It has to be the wrong one sent out or machined wrong... Just Suspension doesn't do phone calls... everything is through email... If I would have known that I probably wouldn't have bought from them.. lets see now how this plays out.
so coming on the third day, and everyone keeps focusing that the car is factory power and the parts i bought are manual.. So I have to explain that I am purposely converting the car over to manual and the reason I bought these parts.. this is the last time I buy from Just Suspension.. there resolution process is just too slow... more time is taken writing emails, than it would have taken with one phone call...
if any cares.... just suspension still hasn't shipped out the new pitman arm, and at first wanted me to pay for the second one and then get a refund for the first one once they received it.... also Rare parts verified that there is a bad batch of the pitman arms... so it continues....
As a FYI I poked around in Hollander Interchange manual and starting '68 all the steering boxes for Fairlane, Falcon Torino, Maverick, Granada* etc are same... Of course there are different ratios for the P/S vs manual boxes, but externally are identical... Unfortunately Hollander doesn't cover Pittman Arms... *There is a exception on Granada for the P/S boxes '76-'80, dunno what that difference is... The manual boxes are same as back to the '68 models I listed above... The 1" vs 1.125" shaft boxes applies ONLY to Mustang, all the intermediates, Falcon and Mav have the 1.125 shaft box(that are different from Mustang 1.125" boxes)...
I ended up calling Rare Parts, and begged them to see if they could do the exchange.. once they saw that not even them had a good phone number for the crackheads at Just Suspension, Glen took charged and is shipping a new Pitman arm and then actually called back later in the day to confirm that UPS had picked it up and called me back today that I should have it tomorrow... So, let see what happens.... Thanks for the research Tom!!!!!!
Well good luck, hope it's correct... The Maverick manual steering box actually dates back to the '62-'64 Fairlane... Hollander doesn't list a a P/S specific box till '65 and it's also same one used in Maverick/Comet... The '66-'67 Falcon and Fairlane are in their own category as some of those used a solid steering shaft instead of the rag joint coupling... Otherwise boxes are same as earlier and later year Fairlanes,. pre '66 Falcons used their own specific box... I once swapped a '67 Falcon solid shaft over to the '68 rag joint box, also had to use the '68 steering column...
Safado, I ran into the exact same problem this evening. I purchased Rare Parts pitman arm #20130 and the thing is to small to spline on the gearbox. What happened after they sent you the new one? Aaron
Sounds like that part was a reBox item. When ever a parts manufacturer would buy another company out. They would rebox that companies parts in there boxes.
