[JT98Durango]

Anybody used a replacement pitman arm from advance lately for a 98 to 99 4x4? I had my pitman and idler replaced on the durango and after aligning everything up the steering wheel is about 90 degrees off. I took it to the alignment shop and they pulled the pitman arm off and confirmed the splines are lining up correctly with the 4 keyweights. They are claiming a manufactures defect in it. They can get the toe perfect and the truck drives straight just the wheel is off. Anybody else experienced this?

 

[ruffnrowdy19]

i have the same problem. back when my mom had the durango she nailed a curb at like 40 and now the steering wheel is 90 degress off. i had alignment check and everything, cant seem to figure out the problem. im about the take the steering wheel off and just crank it down straight with an impact gun. prob will never be able to get it off again but oh well. lol

 

[Hahns5.2]

i have the same problem. back when my mom had the durango she nailed a curb at like 40 and now the steering wheel is 90 degress off. i had alignment check and everything, cant seem to figure out the problem. im about the take the steering wheel off and just crank it down straight with an impact gun. prob will never be able to get it off again but oh well. lol

The Sector shaft may have been twisted, very very very bad deal, prone to snap off when that happens.

 

[KotaKid287]

Anybody used a replacement pitman arm from advance lately for a 98 to 99 4x4? I had my pitman and idler replaced on the durango and after aligning everything up the steering wheel is about 90 degrees off. I took it to the alignment shop and they pulled the pitman arm off and confirmed the splines are lining up correctly with the 4 keyweights. They are claiming a manufactures defect in it. They can get the toe perfect and the truck drives straight just the wheel is off. Anybody else experienced this?

If thats what the problem is they need to replace the part under a parts warranty and recheck the alignment.

 

[KotaKid287]

The Sector shaft may have been twisted, very very very bad deal, prone to snap off when that happens.

Agreed, something bent in your steering system. You've got a time bomb in the front of your truck that could lead to a potentially serious accident that could kill someone.

 

[ruffnrowdy19]

well when i do my body lift within the next few weeks ill check everything out since i have to extend the steering bar anyways. might as well take it all apart and see whats messing it up. its been that way for about a year now.

 

[6shooter]

if its that big of an issue, just adjust the tie rod ends in on one side and out on the other equal amounts. your wheels will stay pointed exactly the same, it will just set the pitman and idler arm a few degrees off and re center your wheel. if the truck was fine until the pitman arm was replaced, nothing is a "time bomb" in your steering system. just the simple fact that the splines in the pitman arm are formed a degree or two off factory specs.

 

[hskrRT]

You sure the wheel didn't get turned during the pitman arm swap?? I have never pulled one, but if the splines/keyways are evenly spaced you could have it basically one "cog" off. Try putting the wheels straight, pulling the pitman arm, turning the steering wheels straight and seeing if you can get the pitman arm back on. I'm going to be replacing the one on my '94 soon if nobody buys this thing in the next week.

 

[KotaKid287]

if its that big of an issue, just adjust the tie rod ends in on one side and out on the other equal amounts. your wheels will stay pointed exactly the same, it will just set the pitman and idler arm a few degrees off and re center your wheel. if the truck was fine until the pitman arm was replaced, nothing is a "time bomb" in your steering system. just the simple fact that the splines in the pitman arm are formed a degree or two off factory specs.

I'm talking about the one driving around with something bent in his steering system after hitting a curb being the "time bomb". And being a degree or even two off isn't enough to make the steering wheel that far off, it was either installed improperly or was made improperly, either way the shop should be fixing it at no charge to the OP. Also the trouble with adjusting the tie rods that far to correct the steering wheel is that one side tie rod will not have enough threads left holding the inner tie rod to the outer tie rod and it could fail.

 

[6shooter]

I'm talking about the one driving around with something bent in his steering system after hitting a curb being the "time bomb". And being a degree or even two off isn't enough to make the steering wheel that far off, it was either installed improperly or was made improperly, either way the shop should be fixing it at no charge to the OP. Also the trouble with adjusting the tie rods that far to correct the steering wheel is that one side tie rod will not have enough threads left holding the inner tie rod to the outer tie rod and it could fail.

oh, i got ya.

but that last part is BS. tie rods are like 1.5" inside the sleeve. the quarter inch at the MOST you would adjust them in/out is not gonna make them fail, even under extreme conditions.

 

[KotaKid287]

We're talking about a Dakota here, not a Ram, no sleeves on the tie rods and there isn't but about an inch of the inner tie rod sticking into the outer tie rode on a Dak. Even just 1/4" is a pretty decent amount of strength lost, you can have at it if you want, its simply not worth the risk to myself and those around me to rig something up like that imo. Fix it right the first time and forget about it.

 

[6shooter]

We're talking about a Dakota here, not a Ram, no sleeves on the tie rods and there isn't but about an inch of the inner tie rod sticking into the outer tie rode on a Dak. Even just 1/4" is a pretty decent amount of strength lost, you can have at it if you want, its simply not worth the risk to myself and those around me to rig something up like that imo. Fix it right the first time and forget about it.

should have worded that differently. the outter tie rod is the threaded female part ("sleeve" i was referring to) and the inner tie rod is the threaded male rod that screws into the sleeve. the outter tie rod ends have like 3" of thread on them. last time i did mine, i think was just shy of 2" into the outter tie rod end with the inner, and it only took fine tuning at the alignment shop.


but anyways, if the shop will get the correct part and do it free, may as well do it. im just sayin there isnt a front end gonna fall apart anytime soon from the wheel being a little outta whack or from something being slightly bent from hitting a curb. ive hit lots of shit with my vehicles and knocked the alignment off. the tiny bit it takes to knock an alignment off wouldnt even be noticeable in the steering parts unless they were taken out and measured with precision tools.

 

[Rich1978]

Anybody used a replacement pitman arm from advance lately for a 98 to 99 4x4? I had my pitman and idler replaced on the durango and after aligning everything up the steering wheel is about 90 degrees off. I took it to the alignment shop and they pulled the pitman arm off and confirmed the splines are lining up correctly with the 4 keyweights. They are claiming a manufactures defect in it. They can get the toe perfect and the truck drives straight just the wheel is off. Anybody else experienced this?

I have a 97 dakota sport and I'm having the same issue I replaced all the tie rods and ball joints Drove the truck awhile and it was fine well about 6 months later I replaced a pittman arm it shot my steering wheel 90 degrees off and it turned harder right then left to where the inside of the wheels would rub turning right so I pulled the steering gear with the same pittman arm I turned the gear right to left then centered it thinking I clocked the pittman arm wrong get it all back together and again 90 degrees off on the steering wheel I'm wondering if the 93 and the 97 dakotas are clocked different when the splines are machined and I got the wrong pittman arm the 2 pittman arms look very similar but I have not put the 2 together and compared them but I put a pittman arm on a 93 dakota and it was also clocked right and the steering wheel was 90degrees off so makes me wonder if somehow one will fit the other and it was a manufacturer error or somthing also when I tightened up the pittman arm at the center link it seemed to pull the center link up far enough using the pittman arm nut to the point of the cotter pin being like 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the castle nut slot like the shaft of the pittman arm is to small cause it pulls through the taper of the center link to far anyone else run into this problem