Pitman Arm Torque Specs

01MercGMLS

01MercGMLS

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Does anyone know the torque specs for both nuts on the pitman arm?

I can't seem to locate any info on it.

Thanks,
Aaron

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Assuming this question is about a -2002 car:

Torque Specifications Description Lb-Ft
Steering gear sector shaft arm to sector shaft retaining nut and lockwasher 225
Steering sector shaft arm drag link-to-steering idler arm and bracket nut 56 *
Steering gear sector shaft arm to sector shaft arm drag link nut 56
Tie-rod end retaining nut 41 *
Steering idler arm and bracket to front sub-frame bolt 59
Tie-rod clamp to adjusting sleeve 21

* Tighten to specification, then tighten the nut to the nearest cotter pin slot and insert the cotter pin.
 
2001 Grand Marquis LS. Having a hell of a time getting the nut off the gearbox end. Soaked it with PB Blaster yesterday. Going to try again this evening.

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01MercGMLS said:
2001 Grand Marquis LS. Having a hell of a time getting the nut off the gearbox end. Soaked it with PB Blaster yesterday. Going to try again this evening.

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They don’t normally come off easily. Best off to use a good quality impact or long breaker bar.


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justbob said:
They don’t normally come off easily. Best off to use a good quality impact or long breaker bar.


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Hit it with an electric impact with no result. I don't have a long breaker bar but I have a long torque wrench. Maybe I'll give that a try. All else fails I'll take it to my buddy's shop and use his impact. I just don't want to bother him.

Thanks for all the help!

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That is probably the tightest nut on the entire car. 250 ft-lbs iirc. Add 17 years of neglect, it's gonna take some work to get it off. I remember doing this job on my '80 Ford... used the handle from my 2 1/2 ton jack to get it off. Removing the Pitman arm itself was the next challenge. You'll need a pitman arm remover and a BFH
 
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Here are the specs from the 1994 CV/MGM shop manual...

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GetMeMyStogie said:
That is probably the tightest nut on the entire car. 250 ft-lbs iirc. Add 17 years of neglect, it's gonna take some work to get it off. I remember doing this job on my '80 Ford... used the handle from my 2 1/2 ton jack to get it off. Removing the Pitman arm itself was the next challenge. You'll need a pitman arm remover and a BFH
Click to expand...
I have both of those items. LOL the only thing I don't have is the long handle. I'm trying to decide what I can possibly use to remove that nut. I tried my ratchet and I don't have a breaker bar in 1/2 inch. I'm thinking about my half inch torque wrench because it's pretty long.

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01MercGMLS said:
I have both of those items. LOL the only thing I don't have is the long handle. I'm trying to decide what I can possibly use to remove that nut. I tried my ratchet and I don't have a breaker bar in 1/2 inch. I'm thinking about my half inch torque wrench because it's pretty long.

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Definitely go with a breaker bar, 3/4" if you can get your hands on one. 1/2" might do, or it might snap - get one with a free replacement guarantee. Get a long piece of pipe - like 3 or 4 feet long - that's big enough to go over the breaker bar handle. Or, a 3-4 foot breaker bar.
Torque wrenches should not be used to remove nuts/bolts, or you can mess up the calibration. Save it for tightening the nut back on.
 
GetMeMyStogie said:
Definitely go with a breaker bar, 3/4" if you can get your hands on one. 1/2" might do, or it might snap - get one with a free replacement guarantee. Get a long piece of pipe - like 3 or 4 feet long - that's big enough to go over the breaker bar handle. Or, a 3-4 foot breaker bar.
Torque wrenches should not be used to remove nuts/bolts, or you can mess up the calibration. Save it for tightening the nut back on.
Click to expand...
My buddy came over with his PC impact and it finally came off. Now comes the task of pulling the arm. We've got the puller torqued down tight and I'm leaving it like that overnight. We'll see what happens. I'll check it again tomorrow evening.

Thanks for the heads up on the torque wrench. I didn't know that.

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With pressure on the puller, apply impact to the pitman arm, perpendicular to the shaft if access is available.
Be careful with heat, can radiate up the shaft and melt the seal.
Air hammers work wonders. Have had several extra tough pitman arms which required pullers and some persuasion from an air hammer with an extra long punch from the topside pushing down.
 
Grimrepairman said:
With pressure on the puller, apply impact to the pitman arm, perpendicular to the shaft if access is available.
Be careful with heat, can radiate up the shaft and melt the seal.
Air hammers work wonders. Have had several extra tough pitman arms which required pullers and some persuasion from an air hammer with an extra long punch from the topside pushing down.
Click to expand...



Don't you mean parallel to the output shaft? Perpendicular means 'at a right angle [90°] to'.
 
Nope. I don't.
I'm fully aware of what it means.
With pressure applied to the puller, hit the pitman arm on the opposite side from the "tie rod end".
The idea is that the impact causes momentary expansion of the hole and reduces the friction between the splines of the steering gear shaft and pitman arm.
Trust me, it works.
 
It finally pissed me off enough that I took it to my buddy's shop. He cut the arm with a cut off wheel, applied pressure with the puller, and hit the split he created with an air chisel. 5 minutes later... done!

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