Doug1964

I have noticed that my pitman arm completely misses the pitman arm stop bolted the the frame. I have the spacer installed on the other side of the frame between the steering box and frame. Also there is no tab or anything on the back of my pitman arm to contact the stop limits on the stop. It is completely smooth. I am wondering if I have an incorrectly substituted pitman arm. It is about an inch away (toward the engine) from the stop. Does anyone have correct photos of the 1960 pitman arm. Any photos that would show its relationship or distance to the frame rail and the stop limit bracket would be especially helpful. Currently the only stop that I have is the extent of the worm gear in the box.

Doug

Vet65te

Doug, can you post a pic of your pitman arm/steering stop setup?
I'm curious if someone only cut off the 'extension' on the back of your pitman arm or if they also trimmed the ends of the steering stop.
The steering stop on my 61 had been 'modified' long before I bought the car. According to 62Jeff, who knew my 61 and it's owners back to the late 70's, it saw a lot of autocross racing and I suspect that's why they trimmed the steering stop, in an effort to extend the pitman arm's range. Here's a slightly out of focus pic of the old trimmed steering stop. The protrusion was left untouched on the back of the pitman arm so I only had to replace the steering stop with an uncut stop I got from a forum member.
Mike T.

mashinter

Here's my '59:

Doug1964

I will post a picture when I get home tonight. In the meantime, assuming that my pitman has just been ground smooth and my stop bracket has been wittled down, are these pieces made out of steel or iron. If made out of steel, is there any reason why I can't use my mig welder to restore the tabs that have been cut off? Or is that just a stupid idea. I hate to spend $119 for a new pitman and $65 for a bracket if it is not necessary.

jimh_1962

I have both extra parts... 100.00 + shipping. These are all cleaned up and ready to go. Plus, included is the steering bracket spacer between the box and the frame.

Doug1964

Here are some pics of my pitman and bracket stop. The bracket stop appears to be intact and not shortened. Is the stop bracket installed corectly, currently the bracket is installed with stops on the bottom of the bracket? The pitman has a **** on it and it appears to be intact as well. However, the **** on the pitman is very high up on the pitman very close to the mounting hole to the steering gear. It appears to me that I have an incorrect pitman. The **** is so much higher than the stop limits, there is no way possible it would ever connect with the stops. Also, since the **** is high up on the pitman, it rotates in such a small arc it could never hit the stops on the stop bracket.









Does anyone have a good photo of a correct pitman not installed where a person can see it well?

jimh_1962

Do you have the bracket between the steering column and the frame? That would cause it to go too far. I can see some shims there though not sure since the picture is cut off.

Doug1964

Yes, I have the spacer between the steering box and the frame. The one shaped like a triangle with three bolt holes

jimh_1962

well, I have the correct pitman arm if you need one.

Doug1964

I have a photo of the pitman arm with part number. The best I can read it on the car is 3733448 Is this the correct part number? Paragon Corvette shows part 3733446U. Are they different parts or am I misreading the number in the photo? I cannot understand why it does not connect with the stop bracket. Is it possible the stop bracket is mounted upside down? Are the stop ears supposed to hang down below the mounting bolts closer to the ground or are the stop ears on the bracket supposed to be toward the top of the frame rail? Which direction is the larger stop ear supposed to face, forward or rearward? It appears that if the stop were rotated with the ears up toward the frame top rail, they would probably be in line with the arc of the tab on the back of the pitman arm.

Doug1964

Now I am really confused. My corvette assembly manual shows part no 3733446 for the pitman. Paragon Corvette and Corvette Central reference GM 373446. My pitman appears to show 3733448 to the best I can read it. There is a pitman for sale on ebay that looks just like mine, supposedly for a 1960 corvette and it clearly bears the number 3733448 and looks just like mine. Are there two different numbers? Do I have the wrong pitman arm? What is the correct number? Is the pitman advertized on ebay not correct for a 1960 corvette? If you can help end the parts number confusion, I would really appreciate it.

mashinter

My pitman arm ('59) is for sure the original and is forged 3733448 (however, it is installed and I'm reading it in a mirror with old eyes...). That must be the forging part no.

Doug1964

Mashinter, Does the tab on the back of your pitman arm properly contact the stop limits on the stop bracket? If so, is there any way you can post a picture so I can compare what is off on mine. I cannot understand what could be so far off since the parts are all bolted together to the frame with the proper spacers and shims and the tab on the back of my pitman swings above the stop limits.

mashinter

edit: I measure the front stop about 1-5/8 in. below the top of the frame and the rear stop about 1 in. below the top of the frame.

Front: The tab on the back of the pitman arm is almost touching the stop bracket. It will touch if I hold the steering wheel against the stop, but pulls back a little when I let go of the steering wheel.



Back: the pitman arm is touching the stop bracket; the tab on the back of the pitman arm does not touch even though it looks like it does in the picture. The tab is way above the stop bracket.

tgtexas02

When I bought my 58 basket case, the previous owner had replaced the pitman arm and draglink utilizing 49-51 chev passenger parts. They are not interchangeable. Could this be your problem too.

Doug1964

Thanks machinter,

your post gives me a lot of good info, measurements and photos which I can estimate other measurements from. I should be able to do some measuring and determine which part is bent or needs adjusting. I have detrmined that I have all the correct parts, the question now is whether any of them are bent or maladjusted. I find it curious that the stop tabs do not seem to hit the stops on any of the set ups. Makes you wonder what the tab on the back of the pitman is even designed to do? Does any ones set up actually have the tab on the back of the pitman colliding with the ears on the stop bracket?

jimh_1962

The part I have is 3733448GM2. THen on the other side it says 1042.

mashinter

The tab on the back of the pitman arm will touch the front ear on the stop bracket if I hold the steering wheel at full lock. (I couldn't do that and take the picture.) Without that stop, the steering gear could bottom out internally and get damaged. That is all the tab on the back of the pitman arm does. It is not supposed to touch the rear ear on the stop bracket.

jimh_1962

Try disconnecting the pitman arm from the drag link and see if it hits with the drag link detached. If is still a problem, then you know it has to do has to do with the steering stop bracket. I suspect your pitman arm is not bent or incorrect. Thats a pretty stout part to bend.

jusplainwacky

What was the outcome of this post? Was the problem ever found??

I am having the SAME EXACT problem on my 58.
I didn't see this post until someone replied to my post today (8/19/2014).