Looking for a Pitman Arm Expert
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 4,151
Likes: 98
From: Conroe TX
St. Jude Donor '11
Looking for a Pitman Arm Expert
I removed the following pitman arm from my 70 convertible with power steering:
The part number is correct for a 70 with power steering.
When I look at pitman arms on ebay, they all have the 3741383 number followed by a letter. And below that is GMT followed by three numbers such as 167, 169 or 170. And the part numbers are much clearer and more pronounced on the ebay parts than on my pitman arm.
Does anyone know if my pitman arm is correct for my car?
Do you know what the three digit number is a following the GMT? Is it perhaps a year designation?
The part number is correct for a 70 with power steering.
When I look at pitman arms on ebay, they all have the 3741383 number followed by a letter. And below that is GMT followed by three numbers such as 167, 169 or 170. And the part numbers are much clearer and more pronounced on the ebay parts than on my pitman arm.
Does anyone know if my pitman arm is correct for my car?
Do you know what the three digit number is a following the GMT? Is it perhaps a year designation?
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 4,151
Likes: 98
From: Conroe TX
St. Jude Donor '11
I found my expert in Joe Lucia on the NCRS forum. Here is what he posted:
Most, if not all, Corvette power steering pitman arms do have an "A" or "B" suffix after the forging/part number. I do not know, for sure, what these suffix denote. I strongly suspect that they refer to some slight difference in the forgings which does not affect the application or interchangeability of the arm. Whether a certain suffix predominates in any model year I do not know.
The GM #3741383 pitman arm actually predates the first Corvette application. It was first used for 1958 Chevrolet passenger cars and then used on passenger cars through 1964. For the 1958-62 period it was used on all passenger cars; for 1963-64 it was used only on those with power steering. My GUESS is that the arm you have pictured originally resided on 1958-62 passenger car and was probably forged either at some GM forge plant other than Tonawanda (note the lack of the "T" following GM; Tonawanda was usually good at emplacing its "T" forging mark while the GM Detroit and Buffalo forges usually did not) or, perhaps, at an outside forge.
In any event, this arm is 100% perfectly functional for your application and since it does have the correct part number, I don't see how any judge could decide it's incorrect. I definitely do not think this is any sort of reproduction.
Most, if not all, Corvette power steering pitman arms do have an "A" or "B" suffix after the forging/part number. I do not know, for sure, what these suffix denote. I strongly suspect that they refer to some slight difference in the forgings which does not affect the application or interchangeability of the arm. Whether a certain suffix predominates in any model year I do not know.
The GM #3741383 pitman arm actually predates the first Corvette application. It was first used for 1958 Chevrolet passenger cars and then used on passenger cars through 1964. For the 1958-62 period it was used on all passenger cars; for 1963-64 it was used only on those with power steering. My GUESS is that the arm you have pictured originally resided on 1958-62 passenger car and was probably forged either at some GM forge plant other than Tonawanda (note the lack of the "T" following GM; Tonawanda was usually good at emplacing its "T" forging mark while the GM Detroit and Buffalo forges usually did not) or, perhaps, at an outside forge.
In any event, this arm is 100% perfectly functional for your application and since it does have the correct part number, I don't see how any judge could decide it's incorrect. I definitely do not think this is any sort of reproduction.
