can't get pitman arm nut tight enough!

[HawaiiBake]

I am installing a 8" lift on my truck in my drivway. This has turned out to be a little more dificult than I thought, but I have gotten to the point where I have to tighten the drop pitman arm back on.

I used a 8'steel fence post as a breaker bar and hauled on it till it would barely budge, then got my wife to come out and help me pull. The pitman arm still as a very small bit of give side to side. less than a 1/16 of an inch but it is there none the less.

What am I doing wrong??

[worldwide73]

Side to side on the splines? Or is it moving the gear box? I believe the torque spec is around 400ish ft pounds. So it you put an 8ft breaker bar on it you should of gotten real close I'd say. You may have a bad pitman and or gear box if it is moving on the splines. It should be snug/tight on the splines before you tighten the nut all the way down.

[dazdillenger]

The pitman arm is a critical component to get tight-if it is too loose, you can break the sector shaft or destroy the splines.Try greasing the splines a bit to assist in pressing it on-as you are tightening it, wack it up (on) with a brass hammer. When you get it on so it doesn't move any more, take the nut BACK off, and use some BLUE locktite on it.

A 3/4" impact gun does wonders.

[Loubell]

Is there a washer that goes under the nut?

[dazdillenger]

Yes, a big lockwasher.

[HawaiiBake]

I dont remember seeing a big lock washer, but that could explain why I am not getting it tight.
The arm is only jiggling side to side, not up and down.
you would think with an 8' breaker bar and two people pulling as hard as they could that you would hit 400lbs lol!
That pitman arm was easily the hardest part of the whole process. I destroyed a brand new $100 three claw puller when i couldn't get the piman arm puller to fit. Ended up grinding the saides off the pitman arm to get the puller on. Had to take out 1/2" of metal.
I will look for that washer tomorrow.

[HawaiiBake]

Did a little more reading and the 05's don't have a lock washer. Iam not excited about taking that nut off again tomorrow but I think I have to make sure he splines are clean and undamaged and try it again.

[sbarbee54]

Mine was a hell of a time as well, and the 05's do not have the lock washer like you found out. I did mine with a 3 foot wrench that I grinded down to fit in there then stuck a 4ft cheater on it. I wrenched it until I could not move any more. If I had to gues I put 600 LB of tq on the sun of a gun. DOnt want that thing coming loose while driving it will make allot of play in your stearing wheel.

[YoungMT Hick]

ford makes a special pitman arm puller. Yes i found out. Well after destroying a few advanced auto parts bearing pullers we did some research and found this out
OTC Tools 6497 - OTC Super Duty Pitman Arm Pullers - Overview - SummitRacing.com

Well i did the same thing and proceded to the cutoff wheel and then heat and ice finally got it to crack and come off. I keep my old one as a trophy. I didnt get mine tight enough either and one day got some death wobble. Tightened the pitman arm 1/8" and trac bar 1/16". That **** has to be tight. For the everyday mechanic you have to get pretty crafty to figure out how to do that.

[cartmanea]

I would keep an impact wrench and mallet far away from the steering gear...