Pitman arm is hitting tortion bar! Help?

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Dartman1969 said:
Oklacarcollecto

First I never posted a link. The info I posted was sent to me by a parts store friend. Does it make you feel important to post all your info in big red letters??? Make you important??? Smarter than everyone else??? Hope your happy!!
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No, I just want to save others from making a mistake of buying the wrong part based off the information you provided and causing problems repairing their cars. I find it amazing that the wording matched word for word when I googled K7075 and it was the first link. I don't think I would be buying any parts from your parts store friend. Furthermore you were the one that challenged what the OP said he bought K7076 when I asked him if he bought the K7076.
I have gotten things wrong, have been corrected and learned from my mistake so just be a man and move on.
 
again no expert....but could it be that since it was a six banger car, changed over to a v-8 that other parts need to be changed also? Like the center link...and maybe other parts? Have never done it myself...guess I'm mostly asking for my own interest?
 
lugnut1962 said:
again no expert....but could it be that since it was a six banger car, changed over to a v-8 that other parts need to be changed also? Like the center link...and maybe other parts? Have never done it myself...guess I'm mostly asking for my own interest?
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We have no expert on this one and if we have one I wish he/she would chime in so we can get this figured out. I am totally puzzled on what is causing the issue. OP said the car is power steering and he has the correct pitman arm based off the car year. The tie rod only goes in one way and we have a picture posted by another member show the pictures both match so that has been ruled out. The only plausible thing that has been posted be another member is worn out busings on the lower control arm. Another member also mentioned the possibility of a wrong gear box. I see headers that have clearance issues with steering linkages all the time so I am thinking more about the torsion bar problem.

73moparman, would you post pictures of your power steering gear box so it can be compared with other gear boxes?
 
lugnut1962 said:
again no expert....but could it be that since it was a six banger car, changed over to a v-8 that other parts need to be changed also? Like the center link...and maybe other parts? Have never done it myself...guess I'm mostly asking for my own interest?
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As far as i know everything has been changed over to a v-8 car..except the k member i think that is still from the orignal slant six but again im not really sure. Me and my dad were looking at my car lastnight and noticed the drivers side tire was tipped in at the top and the passenger side tire was towed out and we started looking into it closer it turns out my steering box came loose..the whole steering box moves when i turn the car now...that is why i ordered a new one to see maybe if i have the right box on the car at the moment.
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
We have no expert on this one and if we have one I wish he/she would chime in so we can get this figured out. I am totally puzzled on what is causing the issue. OP said the car is power steering and he has the correct pitman arm based off the car year. The tie rod only goes in one way and we have a picture posted by another member show the pictures both match so that has been ruled out. The only plausible thing that has been posted be another member is worn out busings on the lower control arm. Another member also mentioned the possibility of a wrong gear box. I see headers that have clearance issues with steering linkages all the time so I am thinking more about the torsion bar problem.

73moparman, would you post pictures of your power steering gear box so it can be compared with other gear boxes?
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Yeah i will go take a picture of that right now and post it up. Brb
 
73moparman said:
As far as i know everything has been changed over to a v-8 car..except the k member i think that is still from the orignal slant six but again im not really sure. Me and my dad were looking at my car lastnight and noticed the drivers side tire was tipped in at the top and the passenger side tire was towed out and we started looking into it closer it turns out my steering box came loose..the whole steering box moves when i turn the car now...that is why i ordered a new one to see maybe if i have the right box on the car at the moment.
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If the box is loose remove bolts one at a time and see if the threads on the bolt have been chewed away or if the hole in the K-Frame is elongated from the bolt chewing on it. It may have a combination of the two and that may let the gear box sit up too high on the K-Frame and is causing the problem.
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
We have no expert on this one and if we have one I wish he/she would chime in so we can get this figured out. I am totally puzzled on what is causing the issue. OP said the car is power steering and he has the correct pitman arm based off the car year. The tie rod only goes in one way and we have a picture posted by another member show the pictures both match so that has been ruled out. The only plausible thing that has been posted be another member is worn out busings on the lower control arm. Another member also mentioned the possibility of a wrong gear box. I see headers that have clearance issues with steering linkages all the time so I am thinking more about the torsion bar problem.

73moparman, would you post pictures of your power steering gear box so it can be compared with other gear boxes?
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Yeah i will go take a picture of that right now and post it up. I will be right back...
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
If the box is loose remove bolts one at a time and see if the threads on the bolt have been chewed away or if the hole in the K-Frame is elongated from the bolt chewing on it. It may have a combination of the two and that may let the gear box sit up too high on the K-Frame.
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I get my new steering box thursday so i will do this when i have the new steering box..
 
73moparman said:
As far as i know everything has been changed over to a v-8 car..except the k member i think that is still from the orignal slant six but again im not really sure. Me and my dad were looking at my car lastnight and noticed the drivers side tire was tipped in at the top and the passenger side tire was towed out and we started looking into it closer it turns out my steering box came loose..the whole steering box moves when i turn the car now...that is why i ordered a new one to see maybe if i have the right box on the car at the moment.
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I don't think a new steering box will fix that movement. Unless the bolt tabs are cracked. Save your money on the box now and work on what's wrong. Unless you know for sure the gear inside the box is worn. I doubt you could tell since the whole box is moving around.

It's the bolts are just loose or the whole K-member steering mount or welded nuts inside the K-member are messed up.

Try to tighten the bolts you have on there now. It's common for them to get loose. It's also common for the welded nuts inside the K-frame to break loose and they will spin so you can tighten the bolt properly. Look for cracks and rust around the steering box mount.

Need to go in there and spray degreaser and powerwash the area. Or just clean good with strong degreaser and small brush (old toothbrush) That way you can check for cracks and stuff. And work on it easier.

Have you inspect the driver side lower control arm bushing? They commonly go out because power steering fluid will leak on them.

You need to inspect every joint in the steering system closely. Do just what you and your dad did with the box. Jack up the car and move the suspension or steering slowly back and forth while someone looks at the joint eye to eye and even feeling it with you hand over the two joints. Do it from the steering wheel and then by moving the tires side to side by hand.
 
73moparman said:
It is a six cylinder k member in the car i think..so you think i should just try ordering a new centerlink for my car and try that first?
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The left motor mount is a 318 spool type motor mount not a 340/360 mount. That's why is has that spacer (nut) in there. Should be fine.

I'm not sure it is a /6 K-member in the car. Need better pics.

The 73-76 center link is the same from 6 cly to V-8.
 
I went out and took some overhead shots of my 73 up assembly just so I could compare with pics in this thread. I dont see the answer. Maybe the idler arm is wrong which would throw the opposite end of the centerlink in the wrong position.
There is plenty of cearence between the tie rod end and where the torsion bar would be.
 

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autoxcuda said:
I don't think a new steering box will fix that movement. Unless the bolt tabs are cracked. Save your money on the box now and work on what's wrong. Unless you know for sure the gear inside the box is worn. I doubt you could tell since the whole box is moving around.

It's the bolts are just loose or the whole K-member steering mount or welded nuts inside the K-member are messed up.

Try to tighten the bolts you have on there now. It's common for them to get loose. It's also common for the welded nuts inside the K-frame to break loose and they will spin so you can tighten the bolt properly. Look for cracks and rust around the steering box mount.

Need to go in there and spray degreaser and powerwash the area. Or just clean good with strong degreaser and small brush (old toothbrush) That way you can check for cracks and stuff. And work on it easier.

Have you inspect the driver side lower control arm bushing? They commonly go out because power steering fluid will leak on them.

You need to inspect every joint in the steering system closely. Do just what you and your dad did with the box. Jack up the car and move the suspension or steering slowly back and forth while someone looks at the joint eye to eye and even feeling it with you hand over the two joints. Do it from the steering wheel and then by moving the tires side to side by hand.
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Thank you for your input. I bought the new steering box to kind of compare it to mine and kind of see if there is any differences because its almost like the steering sector shaft that comes out of my steering box isnt long enough to drop the pitman arm down low enough. This Duster of mine is very clean..the guy that had it before me por15nd everything..the k member is all painted up and looks really nice. Im not really sure why the power steering box came loose. I guess i will find out when i try to put the new one in. The drivers side of the car has absolutley no travel in it..its stiff as a rock. I have inspected the bushings and ball joints and they all look good..the guy that had it before me replaced every bushing and ball joint on the car. I have owned the car for a year and a half.
 
RedFish said:
I went out and took some overhead shots of my 73 up assembly just so I could compare with pics in this thread. I dont see the answer. Maybe the idler arm is wrong which would throw the opposite end of the centerlink in the wrong position.
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Thank you but the idler arm is correct too..i bought a brand new one and compared the two and they were the same.
 
73moparman said:
Thank you for your input. I bought the new steering box to kind of compare it to mine and kind of see if there is any differences because its almost like the steering sector shaft that comes out of my steering box isnt long enough to drop the pitman arm down low enough. This Duster of mine is very clean..the guy that had it before me por15nd everything..the k member is all painted up and looks really nice. Im not really sure why the power steering box came loose. I guess i will find out when i try to put the new one in. The drivers side of the car has absolutley no travel in it..its stiff as a rock. I have inspected the bushings and ball joints and they all look good..the guy that had it before me replaced every bushing and ball joint on the car. I have owned the car for a year and a half.
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The steering boxes are all identical.

Have you tried tightening up the 3 bolts on your steering box? Is the mount that's welded to the K-frame moving or just the steering box relative to that mount/plate? That's the biggest issue right now: why the box is moving relative to the whole k-member. Tackle this one thing at time.
 
I have been looking at the tie rod end from the start of this thread. The tie rod end looks tall but I have compared it to other pictures and it appears to be the same. This may not even be possible but I am going to toss it out for consideration. Is there any possibility that the whole tie rod assembly could be reversed on the drivers side? I am not sure what I said is clear so I will put it this way, could the tie rod that is hitting the torsion bar actually belong on the outer ball joint and the one that is now on the outer ball joint belong where the one that is hitting the torsion bar is now? Look at both tie rods and see if outer one on the ball joint has a shorter casting?
 
autoxcuda said:
The steering boxes are all identical.

Have you tried tightening up the 3 bolts on your steering box? Is the mount that's welded to the K-frame moving or just the steering box relative to that mount/plate? That's the biggest issue right now: why the box is moving relative to the whole k-member. Tackle this one thing at time.
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I tightened up the power steering mouting bolts lastnight..took it down the road about a mile and a half and they were already loose again and the steering box was moving all over...something is deffinatley messed up with this car but i just cant figure it out. I know a new steering box is not going to fix my problem..
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
I have been looking at the tie rod end from the start of this thread. The tie rod end looks tall but I have compared it to other pictures and it appears to be the same. This may not even be possible but I am going to toss it out for consideration. Is there any possibility that the whole tie rod assembly could be reversed on the drivers side? I am not sure what I said is clear so I will put it this way, could the tie rod that is hitting the torsion bar actually belong on the outer ball joint and the one that is now on the outer ball joint belong where the one that is hitting the torsion bar is now? Look at both tie rods and see if outer one on the ball joint has a shorter casting?
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I will go take a look at both castings and get back to you. Be right back..
 
What type wrench did you need on the steering gear mounting bolts ? They should be a special bolt and they should get locktite. Steering gears getting loose on the bolts has been a problem since early As and was the main reason locktite was developed.
 
RedFish said:
What type wrench did you need on the steering gear mounting bolts ? They should be a special bolt and they should get locktite. Steering gears getting loose on the bolts has been a problem since early As and was the main reason locktite was developed.
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Just a regular 3/4 inch socket and socket wrench..
 
I wander if the front end was replaced and maybe out of aliagnment.And that motor mount should "clamp"over both sides of the engine as it is now the motor is forward 1/2".So is the frame actaully 1/2 back?Look for odd looking welds along the frame.
 
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