'67 Dart with '68 idler arm?

-
maurice_meyer

maurice_meyer

'67 Dodge Dart GT Convert
Joined
Dec 4, 2015
Messages
24
Reaction score
14
Location
San Francisco
Hello all. First time on a car forum so thanks in advance for any help. I have a 1967 Dart GT Convertible that needs a new idler arm. Wrenching on the front wheel shows the bolt popping up about 3/8" out of the arm so it's hurt. I've had the car since 1989 and never really tackled the front end stuff but when I brought it to my local mechanic he said his supplier didn't have the part so I should order it myself and bring it in with the car.

So after some research I see the difference between the '67 and '68 arm and it seems I have a '68 in my car. Not sure what to do here. So some questions:

First, Is this a '68 arm?

Assuming it is a '68 arm, should I get another '68? I mean is this some conversion setup and I should just go with the '68 or is it likely something is actually off on this? Do I need to id the Pitman arm and get whatever idler corresponds to that? I'm not sure if the pitch is different between the two years or if it's just the mount style.

Thanks again for any help with this. Looking forward to a smooth ride again!


IMG_1753_zpsgdcumabe.jpg
 
I have never seen one like that for a 67. Looks like someone adapted a 68. the 68 /later, maybe you are aware, has a bracket under the arm through which the bolt goes. In other words the arm is sandwiched between the top and bottom brackets.

You can modify the 67 K to take a 68 /later arm, but it would be some work.
 
67 only idler arm has ball socket makeup on both ends. All 68 and later has a bolt through 2 steel ears at the K member end. Back when these were daily drivers and bumping curbs when parallel parking or sliding on ice into curbs, the 67 idler arm attachment proved inadequate. Hard side walls of bias ply tires wouldn't absorb all of every impact.
The 67 only part is available today from multiple vendors. Upgrade requires welding a different 2 ear clip onto the K. Your call.
Additional... I cant say if the 67 idler arm will still attach to your k member. Someone might have drilled the hole to accept the through bolt.
 
OK, I'm leaning towards getting the correct '67 arm but that's an interesting point about the hole possibly being drilled out. Does anyone know for sure if that bolt would have been larger than the fixed one on the '67 arm? Another thing I forgot to mention was that the car does have early 70's disc brakes grafted on. Also what that bugs me about this mod is that the top nut on K member side has no cotter pin.

I see that Jegs has a '67 arm so I suppose I'll go with that unless I hear otherwise. Thanks a lot for the help.
 
I'll try to remember to dig out my old K later today. If I don't post back send me a PM later
 
I have all 3 of them NEW for the "A" Bodies -- the 1962 - 1966, the 1967 one year only, and the 1968 - 1972,
The Pitman Arm listings (and I have them NEW also) -- are 1962 - 1967 and 1968 -
1972....
I haven't looked at them side-by-side in a while -- but as I recall -- the arm portion
between the "sockets" were perpendicular to one another....
Wish you lived closer -- you could look at all 3 ......

You are welcome to call me -- Craig -- 516 - 485 - 1935.... New York....
 
Hey, that would be great. Thinking about it, I should probably replace with what is there now since it could be tied to the Disc brake conversion that was done. But, I do have the original '67 power steering so I'd imagine the Pitman I have is related to that? Hard to say. Wish there were some part number stamps I could go by.

What I'll do is get some good measurements on it and maybe give you a call. Thanks a lot for the help.
 
I got mine at napa if you have them out there. For my 67 barracuda.
 
If you do have the original power steering gear, you would also have that pitman arm and center link. I've got a new 67 idler arm here. I'll have a look at it tomorrow to be sure. I think there are similar tapered ball studs both ends. If that proves true, your K clip was surely drilled.
 
I have a complete 67 k frame out at my shop. If I can measure or take pictures of it for you let me know.
 
If you have the correct casting - and I can't tell from the photo, Firm Feel Inc offers a rebuild kit where you convert the inside to use bearings.
 
I did scratch around in my pile but didn't find the 67 idler arm. Knowing its here does help. I still cant lift the heavy stuff so I couldn't dig deeper. sorry
There probably is a good pic of one online somewhere.
 
RedFish said:
I did scratch around in my pile but didn't find the 67 idler arm. Knowing its here does help. I still cant lift the heavy stuff so I couldn't dig deeper. sorry
There probably is a good pic of one online somewhere.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for checking. Much appreciated.
 
Mattax said:
If you have the correct casting - and I can't tell from the photo, Firm Feel Inc offers a rebuild kit where you convert the inside to use bearings.
Click to expand...

Now that's interesting. I was thinking there should be something more solid state in there. Maybe I'll replace this one and see about doing this with the one that comes out. I'm 26 years into this car so I'm sure I'll be doing another idler arm at some point.
 
mobileparts said:
I have all 3 of them NEW for the "A" Bodies -- the 1962 - 1966, the 1967 one year only, and the 1968 - 1972,
The Pitman Arm listings (and I have them NEW also) -- are 1962 - 1967 and 1968 -
1972....
I haven't looked at them side-by-side in a while -- but as I recall -- the arm portion
between the "sockets" were perpendicular to one another....
Wish you lived closer -- you could look at all 3 ......

You are welcome to call me -- Craig -- 516 - 485 - 1935.... New York....
Click to expand...

OK, I went under the car and took some measurements. This is what I see under there. Can you tell from your parts which one I'm needing? Thanks a lot.

img1379_zpswydogwfu.jpg
 
I sort of lost track here but your diagram is not much help

The "simple" answer which leads to the next "question" or vice versa is to determine if the original bracket has been reamed out for the bolt presently in there AKA what size is the 67 stud.

THAT is going to determine whether you can even use a 67 arm at all, which has a tapered stud on both ends.

AFTER you determine the above then you can plot a plan of action, namely

If you or find someone to fab / repair what is there to "re" accept the 67 stud

Fab a 68 / later style bracket onto your 67 K member

Or look for a later K. You can use any K, 67--72, or 73 later, for an A body and whatever engine AKA slant or V8 must match

What will change in 72--73 is from pillow mounts to the later (and better) spool mounts, in which case you'd need to change your engine brackets and mounts, which is a fairly minor detail

I've got a 67 K which is out, if you need to I can pull the idler off it (which is worn clear out) and measure the hole and stud for you.
 
Sorry about that. My thinking on this has changed since the first post. Where I'm at now is that I just want to replace the arm that I have with an identical arm so I'm just looking to identify what's on there which is why I posted the measurements. I'm assuming that whatever hardware was used came with the arm and the only reason the tab would have been drilled out would have been for the sake of that hardware.

So I've abandoned the idea of using a '67 arm and just need to figure out what's on the car now and replace that. Definitely not trying to go deeper into any modification than I need to. This is a driver and my only car so I'm also trying to avoid too much downtime while I have it disassembled. Thanks again for all the help.
 
I have a 67 Barracuda with the engine out and can snap a picture of that idler arm if you need...
 
Your best bet is to buy a K member and suspension from a later car to rebuild and swap in, you may even find one with sway bar mounts. Personally I would look for the '73+ setup.
 
maurice_meyer said:
Sorry about that. My thinking on this has changed since the first post. Where I'm at now is that I just want to replace the arm that I have with an identical arm so I'm just looking to identify what's on there which is why I posted the measurements. I'm assuming that whatever hardware was used came with the arm and the only reason the tab would have been drilled out would have been for the sake of that hardware.

So I've abandoned the idea of using a '67 arm and just need to figure out what's on the car now and replace that. Definitely not trying to go deeper into any modification than I need to. This is a driver and my only car so I'm also trying to avoid too much downtime while I have it disassembled. Thanks again for all the help.
Click to expand...


Well that answer is actually simple but that is CERTAINLY not what I'd do. What is on there now is a 68-72 idler. How I know?

1...The 67 only idler arm has two studs, not a bolt and a stud

2...The 73--later idler arm looks just like the 68--72, except the stud is reversed

Here:

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=236925

This is the EARLY 68--72 center link / idler set up. The nuts on the studs of the pitman and the idler are UP

attachment.php


This below is the later 73-later setup. The nuts on the studs of the idler and the pitman are DOWN

attachment.php


If you read that thread you will discover that there are FOUR components that must all match, 68 and later. Because of the 67 idler arm, you cannot swap these parts

The steering box spline size determines which pitman arm you must use. The pitman arm must match the center link and the idler arm. Those four pieces must go together regardless of the year of the car

My 67 is a good example. After I swapped the K out for the later 73 - later style K (spool motor mounts) I first had a manual steering box with 68-72 pitman, box, center link, and idler arm that is with the 73--later K

When I started to put it back together I switched to a 'big spline" power steering box, and so had to use a different pitman, and that pitman is the 73 - later style, so I had to ALSO use the 73 center link and the 73 / later idler arm.

I would NOT do what you propose. It might not be all that safe, might not drive and handle all that well.
 
67Dart273 said:
My 67 is a good example. After I swapped the K out for the later 73 - later style K (spool motor mounts) I first had a manual steering box with 68-72 pitman, box, center link, and idler arm that is with the 73--later K

When I started to put it back together I switched to a 'big spline" power steering box, and so had to use a different pitman, and that pitman is the 73 - later style, so I had to ALSO use the 73 center link and the 73 / later idler arm.

I would NOT do what you propose. It might not be all that safe, might not drive and handle all that well.
Click to expand...

x2

Buy a complete setup as a unit and rebuild it all.
 
This doesn't have to be so complicated. All you would need to do is have the correct attachment for the 68 and later idler arm welded onto your K member. Its just a piece of steel and is identical no matter what other steering components you have or what year model K it came from 68 through 76. This has been done several times by others who couldn't justify a inflated price for a replacement 67 correct part of less than optimal design.
I don't think the aftermarket offers the piece of K member needed but I'll bet a member here has a bad K member with a good clip on it.
 
Arent mopars so much fun! This is one of the reasons I like them, not every one can build them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top