scout pitman arm (2 Viewers)

[Mark W]

We can't really tell you for sure what you clearance will be like. Several things affect it. Steering box location (and angle). Pitman arm drop. Arch of your springs and length of your shackle, if still shackle forward. If you are SR that introduces another factor. Bumpstop size (if any?)


Use an arm with minimal drop and locate your box level and you should be fine. Main thing is just to pay attention to the fit as you put everything together and decide what fits best.


Mark...

 

[LT]

You just have to add a bump stop in front of the pitman arm...

 

[Mark W]

But a better fit of all the components (straighter pitman arm or tierod end on top in this case) will eleminate the need for this compromise and the reduced articulation that results from putting a bump stop here.

A bumpstop in this location also puts a lot more stress on the spring than one above the axle.


Mark...

 

[LT]

I have no more room to put the tie rod ontop of the pitman arm, unless i went with a heim joint like woody.

 

[Mark W]

Yeah, it does look close. You could bend the arm down to gain room to put the tierod end on top. Of course you'd also have to cut and turn the puttman arm end.

Easiest to just bend the arm upward a little so that it just barely clears the frame.

I gotta get back to work soon.

My rig is inside the shop today. I'll snap some photos of the arm/fit before I head home.


Mark...

 

[Mark W]

Here's some shots of a Scout pittman arm that has been modified. It has been shortened to 7 inches (appropriate to the Cruiser knuckle arms). It has had the tierod end flipped to put the draglink on top of the arm instead of underneath. It has also been configured with a dogleg to match the angle of the double knuckle arm so that the steering is centered and has the same number of turns left and right.


This shot shows the pittman tucking under the frame. You can see it is close. There is more room between the arm and the spring than is looks like from this angle. And the ubolt plate is further back in relation to the steering box than it looks like in this shot too.

From the other side you can see just how close it really is. The zerk clears the frame by 1/4-1/8 inch. All it needs and no more.

This angle shows the dogleg (not needed on a rig which still attaches the draglink to the tierod). It also shows how beefy the scout arm is (it doesn't immediately looks so in it's stock length, but when you shorten it, it's a bit more noticable).

This is just a quick twist to look things over with the new springs. It's not completely flexed out, but as you can see in the last shot...

I found the limiting factor (for the moment anyway). The driverside tire is meeting the shock at this point. The next step is to move the mounting points at the top and bottom of the shock(s) inboard some. This should solve this clearance problem. Then we'll see what binds next. Eventually it will be the spring/pittman arm. But there's a lot more room left before that happens, once the shock is out of the way a bit.

Mark...

 

[Ullr]

Hijack!

Mark - Who customized your pitman? I am in the middle of building a similar setup, SOA 40 w/ FJ-60 PS on stock springs.

 

[2badfjs]

Hijack!

Mark - Who customized your pitman? I am in the middle of building a similar setup, SOA 40 w/ FJ-60 PS on stock springs.

x2 on that.

i'm not sure i trust myselft on the whole "welding cast steel"
something about welding, them packing it in sand to slow cool.....

mark, it also looks like your p/s gear box is coming forward past the bib.
did you set it up that way cause of a longer wheel base?
or is that the normal place to park it?

thanx for the pics mark..

jim

 

[Mace]

Mark, do all of your scout boxes have that many washers on the bolts???




That shot of the scout arm is a lot better than the one covered in snow that was in the last Trails.

 

[Mark W]

I modified the arm myself. Welding quality steel is not that difficult. Rolled, forged, or cast. Cast IRON is another story. Confusion between cast iron and cast steel leads to a lot of misapprehension. I won't encourage you to weld on your steering if you are not confident in your abilities (be HONEST with yourself too.). After all, it IS steering...


I have FJ55 rear spring under both ends of this rig. That moves the axle about as much as flipping the '40 springs. I also have the axle shifted a little from the center pin. Wheelbase is about 101-102 inches. The box is moved further forward than normal to get draglink angles that make me happiest.


The washers... I didn't drill through the frame on this rig. I wanted full thread engagement in the mounting pad and the next length of bolt was too short to do this. Stacking washers was quicker than cutting and dressing the bolts. Since it's my rig, not a customer's, no one is complaining about the asthetics.


Mark...

 

[Mace]

AHHHHHHHH,
I missed the barstock block on the frame.

interesting mount.
It is just nice to be able to give someone crap that is much better at fabbing than I am


when I was running a SO on my 40 and the scout arm I made a double shear heim arm with some thick wall tubing.
It held up fairly well for what I was doing with it and cleared the spring easily.

BTW, a heim on the draglink in double shear is perfectly acceptable

 

[2badfjs]

mark,mace,
could you post a pic of the inside frame rail where the s/box is bolted up?
and i would imagine that when you plate the iside frame rail, you need to put in spacers so the mounting bolts keep from crushing the frame rail ....sound about right?

jim

 

[Mace]

yep, I think Diesel did a pic. Mine is hard to see due to the drag link being in the way.

And Mark did not drill through the frame on his. That is why he has a large plate welded on tot he frame..

 

[Mark W]

On my big '40 I have a similar Scout steering setup with ram assist as well. I modified the arm on that one too. I didn't shorten it, but rather bent it to get a serious drop and a lateral length of 7 inches. I added an additional section so that the heim joint I used in the drag link of that rig was in double shear.
With the ram assist there was very little load on the steering box so the leverage of the less than small amount of drop did not overload the sector shaft bearings the way it could other wise.
I use the past tense because this rig will have full hydro when it rolls out of the shop again (eventually).
The biggest complaint I have about heims (the only that I can think of at the moment) is that they wear far to fast. Especially in the environment I use the rigs in. We have glacial silt everywhere. Someplaces it is the dominent material (in the riverbeds and at the glaciers obviously). But you will find some amount of it everywhere up here. It is granite and other bedrock material that has been ground to a consistency of flour. The particles are very abbrasive however, not rounded. It gets in everything and can turn a heim joint into a loose and rattling connection in no time flat.

About the mounting approach I used. By welding a 3/4 plate onto the side of the frame, I can clear the radiator supportbracket with no trimming and also keep the steering shaft over the frame and provide more room in the engine bay for exhaust or whatever. And it also eliminates the need to sleeve the frame to prevent it from crushing when you tighten the bolts down. This is because the steering box is attached only to the mounting plate. The plate extends the full height of the frame rail so the weld ties it firmly to the top and bottom of the frame as well as to the side.

Works real well. This is also the way I mount the FJ60 boxes.


Mark...