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Pitman arm...or is it the center link?

Everything Else was bad on my 98 but the center link. The pitman arm is a PIA to get off, if that is bad seriously check for movement in tie rod ends, ball joints, idler arm and housing. My truck was a plow truck before I converted it back, so gear box and pitman arm which are together, were replaced already. My truck drove and tracked fine down the highway, but had bad bumpsteer issues or did funny stuff if you got out of the groove on highway to say change lanes. If I recall the pitman arm is 60 bucks R and R I have no idea, cause I did the whole front end myself. Oh yeah, depending on miles of truck, control arm bushing will have lots of play and need changing. Hopefully you don't need all this one, cause parts add up fast and labor as well. As far as I can remember the 88 to 98 GMT400 were all IFS. As far as center link go I recall a 4hole and 5 hole one, but memory is fuzzy.
 
hookedup50 said:
Everything Else was bad on my 98 but the center link. The pitman arm is a PIA to get off, if that is bad seriously check for movement in tie rod ends, ball joints, idler arm and housing. My truck was a plow truck before I converted it back, so gear box and pitman arm which are together, were replaced already. My truck drove and tracked fine down the highway, but had bad bumpsteer issues or did funny stuff if you got out of the groove on highway to say change lanes. If I recall the pitman arm is 60 bucks R and R I have no idea, cause I did the whole front end myself. Oh yeah, depending on miles of truck, control arm bushing will have lots of play and need changing. Hopefully you don't need all this one, cause parts add up fast and labor as well. As far as I can remember the 88 to 98 GMT400 were all IFS. As far as center link go I recall a 4hole and 5 hole one, but memory is fuzzy.
Click to expand...

I use Super Steer idler bracket it replaces the bronze bushing brackets GM uses with tapered wheel bearings and the housings is massive too. The final detail was to go with Energy Suspension black upper/lower control arm bushings.
 
hookedup50 said:
Everything Else was bad on my 98 but the center link. The pitman arm is a PIA to get off, if that is bad seriously check for movement in tie rod ends, ball joints, idler arm and housing. My truck was a plow truck before I converted it back, so gear box and pitman arm which are together, were replaced already. My truck drove and tracked fine down the highway, but had bad bumpsteer issues or did funny stuff if you got out of the groove on highway to say change lanes. If I recall the pitman arm is 60 bucks R and R I have no idea, cause I did the whole front end myself. Oh yeah, depending on miles of truck, control arm bushing will have lots of play and need changing. Hopefully you don't need all this one, cause parts add up fast and labor as well. As far as I can remember the 88 to 98 GMT400 were all IFS. As far as center link go I recall a 4hole and 5 hole one, but memory is fuzzy.
Click to expand...
hookedup50 said:
Everything Else was bad on my 98 but the center link. The pitman arm is a PIA to get off, if that is bad seriously check for movement in tie rod ends, ball joints, idler arm and housing. My truck was a plow truck before I converted it back, so gear box and pitman arm which are together, were replaced already. My truck drove and tracked fine down the highway, but had bad bumpsteer issues or did funny stuff if you got out of the groove on highway to say change lanes. If I recall the pitman arm is 60 bucks R and R I have no idea, cause I did the whole front end myself. Oh yeah, depending on miles of truck, control arm bushing will have lots of play and need changing. Hopefully you don't need all this one, cause parts add up fast and labor as well. As far as I can remember the 88 to 98 GMT400 were all IFS. As far as center link go I recall a 4hole and 5 hole one, but memory is fuzzy.
Click to expand...
yeah they ran up an estimate of 1600 and something but the control arm bushings are still in there the idler has been in there over 200k since the last guy wanted to replace it, the steering box would be alot more money while making it easier for them to do the job. the other things are still good but somebody just mentioned wheel bearings. 381,000 miles on it but I stillwant to be cheap. how long those 8 lug sealed wheel bearings last?
17.00 for a lifetime pitman arm that I could probably put in myself. I wonder if my steering wheel puller could do the job. The "uppers" control arm bushings, have deep cracks but are still centered and I spray em with wd40; cracks make it easier to get more in em. now when I was doing alignments and front end repair I remember a badly reamed out center link on some odd vehicle. The way my pitman movement was showed to me it reminded me of it. I want to jack it up and study it some more. I been greasin that thang. I remember getting ready to replace a pinto rack and pinion only to notice the rag joint floppin around instead. writer reduced the estimate to 1400 but im gonna try and get out of it for less than a hundred.
 
A steering wheel puller probably wont do it. Will L says best pitman arm puller is made by OTC. Don't bother with HF pitman puller. I had to use a bearing separator set, heat and BFH to get the one off my old jeep. Everything on my chevy came apart way easier than my solid axle jeep, so a Napa pitman puller or such might work. They are not a lot of money anyway. After replacing all loose steering components, you can check for wheel bearing play. That is a lot of miles for any component. You will save lots doing whole job yourself. Youtube it and save big on labor. Hardest thing in my opinion is getting cv joint out, if not removing bearing rotor assembly. I took my about a day to change out everything on both sides. I am old and slow, cause I pace myself.
 
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