Steering box om 95 GMC Suburban 2500

[motorboat4]

Should the splines show more the a half inch on the steering box to the control arm? I'v been hearing knocks from under my 95 GMC Diesel Suburban 2500 recently. Had some suspension work done a few months ago including this control arm. Do you guys have the control arm tightened all the way up to the steering box? Taking it back to the shop in the morning. Thanks.

 

[Big T]

That's the Pitman Arm that bolts onto the steering box. The splined rod it fits on is conical, as in it gets wider towards the steering box. That nut holding the Pitman Arm is torqued down pretty hard. Don't know the torque specs, but it took my leg on a large box wrench to break it free and to tighten it down.

 

[motorboat4]

Yeah I was really worried about the gap it has, especially when I took a crescent to it and the nut was really easy to back off. I didn't feel tight enough. I backed it down to see if the arm would wiggle when I turned the wheel but it did not. Its not a locknut like on the idler arm, its a "B" nut with a lock washer. IMO, it was not tight enough.