Pitman arm

[rick-rock]

How often do these wear out. DoI buy them in an economical two pack ?

[FAM]

Are you using a stock pitman arm or a drop pitman arm?  I haven't heard much about stock ones wearing out, but it seems like there was a bad batch of drop pitman arms from RE a while back that don't hold up well.  I helped Chuck replace his last fall.

[rick-rock]

It's a stock arm with about 75 thousand miles on it. trails on it consist of barret lake ,strawberry and alot of sand.

[Bender]

I'm no Jeep pitman arm expert, but what is there to wear out?  Assuming things are kept tight you should be fine.  If you're going to get a drop and are worried about breaking it, keep the old one as a spare to get you home.  That said, I didn't keep my TREs tight and rounded out the hole on mine nicely.  

[RobD]

I have never worn one out, but I have broke one in half and bent 2 others!

[rick-rock]

I
installed the Currie set-up  before the Berratt lake trip and tightened everything per the instructions. I didn't notice any slop at that time, but i did not check either.
So this last friday I went down at lunch time to have an alignment done. The guy said he could not because of the connection between the draglink and pitman. So i brought it home and checked myself and sure enough it was sloppy. I've ordered new parts to replace them ,no problem. So is this just a fluke or do these parts wear out with the many trails one travels.

[JohnDF]

I ran my original/stock pitman arm for 6 years until it bent this last Summer. I blame Strawberry.

[RockinCrawler]

Mr brother told me years ago that the factory heats up the pitman arm before sliding it on the shaft and torqueing the nut.  So thats what they did at the dealer so they wouldnt work loose.

[lowrider]

 

I ran my original/stock pitman arm for 6 years until it bent this last Summer. I blame Strawberry.

    good one.      

[lj4x4]

I sheared off about half the splines an my brand new RE drop pitman arm. This was on Barrett and was the first trip with the new lift Kit.  It might not have been tight enough but I also think it was one of the "bad ones".  RE replaced it with out a problem.  I haven't had any problems with the new one.

I used antisieze and a large Impact gun to put it on.  I might never get it off but at least I won't strip the splines.

[RobD]

Carrying a spare pitman arm is never a bad idea. Most guys do here. They are small and easy to carry in your Jeep and a vital part of your steering and not easy to fix if they break half way across the Rubicon. Ask me how I know that  

[JohnDF]

and they are mandatory for Hammers trips...ask Justin how he knows  

[rick-rock]

It's settled then , economical two pack.

[Justin]

and they are mandatory for Hammers trips...ask Justin how he knows  

Yeah, John saved my rear on that run. I didn't have a spare but John happened to have the one I needed.
I now carry a spare.
My offering to the mailbox at the top of the Sledgehammer Trail.