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Operating on the theory that ignorance is no vice unless left uncorrected, I will now procede to display my ample supply of that particular commodity as regards suspension and steering.

To say another way: I'm a dumbsh*t about front ends, guys...help me out!

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Upgraded my '71, slant, 9-inch-drum, 4" BC Swinger to front discs last summer. Donor car was a '74, slant Dart.

Crawled under the car this morning because I've noticed an annoying, passenger-side "rattle" that recently showed up under the front end whenever I pass over any rough pavement, dips etc. Only slop I found was in the idler arm shaft where it passes through the center link. When the wheels are cranked right, the castle nut, idler arm shaft and center link lift up as a unit about 1/4" .

I'm assuming that:

1)- the idler arm shaft is tapered (which is why the shaft, center link and nut are lifting off the grease seal as a unit when the wheels are cranked).

2)-up-and-down movement of the idler arm shaft in the bushing signifies that the part is shot. Have never had this happen, but I assume that, if I don't replace it, the shaft could eventually rip right out of the bushing with disasterous results.


Looking back through the PST catalog, I saw something that makes me think I may have mis-matched components when I swapped, thereby contributing to the demise of the idler arm bushing.

Specifically, the catalog indicates that replacement idler arms are grouped as follows: '62-'66, '67, '68-'72 and '73-'85 A-bodies. A-body pitman arms are divided into 62-'72 and '73-'76.

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I'll be very specific about what parts now reside in my car's front end so that anyone who knows these things inside-out can straighten me up:

1)-center link, inner tie rod ends, tie rod adjusting sleeves, PS box, pitman arm and idler arm are stock '71 that where on the car when I bought it.

2)-outer tie rod ends, steering knuckles, upper and lower ball joints, UCA & LCA bushings, strut rod bushings and swaybar bushings and are all PST polygraphite for a '74 A-body.

3)-all SPC brake parts (rotors, calipers etc.), LCA, UCA, T-bars, strut rods, K-frame, factory swaybar and spindles are from '74 Dart donor car.

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My questions are:

1)-what idler arm should I order from PST to replace the shot one?

2)-if I get the '73-'85 idler arm, will I need to replace the present pitman arm with a '73-'76 arm to match it? How 'bout the center link?

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Does anybody know what the specific variations are between all these different pitman and idle arms and why they changed so much? Did it have to do with oil pan / center link clearance (I know the pans changed slightly over the years), spline count on the pitman arm / steering shaft, or did the arm lengths and angles change drastically or what?

Thanks in advance for your help. Just want to tighten everything back up, do it right and "keep it safe".


---Red

Red,

AFAIK, you should use the '71 replacement stuff since that will fit your K member. I kept the '64 pitman, centerlink, and idler on my Dart when I swapped (to 73-up spindles/bjs and C-body tie rods) and no problems have surfaced after about 10k miles and lots of racing.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Lou...

Thanks, but...

Did you notice that the K-frame came from the '74 donor car? I swapped K-frames to get the spool motor mounts and slot for the factory sway bar to go through.

I've posted this on several forums and, based on the feedback rec'd so far, am thinking I should swap in new '74 A-body tie rod adjustors, inner tie rods, center link, idler arm and pitman arm. Oughta end up with a bullet-proof front end if I do that.

Should've dragged home all the steering linkage from the donor car to check for differences when I did the brake swap---would've saved myself all this confusion.

Wouldn't be a bad idea for a bunch of us who have different year shop and master parts bookls to pool our recources and post all the various front end part variations in an article over at the old site. Might make it easier for those doing brake upgrades to "get it right" and come out with the safest possible results. I have a '66 shop manual and a '66 master parts book (both Plymouth) myself.


---Red

I went to www.rockauto.com and found this. The pitman arm for '71 is K-7074 and idler arm is K-7042. For '73 pitman arm is K-7076 and idler arm is K-7086. All are Moog numbers. Maybe the center like is different? Rockauto is a great place to look up part numbers, I've used it many times to get the right part at my local stores!

Oops, sorry Red. Was reading quickly and foggily after my 8hr trip back from the Clay City Slant race.

If you are using the '74 K, then you should use '74 pitman, idler and centerlink too. The pitman and centerlink MAY be the same as '71, but probably not. I am pretty certain that the tie rods are all the same for the A-bods, and even the C-body ones will swap right in as I did on my '64.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988