Pitman Arm Issues

[crahill39]

Posted this in another area, but not getting any responses so I am posting here. I just did the rebuild on all the suspension components on my 71 GTX. I ordered a replacement Pitman Arm from PST. The replacement arm is about an inch shorter than the original off the GTX. I spoke with PST and they confirmed the part is correct. I also pulled the Pitman Arm from the 71 RR donor car since it was a power steering optioned car as well. The RR Pitman arm matches up perfectly to the PST replacement. My only guess is that someone swapped this out on the GTX at some point. Do I need to change the idler arm out as well now? Or am I missing something here? Was there a difference between the GTX vs RR/Satellite?

Craig

 

[PRND21]

Pitman and idler should be the same length, travel the same arc. Longer pitman gives you quicker steering but might not fit with some headers.

 

[crahill39]

Pitman and idler should be the same length, travel the same arc. Longer pitman gives you quicker steering but might not fit with some headers.

Thanks for the reply. I will order the idler arm from PST to match. I also went with the Borgeson power steering box to get more clearance and have a firmer feel. I guess what confused me was how there was a different pitman arm on the GTX in the first place. However, after thinking about it, the car is over 40 years old and who knows what might have been changed.