77 steering drag link to pitman arm

[mkemark]

Just started working on my Bronco and had a TON of steering play. Went under and found the connection from the pitman arm to the drag link very loose. The shaft coming from the drag link is thicker than the pitman arm so the castle nut bottoms out with room to spare, not getting tight. Is there a bushing or replacement part that needs to go in this space. I’ll replace the drag link if I have to but the rest of it looks straight and clean. I don’t know a lot about steering so I’m being cautious. Thanks in advance for any help. I’m new here so I’m working on the best way to upload photos.

 

[DirtDonk]

Do you know if it’s a stock steering set up, or has it been changed?
Is it just the thickness of a washer perhaps? Sometimes these old setups did have a washer, even though more often than not there was the nut straight on top of the knuckle or arm.
If you can post up a picture or a link to a picture, that might help.

 

[thegreatjustino]

67-75 pitman arm with the 76/77 steering linkage perhaps.

 

[mkemark]

Here are some pics. Let me know if anyone needs different angles.

https://ibb.co/jwd1cYt
https://ibb.co/410mp1x

 

[mkemark]

I'm assuming it's the stock steering setup. I'm still in the phase of "who did this and did they do it right?" so there are lots of surprises. I don't think any upgrades were ever added to this truck but I'll do some investigating.

Funny, I actually found a post on here from 2017 (I searched my DSO code) showing my Bronco from a friend of a previous owner. Small World

 

[DirtDonk]

Looks normal as far as I can tell. But it would help to see one more picture from a little farther away to show the entire linkage from tire to tire.
It looks like the long tie rod/drag link is new? If so, you might be running into the same problem that many of us run into.
That’s where the Chinese translation from the Brazilian translation from the Spanish translation of the original documents and specifications and engineering design parameters, got completely mixed up and ignored, and they simply made the stud too long.
The good news is that as long as it’s a tight fit into the tapered hole, and the only problem is the nut bottoms out on the threads first, you should be able to put a thick washer under there and have it do it job.
It’s not right, and it doesn’t give me the warm and fuzzies. But it should work.

Maybe one more picture in addition, would be with the tapered stud inserted into the hole and the nut run down so we can see just how much you’re dealing with.

 

[mkemark]

Here are more pictures.

https://ibb.co/kcx3V5N
https://ibb.co/2Z0kTQg
https://ibb.co/3sDffgy
https://ibb.co/Z89n3yw

The pitman arm is connected to a ball joint on the drag link. There is a gap on the ball joint shaft (I don't honestly know if there is supposed to be or not). I torqued the castle nut down as best I could. The ball joint stud started spinning so I used pliers to hold the stud and tightened with a wrench.

When the steering wheel is turned, the ball joint moves to its maximum angle, and then moves the drag link. So it causes the excessive play since the ball joint is absorbing the pitman arm movement until it can't move any more. I know the dust boot is missing from the ball joint, but I don't think has any influence here.

I've read about using a washer on some other forums but wanted to make sure if that would apply here as well.

Thanks in advance. Steering and suspension is a bit of black magic to me, but I'm sure I'm going to learn lots about it owning a Bronco.

 

[Apogee]

That appears to be factory 76-77 steering links and geometry, but it's possible that you have the earlier steering arm as suggested by thegreatjustino above. I don't care for the "inverted-Y" type steering, so my '77 has a conventional tie-rod/drag-link setup, otherwise I'd go and check for you. As for running a washer, so long as the taper in the pitman arm matches the taper of the tie-rod end, there shouldn't be any issue with doing that, and I would argue that it's an improvement over stock. Often when I've seen tie-rods get loose, it's due to the nut imbedding into the mating surface, so a hardened washer should prevent that from happening in the first place.

 

[thegreatjustino]

Based on the photos, I'm sticking with my 67-75 pitman arm with the 76/77 steering linkage theory. You need the correct 76/77 pitman arm with the narrower taper.

 

[bfoldy]

X2…what Justin says above.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mkemark]

Thanks for all the great input. Sounds like first step is going to be a new pitman arm. The steering box and pitman look super crusty but may have been replaced at sometime with a whole setup from 67-75. Then someone recently replaced the steering linkage with the proper year that wouldn’t mate correctly to the pitman. This is a power steering setup if that makes any difference.

So if I put the 76-76 pitman arm on, the taper on the drag link stud should settle into the pitman arm a little bit above and not bottom out onto the ball joint?

 

[DirtDonk]

Assuming the tapered stud is correct, then one would think so. But without measuring your current Pitman Arm, comparing it against the correct one, or verifying that there is no damage to the tapered hole, it’s hard to confirm anything from way out here.
Can you tell if the hole is worn?

 

[DirtDonk]

OK. I agree with what the others have said already.
You can probably find a part number, or engineering number as they are known, cast into the steering arm. But that looks like either a 73 through 75 Pitman Arm, or even a 78/79!
The hole is obviously too large.
That size can sometimes come from being wallowed out from driven while loose, but looking at the small end of your Pitman Arm, it looks too large to be the 76/77 arm.
So let’s hope the cure is as simple as that.

But let’s ask another question before you spend money. Even though we love helping other members spend their money rather than our own! Is your bronco at stock suspension height, or has it been lifted?
Or maybe more importantly, if it hasn’t been lifted, do you intend to in the future?

 

[Apogee]

Alternatively, you might be able to modify your current steering arm (damaged or not) by drilling it out and welding in a new sleeve for the appropriate size and taper of tie-rod end. I just did this on an early steering arm to adapt GM tie-rod ends, and it worked out well. I got the insert from Ruff Stuff, but I think there are several various options to choose from.

 

[mkemark]

OK. I agree with what the others have said already.
You can probably find a part number, or engineering number as they are known, cast into the steering arm. But that looks like either a 73 through 75 Pitman Arm, or even a 78/79!
The hole is obviously too large.
That size can sometimes come from being wallowed out from driven while loose, but looking at the small end of your Pitman Arm, it looks too large to be the 76/77 arm.
So let’s hope the cure is as simple as that.

But let’s ask another question before you spend money. Even though we love helping other members spend their money rather than our own! Is your bronco at stock suspension height, or has it been lifted?
Or maybe more importantly, if it hasn’t been lifted, do you intend to in the future?

It currently is not lifted. I plan to do a 2.5” suspension lift with a 1” body lift. Do you think I will need a drop pitman arm for that? I see where you’re going with this. If I need to change the pitman anyways, change it to the new suspension setup.

 

[thegreatjustino]

Thanks for all the great input. Sounds like first step is going to be a new pitman arm. The steering box and pitman look super crusty but may have been replaced at sometime with a whole setup from 67-75.

How many turns of the steering wheel do you get from lock to lock? 73-75 steering boxes were six turn. 76 & 77 were four turn. If you have a six turn box, I'd guess someone installed the earlier box with the pitman arm on it without realizing the 76/77 arm was different.

 

[mkemark]

How many turns of the steering wheel do you get from lock to lock? 73-75 steering boxes were six turn. 76 & 77 were four turn. If you have a six turn box, I'd guess someone installed the earlier box with the pitman arm on it without realizing the 76/77 arm was different.

Sure enough, I got in and turned the steering wheel. Six turns. The steering box was replaced! The very new looking steering rack was probably ordered to match the year of the Bronco and they put it on. I can’t imagine someone feeling the sloppy steering and thinking “yeah, this is good”.

Ordered a 76-77 pitman arm today. Hopefully the other end that connects to the sector shaft hasn’t changed.

Thanks for your simple, yet brilliant way to figure out what I’m dealing with.