welding ford f150 pitman arm and other goodies

Chuckman

Chuckman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2005
Location
Huntersville
ok, so I need to modify a ford f150 (90s-ish model) pitman arm for a PS conversion on a trail only willys cj3a. so, no roads and no speed over 20 mph, just farm duty and light trail use. Im assuming that it is forged steel and does not need any extra precautions other than healthy amounts of V notching and stick welding. what am I missing?

ok another, I need to splice together the steering sector shaft - or whatever you want to call it. I need to attach the DD shaft that attaches to the ragjoint on the gear to a chevy ujoint shaft from a van. are the ujoints cast or forged?

in general is there a tip to determine cast steel from forged steel? perhaps by grinding and looking at sparks? not cast iron, thats a different animal all together
 
youre telling me nobody has welded a pitman arm on here????
 
You're surprised at that? Most people don't weld on pitman arms for safety reasons...but I guess you already knew that.
 
Grind it, pre-heat it 400*-500* the oven works well, weld it 7018. bury it in concrete, sand or wrap in insulation when done. I would do this for farm & off road use only like you described.
 
I really don't recommend welding it either. But if you must then I would lay it down flat and bend flat bar around the entire perimeter. Use bar thats a little taller than the arm so you have a nice V all the way around top and bottom to weld it to it.
 
MarsFab said:
I really don't recommend welding it either. But if you must then I would lay it down flat and bend flat bar around the entire perimeter. Use bar thats a little taller than the arm so you have a nice V all the way around top and bottom to weld it to it.
Click to expand...



Preheat necessary for forged steel? Yes, i plan to reinforce it, looks dont matter, but strength does. People seem to have forgotten our hotrod roots...
 
Chuckman said:
People seem to have forgotten our hotrod roots...
Click to expand...

I don't think that's the case at all... a trail fix is one thing, but purposefully chopping/welding a whole other subject!

With the HUGE amount of PAs, in just about every configuration available (junkyard/aftermarket), there's fewer people willing to spend an hour prepping/welding + 5-10 hours waiting on it to cool slowly, only to have it fail at (what's usually) the most inopportune time imaginable :D...

When for the low price of $50-$75 they can have a brand new PA, ready to install in minutes that's 95% less likely to fail ever...
 
Caver Dave said:
I don't think that's the case at all... a trail fix is one thing, but purposefully chopping/welding a whole other subject!
With the HUGE amount of PAs, in just about every configuration available (junkyard/aftermarket), there's fewer people willing to spend an hour prepping/welding + 5-10 hours waiting on it to cool slowly, only to have it fail at (what's usually) the most inopportune time imaginable :D...
When for the low price of $50-$75 they can have a brand new PA, ready to install in minutes that's 95% less likely to fail ever...
Click to expand...

once again, people have forgotten our hotrod roots... sigh...
find me a ford splined arm with 15° upward bend with a willys taper on the tie rod end thats less than the cost of 2# of welding rod.
 
Chuckman said:
once again, people have forgotten our hotrod roots... sigh...
find me a ford splined arm with 15° upward bend with a willys taper on the tie rod end thats less than the cost of 2# of welding rod.
Click to expand...

Agreed !!!!!

This is a bolt on board apparently, hard core 4x4 and race cars are all 99% fab and many times more stressed than stock parts ever see.
 
Chuckman said:
once again, people have forgotten our hotrod roots... sigh...
find me a ford splined arm with 15° upward bend with a willys taper on the tie rod end thats less than the cost of 2# of welding rod.
Click to expand...
It really gripes my ass that you keep saying that. I build this stuff for a living. Not for fun, not just to say I did it. In most cases peoples lives depend on what I do and if I know how to do it. I think you need to take some advice before you hurt yourself.
If you cut and weld that pitman arm It will break. It might not do it right away but it will. You cannot evenly heat that piece properly and cool it properly with just ordinary tools. Which I'm assuming you have since your so in touch with your hotrod roots.

Why dont you swapping to a different TRE that fits the ford pitman arm. Maybe flip the arm over so it points up instead of down?
 
Jeff B said:
Grind it, pre-heat it 400*-500* the oven works well, weld it 7018. bury it in concrete, sand or wrap in insulation when done. I would do this for farm & off road use only like you described.
Click to expand...

what he said
 
..

MarsFab said:
It really gripes my ass that you keep saying that. I build this stuff for a living. Not for fun, not just to say I did it. In most cases peoples lives depend on what I do and if I know how to do it. I think you need to take some advice before you hurt yourself.
If you cut and weld that pitman arm It will break. It might not do it right away but it will. You cannot evenly heat that piece properly and cool it properly with just ordinary tools. Which I'm assuming you have since your so in touch with your hotrod roots.
Why dont you swapping to a different TRE that fits the ford pitman arm. Maybe flip the arm over so it points up instead of down?
Click to expand...

x2 :beer:.
 
pitman arms have been cut and welded sucessfully since the beginning of time.

read the original post. this is for a willys that will never see any speed over 10mph on a farm with NO reason in life other than to carry deer back to camp idling along in 4lo . no stress, no torque, no big tires, nothing. if it did, in year 2090, break, so what? thanks for the happy thoughts guys! seems nobody has seen one brazed up, two units spliced together etc. looking at the grain under a microscope, its forged, so Im all over it.
think I'll run just 2 lug nuts on each wheel just to prove a point, wait, Ive been doing that for years. consider the application folks, thats all. I have a big trail CJ on 38's with all the critical pieces designed way over safety factor, but this one is just like a big golf cart, thats all.
 
I can do it for you if you wanna ship it to me, I have the tools & heating equipment.
 
Chuckman said:
pitman arms have been cut and welded sucessfully since the beginning of time.

read the original post. this is for a willys that will never see any speed over 10mph on a farm with NO reason in life other than to carry deer back to camp idling along in 4lo . no stress, no torque, no big tires, nothing. if it did, in year 2090, break, so what? thanks for the happy thoughts guys! seems nobody has seen one brazed up, two units spliced together etc. looking at the grain under a microscope, its forged, so Im all over it.
think I'll run just 2 lug nuts on each wheel just to prove a point, wait, Ive been doing that for years. consider the application folks, thats all. I have a big trail CJ on 38's with all the critical pieces designed way over safety factor, but this one is just like a big golf cart, thats all.
Click to expand...

Dude! you asked for opinions did you not? Then I give you an opinion. You have to make smart ass comments back to me.

10 mph on a trail/pasture is 10 times harder on a PA than 50 mph down the road.

Fortunately I'm not the one welding it for you. I guess that means It doesn't really matter what I say anyways. So good luck I hope it works out well. Maybe next time you want suggestions you not be an ass.
 
RIDETOEAT said:
Agreed !!!!!
This is a bolt on board apparently, hard core 4x4 and race cars are all 99% fab and many times more stressed than stock parts ever see.
Click to expand...

I agree with part of what you said, however most stress related parts on stock cars are billet. Including the pitman arm.
 
guess I could wire-EMm this bitch out of billet. but instead I'll just do at work and use the heat treat oven, with about a 10 degree cut lengthwise and that will give me about 3" of weld area. then wrap the whole thing with 3/8" plate. cool it properly overnight, then temper it with the oven again. that seems to be the consensus from the old timers that Im talking with.
 
You will need to normalize it in the heat treat after welding. Then cool over night.
 
Back
Top