So I’ve been replacing a lot of stuff on the car and I seen that the tie rods boots were all torn up so I installed new tie rods and a new pitman arm as well since old one also had a ripped up boot. I got the new piman arm (bought it from Centric Parts) and tried to install it but since it only goes in one way because of the splines it is off center even tho the steering wheel is perfectly centered. And weirdly enough the original pitman arm on the car had a different pattern of splines that allowed to go on any way on the sector shaft so now I’m genuinely confused what do I do. And I don’t want to take out the steering box out cuz apparently you have to remove the steering lock and I would rather not go through that. I don’t get it is there way that the sector shaft can be moved without moving the rest of the steering column or something?

I’d really appreciate the help cuz I’m lost rn

 

🤔That it's weird.... It has a guide notch that is wider than the threads to go in one way only......well, at least the one I installed was like that ....

 

Car details might help people answer more specifically, but alot of that stuff is the same across FB years so here are my general comments.

There were some threads about some of the after market pitmans not fitting completely onto the shaft IIRC. WRT the wheel being not centered, it sounds like, since the old pitman arm was installable unkeyed, it might have gone on one click over and then the rest of it was aligned out of the equation with the tie rod adjusters...just a guess.

Anyway, in my opinion, if the new pitman is solidly installed, your alignment person can center the wheel and adjust the tie rod sleeves. Here's a clue, look at the old tie rod sleeves now, if one side shows many more threads on the adjuster than the other, there that might have been to accommodate the old pitman. And your first trip in the car should be to get it aligned and it will feel awful on the trip to the shop.

Also, if there are any other front end bushing problems or replacements you want to make, fix them before the alignment.

This is an excellent thread: https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generati...ptions-1096745

And since the next logical thing after the steering linkage/ball joints/suspension stuff is the steering, here's a great thread on that: https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generati...ments-1055752/

 

Yea it’s pretty wierd same with me comes with wider notch that only lets it go one way but I just filed it down with a triangular file and just slipped it on like that lol. Thanks for the help though 💯