Pitman Nut, wtf…

[DHW]

Sup homies,

So I had my steering box tsb replacement done between 1 and 1.5 years ago. For whatever reason, whether it be lazy mechanics or a defective part, within a week or two my Pitman nut was so loose it was freely spinning. Took it to a different dealer, they fixed everything properly. Steering’s been great until…

End of last week, my steering seemed much more vague on center, so a few days later I crawl under and the nut isn’t freely spinning, but I can twist it with my fingers. I’ve tightened it best I could with a shitty pair of channel locks cause it’s the only things that I can get around the giant nut. Ha. Taking it to the dealer tomorrow.

Anyone else had a Pitman nut come loose like this? Pretty sure this shouldn’t be happening? Do they make super strength thread locker?

Btw, It’s a 2018 4 door Rubi, 2” Mopar lift, 35” KO2s on Mopar beadlocks. Teraflex adj track bar and ss, everything else is stock. That’s all the stuff the dealer could blame it on. And thanks to work, I haven’t so much as been down a dirt road in a year. But I also never avoid puddles in the street, so…

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[DOOKEY]

More likely the nut is bottoming out on the threads before it gets the pitman arm tight. If it's been happening more than once you might need a spacer between the nut and pitman arm.

 

[DHW]

More likely the nut is bottoming out on the threads before it gets the pitman arm tight. If it's been happening more than once you might need a spacer between the nut and pitman arm.

Preciate it! Like a lock washer or something similar? How thick?

 

[DOOKEY]

Preciate it! Like a lock washer or something similar? How thick?

Can be a lock washer. Had this happen to me years ago on a TJ. Then again on a brand new 2011 2500 Dodge Ram. I found a thick washer and bored out the I.D. to fit around the splines. Once it pushed the pitman arm up into tolerance fit the nut never backed off again. Since the nut is loose on your box should be easy to check if that is the problem.

 

[DHW]

Can be a lock washer. Had this happen to me years ago on a TJ. Then again on a brand new 2011 2500 Dodge Ram. I found a thick washer and bored out the I.D. to fit around the splines. Once it pushed the pitman arm up into tolerance fit the nut never backed off again. Since the nut is loose on your box should be easy to check if that is the problem.

Cool, thanks for the info!

 

[mwilk012]

More likely the nut is bottoming out on the threads before it gets the pitman arm tight. If it's been happening more than once you might need a spacer between the nut and pitman arm.

that shouldn’t be possible.

 

[DOOKEY]

that shouldn’t be possible.

Agreed.

 

[firedude]

That nut takes a lot of torque with red loctite. Did it have loctite on it when it came loose? Just installed a Steer Smart brace to my 392 with less 1000 miles and my pitman arm nut was loose. Along with one of the tie rods and 3 of the 4 ball joints.

 

[DOOKEY]

That nut takes a lot of torque with red loctite. Did it have loctite on it when it came loose? Just installed a Steer Smart brace to my 392 with less 1000 miles and my pitman arm nut was loose. Along with one of the tie rods and 3 of the 4 ball joints.

Agreed. IIRC... the PSC hydro assist install instructions say 180ft.lbs. I think I went more!

 

[DHW]

So of course even the good dealership I went to in the past says they have to keep the Jeep for 1-3 days just to tighten the damn nut. This shit is ridiculous.

 

[DOOKEY]

Bring it over. ATL is less than 5 unless you have a 392. Then its like 4.

 

[DHW]

That nut takes a lot of torque with red loctite. Did it have loctite on it when it came loose?

Pretty sure the new nut I got with the steel box never had any Loctite on it.

 

[DHW]

Bring it over. ATL is less than 5 unless you have a 392. Then its like 4.

Ha, thanks! I've got a 42mm socket and wrench on the way that should be here Thursday. I told them I'd just do it myself. So it's fine to use red Loctite on it?

 

[DOOKEY]

Yes. Red loctite. Make sure all the threads are clean and dry on the shaft and the nut.

There's some finer details about this whole setup. The pitman arm and jam nut are both mass produced products so they leave a bunch to be desired. The mating surface between the pitman arm and nut aren't parallel to each other but they should be. Most pitman arms have paint on them so it adds to the inconsistencies. If the face of the arm and nut were machined true to the threads you wouldn't need loctite. So the reverse side of that is if the torque applied and the red loctite aren't enough to hold it tight you have a bigger issue going on that needs to be addressed.

Everyone has fought this for years with control arms and jam nuts. Soon as we started machining the tube face and nut true to the threads the problems went away. There have been some instances where the nut has been so far off true there is no way it will ever pull the threads tight since you're relying on such a small amount of the nut to hold it.

Same thing could be happening to your box. Make sure you paint mark the nut on the shaft. Make sure you do the dukes of Hazzard test on the steering wheel to make sure the splines on the box are tight to the pitman arm. If the pitman arm isn't tight on the splines it will wiggle back and forth as you turn back and forth and eventually loosen the nut.

 

[DHW]

@DOOKEY You've been a fountain of knowledge on this topic, is the JK Pitman nut the same size as the JL?

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