Pitman Arm Failure

[hammersley]

OK, first I am not going to try and get into a religious debate BUT somebody was looking over my son and their family yesterday, They were driving their 2007 Megacab, with a 24 ft TT, and were at Newport on the Oregon Coast. They were coming home with 4 vehicles, going 5 MPH, when the PITMAN ARM SNAPED...a COMPLETE FAILURE! I can't imagine a more potentially serious mechanical failure than this!

Now this is early, but I am told that the Pitman Arm nut on the steering box was not very tight, it came off with a simple tug,,,,also the pitman arm had been replaced at a shop 2 years ago.

Has anybody seen this before. The truck is slightly lifted, no other mods.

 

[AEdelheit]

Well the one thing I wonder about is why the draglink is going through the bottom of the pitman arm and not the top, I know on the newer style T steering it goes through the top and I thought the older Y style did too, why was the pitman arm replaced 2 years ago? Was is a Mopar pitman arm or some off road lift company??

 

[cerberusiam]

If the pitman was loose that is likely the cause of the failure. The power steering is capable of snapping tie rod ends if you crank on it too hard. Put the arm in a bind it weakens and snaps.

 

[EDankievitch]

That's a drop pitment arm for a lift kit not a Dodge part. I'd go back to the lift kit manufacture with that one. Also look at the crack see the rust on half of the surface that had a crack in it for some time before it broke. Once it broke there wouldn't be any thing for the nut to be tightened against so I would expect the nut to be loose.

 

[AEdelheit]

I agree that looks like a drop pitman arm though if it had 3" of lift or less it should not have a drop pitman on it.

 

[Bob4x4]

It is indeed an aftermarket drop arm.It is a common failure.Tere was a recall on them a number of years ago

 

[seafish]

Is that an air void in the upper. Left

Corner of the pitman arm?

 

[hammersley]

How can this be a Common problem,,,,meaning this is something that should never ever fail! Not only could this kill the people in the truck, but many others as well! Who is suppose to protect innocent people from substandard issues like this?

 

[Ozymandias]

No it doesn't because it breaks always at very low speeds when the forces on the steering are high.
There are no reports that one failed at highway speed.

But however, it should not fail anyway, it's terrible.

 

[Bob4x4]

Never said it should be common. I have had at least a half dozen towed in to myy shop. They are probably made in China ,always have been on the cheapy 4/5 inch lifts

 

[SierraRam]

Had my Superlift drop pitman arm do the same thing while backing out of a parking space. They had a recall for all of the aftermarket drop pitman arms in 2008.

 

[algonaman]

So these are probably junk:
http://sourceautomotive.biz/superliftdroppitmanarm.aspx

 

[Tinman]

Mall terrain suspension. You get what you pay for. Glad no one was hurt. BTW Carli's 6 inch system has no drop, used stock steering. Just a way to separate you from your money, like aftermarket control arms on the cheepo lifts.

 

[Tinman]

Opps, my bad. There is a drop on Carli's 6 inch system but not the 3 inch. Linkage is 08+ stock.

 

[AEdelheit]

Ya I was gonna say at 6" you really need a drop just dont get a cheap one!