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PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2006 12:00 pm 
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My son has his 1978 2wd Luv in for a front end alignment and they say he needs the following parts: Left inner tie rod end, Pitman arm, and Front strut rod bushing. They can't find any of the parts available except the Left inner tie rod end.

Does anyone have a source for a new pitman arm and strut rod bushings? I have checked all over online and can't find any.

Thanks for your help.


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PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2006 1:15 pm 
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http://www.napaonline.com/masterpages/N ... SubCatId=1


NAPA should be able to get you the parts. The links above will get on the right track. Just select from the drop-down menus and it will eventually get to the page for front end parts.
You can either order on line or take the part #s to you local NAPA and order thru them.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.


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PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2006 1:45 pm 
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The pitman arm is usually not a wear part. It connects solidly to the steering gearbox on one end and solidly to the steering linkage at the other. About all that can happen to it is that it breaks, unless the joints at the ends were loose on the holes. They might be thinking of the idler arm, or rather the idler arm pivot shaft bushing. That has been the single biggest problem area on all my LUVs for loose/sloppy steering. The idler arm is basically in the same position as the pitman arm, but on the opposite frame rail. At one point I was able to get the bushing at NAPA, but I recall going through a lot of trouble to get it. You might look into pulling the whole idler arm bracket, shaft, and even the arm off of a junk yard truck and then getting the bushing replaced in the spare bracket. If they are really bad, the shaft will be worn out too, so an extra shaft helps too.

The strut rod bushing is a tough one, I can't remember ever seeing them available. I was always wanting to find a poly replacement for them, or get some poly stock of the right diameter and make some. They generally don't get too trashed, so you might be able to get one at a u-pull-it junkyard that would be good enough.

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77 LUV 2wd stock beltway blaster (resting)
79 4x4 LUV project: 2.6L, 5spd, 31s (eventually)

MEPR: Man, my 4x4 makes all other LUVs look good :lol:


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PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2006 2:02 pm 
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NAPA chassis parts / NCP 2749073 - Strut rod bushing
Beck-Arnley / BA1013863 - Idler arm bushing

Here's the part #s of those items i bought thru NAPA last year.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.


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PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2006 2:13 pm 
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Rock auto .com has the idler arm bushing for a 1980. But no idler arm or pitman arm.

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PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2006 3:09 pm 
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Unfortunately the tie rod end was loose in the pitman arm and rounded/egged it out I guess. After 2 hours online and 2 hours on phone, I couldn't find a new or used one. Then the shop called back and said an outfit in CA called rareparts.com can rebuild the pitman arm by drilling it out and putting in a bushing. I don't even want to know how much it will cost....I'll let you know when I get the bill though.

Thanks for the tip on the bushings at NAPA. The guy at NAPA I talked to couldn't find any in his system. I punched the # you gave me in on their website and found it though.

Thanks again!


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PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2006 5:24 pm 
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you can find all that stuff through NAPA. I just ordered all of it for spares. The guy at NAPA will have to go to the books though, 90% of LUV parts arent in the computer. I would get all your part numbers from the website and take those in.

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PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2006 7:30 pm 
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I couldn't find the pitman arm on NAPA website, and the NAPA guy couldn't find it in his computer either. He got out his book and found it but where the part # should have been printed it showed "obsolete" instead so he couldn't even give me the number. Does anyone have the number for me?


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PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2006 7:46 pm 
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the pitman arm is the only part i have not been able to find myself. Your best bet there is to pull it off and have amachine shop make new bushings for it. I highly doubt that is your problem though. It is probly joints where they meet the center link.

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PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2006 1:56 am 
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Find a U-pull and get one if you can. Its not a part that usually gets much attention so if a yard has a LUV it should still be there. If you haven't, check out http://www.car-part.com and see what they list, you might find one there. Personally I would not go to the trouble of have the old one machined, even fixed perfectly it would not be as good as an original one. If you really can't find one let me know and I'll see if I have one that is not completely rusted in place on one of my parts trucks.

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95 Isuzu Trooper Daily Driver
86 Isuzu Trooper reliable backup
77 LUV 2wd stock beltway blaster (resting)
79 4x4 LUV project: 2.6L, 5spd, 31s (eventually)

MEPR: Man, my 4x4 makes all other LUVs look good :lol:


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PostPosted: Fri May 12, 2006 2:05 pm 
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I got the NAPA NCP2749073 Strut Rod bushings today and they are definitely not the right ones for a 1978 2WD. The center hole is correct but the other dimensions are wrong. Is that part # for a 4wd perhaps? Anyone else have a part number or a source?


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PostPosted: Fri May 12, 2006 2:21 pm 
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That part should work on all 72-80 LUVs. With the center hole correct, do the new parts have a smaller diameter size and are thicker? If so, the parts should work. After years of being compressed, the bushings wont return to the original shape.
Can you give a better description of why they wont work?

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.


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PostPosted: Fri May 12, 2006 2:37 pm 
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I just pulled my set of bushings(274-9073) from my kit and that is the case. The new bushings are a smaller diameter and thicker in depth. Once they get installed, they'll look more like the original bushings.
The bushing material is better than stock so they may have had to reduce the overall size to allow them to work within the truck design.

I have no reservations with using these same bushings on my truck in the near future.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.


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