PIT MAN ARM RUBBER SEAL

[NOT A T5]

Hi everyone,

My original pit man arm rubber seal (my car has power steering) is totally dried up and cracked severely. I was able to find an original seal online for a good junk of change. But the new seal looks a hair smaller than my old seal. The seller mentioned his seal is for manual steering, but will fit and work with power steering equipped cars. The new seal also looks a bit different around the top where the lip or collar isn't flat like my old one. The new seal will eventually flatten out when it is installed. They both have identical part numbers on them. It's a bit confusing...can someone shed some light on this? Thanks for your input!

Old seal on the left, new seal on the right in the picture!

 

[Stanglover]

Hi everyone,

My original pit man arm rubber seal (my car has power steering) is totally dried up and cracked severely. I was able to find an original seal online for a good junk of change. But the new seal looks a hair smaller than my old seal. The seller mentioned his seal is for manual steering, but will fit and work with power steering equipped cars. The new seal also looks a bit different around the top where the lip or collar isn't flat like my old one. The new seal will eventually flatten out when it is installed. They both have identical part numbers on them. It's a bit confusing...can someone shed some light on this? Thanks for your input!

Old seal on the left, new seal on the right in the picture!

 I have the same thing. My car originally had manual steering, but I converted it to power. I noticed that both pitman arms had the same rubber seal and both were cracked. When I rebuilt the PS box, I also needed a new pitman arm, but I could not find a new rubber seal. The new arms are sold with a felt ring, which is pretty cheap even on a Rare Parts pitman arm.

I tried to glue the seals I have, but even with a special adhesive, it was not very successful. I too need a new one, but I don't see any reproduced. Is your seal a genuine NOS part? PM me with the details if you would.

Thanks and I hope this has helped.

Geoff.

 

[NOT A T5]

Hi everyone,

My original pit man arm rubber seal (my car has power steering) is totally dried up and cracked severely. I was able to find an original seal online for a good junk of change. But the new seal looks a hair smaller than my old seal. The seller mentioned his seal is for manual steering, but will fit and work with power steering equipped cars. The new seal also looks a bit different around the top where the lip or collar isn't flat like my old one. The new seal will eventually flatten out when it is installed. They both have identical part numbers on them. It's a bit confusing...can someone shed some light on this? Thanks for your input!

Old seal on the left, new seal on the right in the picture!

 I have the same thing. My car originally had manual steering, but I converted it to power. I noticed that both pitman arms had the same rubber seal and both were cracked. When I rebuilt the PS box, I also needed a new pitman arm, but I could not find a new rubber seal. The new arms are sold with a felt ring, which is pretty cheap even on a Rare Parts pitman arm.

I tried to glue the seals I have, but even with a special adhesive, it was not very successful. I too need a new one, but I don't see any reproduced. Is your seal a genuine NOS part? PM me with the details if you would.

Thanks and I hope this has helped.

Geoff.

Hi Stanglover,

Yes the new seal is a NOS genuine Ford part. The flange on top looks different (the part on the right) but should flatten out when it is installed. These seal are being reproduced if you want to go that route. Virginia Classic Mustang Inc have them listed...their part number is SU-1651 and costs a mere $4.95 I hope this helps anybody out who are in need of this part! "OLD MUSTANGS NEVER DIE THEY JUST GO FASTER"!

 

[Stanglover]

Hi everyone,

My original pit man arm rubber seal (my car has power steering) is totally dried up and cracked severely. I was able to find an original seal online for a good junk of change. But the new seal looks a hair smaller than my old seal. The seller mentioned his seal is for manual steering, but will fit and work with power steering equipped cars. The new seal also looks a bit different around the top where the lip or collar isn't flat like my old one. The new seal will eventually flatten out when it is installed. They both have identical part numbers on them. It's a bit confusing...can someone shed some light on this? Thanks for your input!

Old seal on the left, new seal on the right in the picture!

 I have the same thing. My car originally had manual steering, but I converted it to power. I noticed that both pitman arms had the same rubber seal and both were cracked. When I rebuilt the PS box, I also needed a new pitman arm, but I could not find a new rubber seal. The new arms are sold with a felt ring, which is pretty cheap even on a Rare Parts pitman arm.

I tried to glue the seals I have, but even with a special adhesive, it was not very successful. I too need a new one, but I don't see any reproduced. Is your seal a genuine NOS part? PM me with the details if you would.

Thanks and I hope this has helped.

Geoff.

Hi Stanglover,

Yes the new seal is a NOS genuine Ford part. The flange on top looks different (the part on the right) but should flatten out when it is installed. These seal are being reproduced if you want to go that route. Virginia Classic Mustang Inc have them listed...their part number is SU-1651 and costs a mere $4.95 I hope this helps anybody out who are in need of this part! "OLD MUSTANGS NEVER DIE THEY JUST GO FASTER"!

 Thanks for that info. I'll check that out. NPD don't or didn't have them when I needed one. They may now though.

 You'll be fine with the NOS seal, but hopefully the rubber is still good.

Edit note: I just found that this seal is listed as a 67-70 and it is in NPD's catalog. It is used on the 71-73, so why are they not listed as such?

Again, thanks for your info, that helps me too.

 

[Pastel Blue]

For information: This is the original seal off my current '71 vert restoration... Look familiar?

 

[NOT A T5]

For information: This is the original seal off my current '71 vert restoration... Look familiar?

Yep, looks just like my old seal which has the same part number on it. The new seal I purchased has the same part number but looks slightly different. Thanks though!

 

[Stanglover]

For information: This is the original seal off my current '71 vert restoration... Look familiar?

Yep, looks just like my old seal which has the same part number on it. The new seal I purchased has the same part number but looks slightly different. Thanks though!

 I'm thinking that the old ones are stretched as they do need to be tight over the lip of the pitman arm, so that is why they may look different.

 

[rackerm]

Confirming what has already been said... The top on your new seal looks different than the two seals I have.  Are the revision numbers the same on both? The part number for the seal in the picture below is: C4ZA-3A196-A





how to get url for picture

 

[NOT A T5]

Confirming what has already been said... The top on your new seal looks different than the two seals I have.  Are the revision numbers the same on both? The part number for the seal in the picture below is: C4ZA-3A196-A





how to get url for picture 

That is my point! They both have the SAME part number on them but the new seal on the right in my picture looks slightly different and looks a hair smaller than my old seal on the left.

 

[GeoBW]

Hi everyone,

My original pit man arm rubber seal (my car has power steering) is totally dried up and cracked severely. I was able to find an original seal online for a good junk of change. But the new seal looks a hair smaller than my old seal. The seller mentioned his seal is for manual steering, but will fit and work with power steering equipped cars. The new seal also looks a bit different around the top where the lip or collar isn't flat like my old one. The new seal will eventually flatten out when it is installed. They both have identical part numbers on them. It's a bit confusing...can someone shed some light on this? Thanks for your input!

Old seal on the left, new seal on the right in the picture!

Hi NotAT5, Just wondering how this seal worked out in the end?

 

[Stanglover]

After looking back at this and checking through my junk box, I was unable to find the replacement seal I bought. I know it's not on the car because the Rare Parts pitman arm I bought, would not accept the rubber seal. It just slipped off the casting, nothing for it to fit to. These arms are supplied with a felt ring that I guess is supposed to replace the rubber seal. This felt seal has been in the car now for 3 years and seems to be doing the job. I will be checking that more closely in Spring because I'm going to replace the PS box for the one I just rebuilt and posted about recently.

I also checked Rear Counter.com for the part numbers as well as Green Sales and Dennis Carpenter for NOS parts, but nothing turned up, zilch!

I think that the rubber seals that are available, part # 3A352-1A from NPD would work on an NOS pitman arm, but on an aftermarket one, the casting may need to be carefully ground or trimmed so it fits like in the pictures posted elsewhere in this thread. (Rackerm's picture)

Hope that helps,

Geoff.

 

[secluff]

Geoff, the C4ZA-3A196-A is an engineering number and not a Ford part number. Ford never released that part for service so there was never an actual part number. So part number searches on NOS Parts, Green Sales, etc are probably not going to show anything. The C4ZA indicates a part designed in 1964 when the Mustang first entered production. So the reason no two seals seam to fit the same is the repro folks are producing these seals with no blueprints or dimensions from Ford.  

Besides, you know how concerned the repo people are about producing parts for us that actually fit!!

 

[Don C]

The new seal looks different because it hasn't been compressed and worn between the pitman arm and center link.

Here is a cheap and effective fix, and better than the Rare Parts piece of (crap) felt.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Poor-mans-tie-rod-end-or-ball-joint-boot/

 

[Stanglover]

The new seal looks different because it hasn't been compressed and worn between the pitman arm and center link.

Here is a cheap and effective fix, and better than the Rare Parts piece of (crap) felt.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Poor-mans-tie-rod-end-or-ball-joint-boot/

 Hmmm! that sounds like it's worth investigating. Good find.

Geoff.

 

[Stanglover]

Geoff, the C4ZA-3A196-A is an engineering number and not a Ford part number. Ford never released that part for service so there was never an actual part number. So part number searches on NOS Parts, Green Sales, etc are probably not going to show anything. The C4ZA indicates a part designed in 1964 when the Mustang first entered production. So the reason no two seals seam to fit the same is the repro folks are producing these seals with no blueprints or dimensions from Ford.  

Besides, you know how concerned the repo people are about producing parts for us that actually fit!!

 Steve, That might explain it why it did not show up. Other engineering numbers do relate to service parts, like the PS inlet & outlet brass fitting I was looking for as well as the balls. If Ford never released this seal for service, no wonder there isn't anything out there worth buying.

Did you see Don's "fix"

Geoff.

 

[secluff]

Geoff, yes I saw Don C's "Fix". That's why I feel we are lucky to have talented  people like Don and Hemikiller on our forum. I could probably spend hours searching for a solution to some of these "Off the Wall" things that seem to appear all the time. They definitely have the "Touch"!  

As far as parts with the "Hardware" style part numbers like  the brass fittings ( such as 374480-S),  the majority of the time Ford used the same number as the engineers assigned. The sheer number of screws, fasteners, clips, nuts, bolts, etc typically found on any given vehicle  would  a logistical nightmare to assign a regular Ford part number to. Much easier to assign service part numbers to body and powertrain parts than to the  thousands of numbers found in the typical hardware catalog.    

 

[Don C]

I had actually used something similar on a '55 Willy's 4x4 wagon we had. I had put a 292 Y block and T98 (4-speed granny low) transmission, along with a Warn overdrive in it. With those and the 4.88 differentials it would climb like a mountain goat, we did a lot of exploring old mines and ghost towns in northern Nevada. The thin rubber boots on the tie rod ends, drag link, and pitman arm didn't last long going through the brush. Made it easy to find something someone else had already written up and had photos for.

 

[Stanglover]

Geoff, yes I saw Don C's "Fix". That's why I feel we are lucky to have talented  people like Don and Hemikiller on our forum. I could probably spend hours searching for a solution to some of these "Off the Wall" things that seem to appear all the time. They definitely have the "Touch"!  

As far as parts with the "Hardware" style part numbers like  the brass fittings ( such as 374480-S),  the majority of the time Ford used the same number as the engineers assigned. The sheer number of screws, fasteners, clips, nuts, bolts, etc typically found on any given vehicle  would  a logistical nightmare to assign a regular Ford part number to. Much easier to assign service part numbers to body and powertrain parts than to the  thousands of numbers found in the typical hardware catalog.    

 Steve, we are ALL fortunate to have many very knowledgeable folk, including yourself on the Forum, to shed light on the mysteries of Ford in general. It really helps to know what's what when it come to numbering parts. Nothing was simple it seems.

As for Don's 'fix', that leads to other ideas worth exploring. After all, my specialty is in prototyping and finding ways to solve problems like this. I'll have to get my 'thinking cap' on!

Geoff

EDIT: Steve, would you happen to have or know the original part number for replacement pitman arms for a Saginaw PS box? I ought to have kept one of the two worn out ones I had for reference.

 

[Stanglover]

I had actually used something similar on a '55 Willy's 4x4 wagon we had. I had put a 292 Y block and T98 (4-speed granny low) transmission, along with a Warn overdrive in it. With those and the 4.88 differentials it would climb like a mountain goat, we did a lot of exploring old mines and ghost towns in northern Nevada. The thin rubber boots on the tie rod ends, drag link, and pitman arm didn't last long going through the brush. Made it easy to find something someone else had already written up and had photos for.

 In times of old!

 Interesting story Don.

 As I just posted to Steve, this got me thinking. I may have an idea worth looking at. I'll get back on that when I have more information.

 In the Spring, I'm going to replace the PS box for the one I just rebuilt and posted about. (too cold now to work on it). At that time, I'll decide whether I'll reuse the Rare Parts pitman arm and rework it to make the seal fit, or look for another that the proper seal will fit on to. What's another 100+ bucks at this point!!

at the least, that crappy felt ring has to go, stupid idea and just a dirt collector.

Geoff.