pitman & idler steering arm replacement

[mustangfever]

Hello

I have a question.

I want to replace the pitman & idler steering arm on my 1973 , 6 cylinder with power steering.

Are the pitman & idler arms the same for the power steering system and manual steering system?

Where can order them, i´m from Belgium.

Thanks Wim

 

[timachone]

Wim, 

as there was originally no difference between P/S and M/S the aftermarket industry has its difficulty to follow that. There are some idler arms out there which will not fit a 71-73 P//S Setup. Here is a good thread about it: 



Also look at the excellent write up of Stanglover/Geoff mentionend in this thread about angles and holes and correct line up of the idler arm. 

Don't buy the Moog K8118! It will not fit although it and its derivates are sold all over the world as the one for both purposes. As IT IS difficult to find an OEM one and very pricey you have to look for an alternative. The right one from Moog is the obsolete K8165 and I found some NOS and ordered one, it fits perfect. Here you go, the seller still has some: 

https://www.ebay.de/itm/1971-1972-1973-FORD-MERCURY-IMPROVED-DESIGN-IDLER-ARM-NORS-MOOG-BRAND-K-8165-/402480425190?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

West Coast Cougar Classics also has a good and correct one which fits. 

As dir the pitman arm I ordered one from Rockauto, which is obsolete now: 

Proforged 10310057. 

Perhaps you can find it over another counter like eBay, Summit etc.

Hope that helps.

 

[mustangfever]

Thanks for the information Tim.