idler arm and pitman arm question after new one installed
 

ok i have a 98 jimmy and i just replaced the idler arm and pitman arm, i drove the truck and now the steering wheels is way off and is turn to the rite a good amount?? does it just need an alignment or is some else messed up ?? thanks in advance

The Pitman arm is splined so if the new one was not installed in the same position as the original, it would throw everything off. At this point you might be able to get it back into adjustment through an alignment, but most likely it would have to come off and be installed after everything is set straight.

I lean towards TZFBirds evaluation, I've seen it occur on other vehicles...

When I replaced my pitman arm i purchased the cheapest pitman arm Advance Auto had, "OE Brand". After the replacement my steering wheel was about 90 degrees to the right. Others on this board said it could be adjusted back into alignment. Unfortunately the mechanic shop disagreed, said there wasn't enough adjustability to fix it. Determined to fix it myself I went back to Advance Auto and purchased a name brand pitman arm, TRW or Moog I think. Replaced the "OE Brand" pitman arm with the brand name one and it was back in perfect alignment. The Advance Auto rep didn't want to believe it either, but I changed absolutely nothing when I put the brand name pitman arm on. Also, during the first replacement using the "OE Brand" arm I marked everything and was very careful. I don't know how likely it is that you too got a bad pitman arm...but its a possibility.

Replaced mine with a Moog. Steering wheel was off slightly, but was fixed at alignment. I went with Moog because I didn't want to do it again, pita.