So I got sick of sawing my steering wheel back and forth, about 1" each way, before actually moving the wheels! I also had minor wheel shake at 80km/hr anyway, My brakes were sticking front calipers, and my pitman arm, and idler arm were badly worn, with 315,000kms on my 95 S10 4x4 blazer! After replacing the idler and pitman, calipers, and flex lines it stops, good, doesn't pull and goes straight down the road, with very minor steering wheel movement now its maybe 1/4"-3/8" before moving the wheels huge improvement!


So here is a few questions I have, and also a few tips for others! Replacing the pitman arm was a total nightmare, this was a 5 hour job! You need to remove the entire box to remove the nut, and pull the pitman arm. The front brake line and, remote oil filter lines were in the way off removing the steering box, on my 95, which was not pointed out on the YouTube video I seen on a 97 blazer. I will go over a few quick steps here:


Remove:
-Both front wheels 3/4" lug nuts,both front skid plates (15mm, and torx),plastic steering coupler cover, intermediate steering shaft (11mm), both steering hoses (18mm flare nut wrench), pitman arm to center link (22mm nut with cotter pin).
OK plug the lines, and ports on the box to keep out dirt, minimize fluid loss.

-Use a pickle for to separate the pitman arm to center link.
-remove the three 15mm bolts holding the box to the frame (don't worry it wont fall far, no need to hold the other side of the box.)


Now for the fun part getting the mother trucker out of its home! remove the three 13mm bolts bolts securing the front brake line to the frame, one near the steering box, top of right frame rail, and two along the front cross member, now carefully lift the brake line up, just enough to sneak the box out, it will com out in the straight ahead position (leave the steering wheel locked in the straight ahead position), its very tight eventually you can sneak it out!


Now for the worse part off the job, unless you have the proper tools..recommended! the freaking pitman arm nut is 33mm Why..GM why? most of us carry 32mm sockets, no bigger! So I clamped the pitman arm on the vice, after moving it 90* and used a big crescent wrench with a long pipe to break it free, and remove it. A 33mm impact socket with 1/2" impact gun, and lots of air!


Next to remove the pitman arm I tired a stack of 4x4s and 3/4" thick steel plates plus a bearing separator and 20ton press, it didn't budge, and bent the 3/4" steel, so Its on there really, really good! I wound up cutting a vee into the old pitman arm, and used a cold chisel to split it, then it pulled off with a slight tap, with a small hammer. (recommend professional pitman arm puller) These are the types of things I shouldn't be doing Friday night at 11:30pm! Lol no chance calling up a friend to bail me out with a pitman arm puller.


Installing is breeze, just clean of the splines on the steering box shaft, and put some never seize on it, the shaft is keyed and the pitman arm can only go on in 4 different positions, if you center the box, turn it all the way one way using a crescent wrench on the input shaft of the box, count the number of turns lock to lock, then devide by two, pretty sure it was 2.5 turns, so go 1 1/4 turns call it centered! install the new pitman arm facing towards the input shaft, and parrel with input shaft. Tighten the nut down until you feel it bottom, then go 1/4 turn more, I'm sure there is a torque for this?


The rest is reversal of removal! If you experience the steering wheel being off center now, see below for suggestions on hoe to fix it! Bleed and top up the power steering system, by turning the wheels from right to left, without hitting the stops, slowly, about 15times. While raise in the air, no load on the wheels. This is at least a 3 hour job, took me 4.5hrs


Replacing the idler arm at the same time is recommended if the pitman was worn, it likely is as well! This is a breeze, after the pitman arm!
Remove:
22mm nut and cotter pin, securing idler to center link, break it loose with pickle fork, remove the two bolts securing it to the frame 18mm (15mm frame side?) You'll need a deep socket and or extension to reach through the frame rails.


Installation reversal or removal, this maybe a 45min job, I did it in 30min.Try to line up the bolts to close to were the old idler was (those holes are slotted)



Ok so you spent about 80.00 in parts, and now your steering is nice and tight, but WTF?? The wheel is off center now?? Well supposedly the aftermarket pitman arms are keyed, up to 1/8" off compared to an OEM one, this equates to around 30* at the wheel itself!! So my steering wheel was 30* off center to the left.


Here is the backyard way to fix it (this is by no means a way around a proper front end alignment, it worked for me, and might at least be enough to get you to an alignment shop)


If the wheel is off to the left, you need to lengthen the left tie rod end, and shorten the right tie rod end the exact same amount. 1/2 a turn on the adjustment sleeves on each side, is equal to about 30* at the wheel. The coupling sleeve is slotted on one side, you can use this as a gauge of how much you move it. soak the two bolts on each side, and couplers with wd-40, and loosen off clamp nuts several turns, then use a pair of channel locks to move the adjustment coupler, laying on the ground on a creeper head out the front bumper feet pointing towards the back, rotate the coupler away from you (drivers side) to lengthen it, and towards you to shorten it. (outer tie rods are right hand thread inner is left hand thread?) So that's how the adjustment couplers effectively shorten and lengthen the center link to spindle distance. The passenger side is opposite, rotate the coupler towards you to lengthen it, and away from you to shorten it.


This sounds confusing but it actually isn't that difficult, one nice thing is that if you rotate both sides away, from you the same amount, they will be equal, if you rotate both sides the same amount towards you will be equal! Ounce happy with your trail adjustment hold the coupler from turning and use a 13mm box end wrench on the clamp bolt, to rotate the clamp back to the front again, on both sides, tighten the bolts, test drive! Rinse repeate until satisfied


Took me three trys and was eased by using ramps, for faster trial and error. The key is small amounts of adjustment. I first tried a full turn each, this went from 30 off to the left, to 30 off to the right!! wowser! 1/2 turn each for me my magical number, all depends on how far off, china casting is..lol!


Good luck and hope this helps someone, my truck goes straight, wheel is straight I see no reason to get an alignment done??


The calipers were easy, and unrelated to tightening up the front end, but my truck feels almost new now! My upper and lower ball-joints are tight, and the inner and outer rod ends have zero play, I do believe 2wd or 4wd the most common front end issue on these is the pitman arm and idler arms!