1973 idler arm conversion problem - Franken-Imperial

[dardal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Kenyon, a shorter pittman arm would also reduce the motion range of your 
steering, so your hesitation is even more justified.

What type of material is the idler arm out of?  Is it cast steel or cast iron?  
My guess is cast steel since iron is too brittle.  Iron is more tricky to weld, 
but steel is not too bad.  Second, does it appear that the arm has any special 
heat treatment?  You may be able to get indications of its heat treatment by 
its hardness.  If it scrathes real easy with a sharp tool like a screw driver, 
its probably just plain soft steel, so the weld heat will not reduce its 
strength.  At any rate, I can't see why this part would be made out of any high 
strength steel.  I don't think there is any significant loading in an idler 
arm, and its probably alreasy way overdesigned as is.  So, my guess is that the 
lengthening trick will work.  You can ask the welder to make a super beefy weld 
that will never brake, but beware that a crack could form in proximity to the 
weld.  To be in the safe side, after installation and initial checks, check the 
arm periodically every 6 months or a year to check for cracks.  On the positive 
side, most of the steering linkage loading will be at it hihgest during real 
slow speeds when parking, which means that an unlikely catastrophic failure 
will probably occur at a low risk driving condition.
D^2

Quoting kenyon wills <imperialist60@xxxxxxxxx>:

> 
> Trying to get a matching chrysler pittman arm (assuming for the moment
> that it will fit an imp steering spindle) is a no-go, as those are
> $120,
> 
> The other thought that I have is to saw the chrysler arm in two and
> have
> an extension welded in.  This being a steering linkage and all, I don't
> like that one much unless the welder can convince me that it will be as
> strong or stronger than the cast arm was to begin with.  
> 
> 
> 
> Your thoughts?
>