Need some help.....steering linkage/oil pan clearance...

[FLYNAVY30]

Ive got a 6.0L LS in a '72 C20 suburban.....I just replaced the steering box with a factory unit from LMC and took it in today for a front end alignment.....the mech at the shop told me that I needed new top and bottom ball joints (no big shock) but that my steering linkage was also rubbing on my Holley Muscle Car pan. Turns out it is, slightly....very slightly, but enough to make a small diet in the cast aluminum pan. My suspension is entirely stock, and the pan should fit just fine with the CPP mounts Im using..."should" being the operative word.

Now Im somewhat screwed as this is my daily driver (has been for over a year now), and in order to accomplish any modification to the pan, the whole motor would have to come out.

The Mech at the shop also said that I needed a new pitman arm, which would move the linkage even closer to the pan....that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me as the pitman arm is a cast metal piece...how does that "go bad"?

Anyway, any thoughts, opinion, or insight would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Greg

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by FLYNAVY30

Ive got a 6.0L LS in a '72 C20 suburban.....I just replaced the steering box with a factory unit from LMC and took it in today for a front end alignment.....the mech at the shop told me that I needed new top and bottom ball joints (no big shock) but that my steering linkage was also rubbing on my Holley Muscle Car pan. Turns out it is, slightly....very slightly, but enough to make a small diet in the cast aluminum pan. My suspension is entirely stock, and the pan should fit just fine with the CPP mounts Im using..."should" being the operative word.

Now Im somewhat screwed as this is my daily driver (has been for over a year now), and in order to accomplish any modification to the pan, the whole motor would have to come out.

The Mech at the shop also said that I needed a new pitman arm, which would move the linkage even closer to the pan....that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me as the pitman arm is a cast metal piece...how does that "go bad"?

Anyway, any thoughts, opinion, or insight would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Greg

I think I would go ahead and replace the parts and see where you are at then. The pitman arm has a ball stud on it that wears out and when it is replaced it may actually help the clearance of the cross link to the pan.

LockDoc

[FLYNAVY30]

sounds like a logical 1st step....we'll see what happens