Below are some pictures of the replacement of the steering pitman arm on a 1998 crown victoria police interceptor

Here is the the ford motorcraft F8AZ-3590-AA pitman arm to be installed









Here are the tools to use for the job (socket for pitman arm->centerlink nut not shown)





A pitman arm puller rental from autozone.



A 34mm axle nut socket rental to use for the nut which holds the pitman arm to the steering box. Note, the pitman arm->centerlink nut is actually an english size, but the 34mm axle nut socket is much easier to find at a store and is close enough to the proper size that it'll work for this project.



Here's the underside of the 1998 crown victoria with the idler arm that is in need of replacement



First, remove the pitman arm retaining nuts



Now install a pitman arm puller to press the arm off of the box.

Make sure to wear eye protection during this procedure as sometimes the pitman arm puller breaks and throws peices of metal at high speeds.



The arm removed from the box







Now use a tierod puller to seperate the pitman arm->centerlink junction



The motorcraft pitman arms utilize one-use plastic locking nuts. The nut on the left has already been installed. The one on the right has not yet been installed.

Note that many aftermarket pitman arms use a castellated nut & cotterpin at the centerlink->pitman arm junction rather than the crush style unit used on ford motorcraft pitman arms.





Now place the pitman arm onto the gearbox and install the retaining fasteners



The pitman arm project is now complete.


Here's a closeup of a crownvic steering box removed from the car.



Here's the box with a pitman arm puller ready to press off the pitman arm



Here's the pitman arm puller with a long breaker bar installed on the forcing bolt. Make sure to wear eye protection during this procedure as sometimes the pitman arm puller breaks and throws peices of metal at high speeds.



Here are a couple pictures of a pitman arm puller that broke on a really stubborn pitman arm. Click here to see how the stuck pitman arm in question was finally removed.





Here you can see the later pitman arm & centerlink setup used on the 1995-2002 crown victorias. Take note that in the later crownvics, the pitman arm ball-stud is located on the top of the centerlink.



And here is the early pitman arm/centerlink setup used on 1979-1994 crown victorias. Take note that on the early crownvics, the pitman arm ball-stud is located underneath the centerlink.