1974 Steering Linkage Question
 

Hi all,

I'm posting on behalf of my brother, who owns a '74 GTO. We tried to replace the leaky steering box with and upgraded quick-ratio box, but we were unable to remove the pitman arm from the box, and were also unable to separate the center link from the pitman arm... We broke multiple pitman arm removers in the process, used heat, penetrating oil, etc. It isn't coming apart.

We later decided that it would be a good idea to refresh all of the steering linkage (tie rods, center link, pitman arm, idler arm), so we are now on the hunt for parts. It looks like nobody makes a pitman arm for the '74 GTO. However, I've also read elsewhere that you can use Firebird parts from certain years. Is this true?

Can anyone please help point me in the right direction for replacing the steering components? It does not appear to be as simple as using Nova parts. What are our parts compatibility options?

Thanks in advance.

Did you post this in one of the Facebook groups yesterday or the day before??? I thought I wrote a response to this exact question. Bottom line, convert it to 68-72 X body steering components. 73-74 are a 2 yr specific design which is arse backwards from the 68-72 design and if you can find parts, your gonna pay for them!!

It wasn't me who posted on Facebook, so there must be another guy with the same question. Thanks for the info! Will any 68-72 x-body parts work, or do they specifically need to be for a Pontiac? Really want to get the old parts out and some fresh stuff in.

I can't find that post anywhere so I'll just abbreviate it. 68-72 X bodies use the same front steering suspension. 73-74 are a 2 model year specific. The big difference is on the 68-72, the dragline is a non wearable item meaning there are no "knuckles" on it so there is nothing to wear out. The 73-74's have a knuckle at the pitman arm and I believe at the the idler (been a while since I looked at one) which intern now makes the pitman arm a non wearable item and the idler arm only having a wear point where it pivots side to side. The inner and outer tie rods are also different on the 73-74 making them about 3 times the cost of normal inner and outers. Sooo to make life easy, the subframe is the same from 68-74 (also the same for 67-69 F bodies). You can then use all the front steering components from a 68-72 and it will all bolt right up, replacing the goofy 73-74 setup. In the past when you made this conversion, you had to find a draglink of a donor 68-72 but now you can buy them new from any rest parts place. Plus all the other components like the inner and outer tie rods and sleeves, pitman arm, and idler arm, can all be bought from your local auto parts place. If it doesn't make sense, just find some pictures of the steering linkage from a 74 and compare it to a 68-72 X body. Hope this helps.

Awesome, thanks Rob! This is very helpful.

Sorry, one last thing... I just want to double check something... You say parts from the 68-72 x-body will work, but does it have to be from a Pontiac (Ventura), or will 68-72 Chevy Nova parts work? When looking at parts on Rock Auto, the center link for '72 Ventura is not the same part as the center link for a '72 Nova. Both are x-body cars and are within the 68-72 range, but they use different parts. So is it Nova parts that I should be buying?

Don't know why the centerlink (draglink) would be different but just order everything for a 68-72 nova. The draglink shouldn't have any knuckles on it. Just holes for everything to bolt into it.