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 steering 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.

*Special thanks to p71interceptor.