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Pitman arm recall dates 6/15-12/16 not accurate?

12K views 57 replies 20 participants last post by  TheHotrodHandyman 
#1 · (Edited)
I have a CPP pitman arm that came with a CPP 500 box I purchased 1/09 and it clearly has a ball that is not straight and not seated properly. These dates you posted 6/15 through 12/16 are no where close to my purchase date. This clearly indicates the problem goes back many years with the ball not being correctly installed on these arms. My pictures clearly show the ball is not welded top or bottom. It is my opinion you need to go back at least as far as 1/09 with your recall based on the unsafe assembly quality of the arm in my possession. Anyone that suspects they have a CPP pitman arm on their car should inspect it very closely ASAP for defects regardless of when it was made.

CPP recall letter below;

Classic Performance Products, Inc.
378 E. Orangethorpe Ave.
Placentia, CA. 92870

June 2017
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT VOLUNTARY SAFETY RECALL.
What is the reason for this notice? Our records indicate that between June 2015 and December 2016 you purchased or received CPP part number #5557PA-M Manual Steering Pitman Arm for 1955-57 Chevy car. These were purchased separately or as a component of the steering kits below. These could have been purchased directly thru CPP or thru an authorized CPP dealer. Some inconsistencies in the manufacturing process have been discovered and have raised serious concerns about the integrity of the pitman arm supplied during that time.
How to identify the problem? Inspect your pitman arm to see if it’s welded on the bottom of the ball stud (the side nearest the road) as well as the upper side near the base of the ball stud. If your pitman arm is not welded on the upper side nearest the base of the ball stud, to avoid accident, serious injury or death, discontinue operating your vehicle until the inspection and identification process of your pitman arm has been completed.
What should you do next, who do you contact? Please contact CPP directly at 1-800-522-5004 your steering system installer or the CPP dealer that you purchased the pitman arm from. Please have as much information as possible regarding your purchase to assist us in the identification process of your pitman arm.
We would like to take this time to offer our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us directly at 1-800-522-5004 or email us at info@classicperform.com.
Thank you,
CPP Management team
 

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#7 ·
Maybe this would have been more appropriate:

 
#3 ·
im not much on steering parts and i have gotten emails saying i purchased these from cpp on the pictures you provided what exactly am i looking for and is the problem with these units in you pics??crazy thing i just had my front end alignment done and was thinking the car seemed to be drifting thanks ion advance
 
#6 · (Edited)
If you look at the pictures I posted you will see the void at the base of the ball where it is clearly not installed into the arm straight and not welded on top or bottom. The original thread which has been locked has pictures of arms that the ball came out of and the car lost its steering, Luckily the steering loss was at very low speed and no damage was done as far as we know.

Lots of pictures of the failure and discussion in this thread.

https://www.trifive.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168354
 
#4 ·
my problem is i have bought so many parts , dont know were it came from , and they all sell CCP parts , what do i do ?
 
#9 ·
so the GM casting on the bottom side so you can see it ? i may have not changed mine , not really much to ware out ?
thanks
 
#10 ·
..Here is a pic of the two pitman arms that were used...The one on the left is p/n 3719487...The other one is p/n 3709877.

 
#11 ·
#17 ·
I am a little confused here. I have updated my front end a few years back, but I really do not remember if I replaced the pitman arm. I went outside and crawled under the front of my 56 to see if I did. It looks like I did not replace the arm, cause I can see some numbers ( casting #'s ) and a GM symbol on the arm, does that mean it's the original part and I didn't replace it ?:bowtier:
 
#20 ·
Nick, further to your point, CPP didn't post anything on the other two trifive forums that I read. And as of about this time yesterday, there wasn't anything on their website either. (On the other hand, it could be there, it's hard to find anything on their website.)

No idea if they tried to contact anyone through their many resellers either. Hopefully they did.
 
#23 ·
Always a risk when offshore sources are utilized in the interest of keeping manufacturing costs down and maximizing profit, whether an OEM part on new cars (Takata airbags and GM ignition switches come to mind here)...... Or aftermarket replacement parts. In this case...... Critical steering and suspension components for our classics.

Me...... I would gladly pay more for American or Canadian made parts that I could have confidence in. Parts that are OEM or better quality...... And safe to trust my life and the lives of others to.

There are more important things than a vendor's 'bottom line'. People's lives, for instance.

Just my thoughts on this,

Harry
 
#24 · (Edited)
I just bought a used original on ebay. (He had 3 of them.)
I messaged him first and asked for assurance that the ball wouldn't have any discernible wear. He answered me in a very short amount of time and his answer was "Yes, are all in descent usable shape."

So I made the purchase and then sent another message telling him thanks for the assurance but I will be checking that ball very closely.
He replied and said "Sounds good will make sure to check it out and send the best one we have."

The one I'm running is a CPP I bought in late 2009. It's the same as the one Hotrodhandyman bought in 2009 and posted photos of.
These are different than what we've seen fail. There's been no report of this style failing. These have not been recalled as they don't fit CPP's description for the ones that are being recalled.

However, the photo Bruce showed sure pointed out a manufacturing flaw.
I didn't notice that flaw in mine but what he showed definitely lowered my confidence in the part quality. I'm just feeling like even if it's not critically flawed, it's better to err on the side of safety when it comes to a part that is as critical as this one is.

Here's a photo of the 2009 CPP pitman arm on my car:



The 2009 CPP that Bruce posted in the other thread:



 
#25 ·
The 2009 CPP that Bruce posted in the other thread:

:shakehands: Agree wholeheartedly, Roger. Always better to err on the side of safety.

As an aside...... In the photo of the CPP pitman arm above that has issues with the ball stud...... Looks like the splined hole that fits over the shaft extending from the steering box is drilled off center in the pitman arm, as well.

Best regards,

Harry
 
#28 ·
I just called Speedway Motors who I bought my pitman arm from in 2012 part #91032507. They didn't have the information on manufacturer but said the do buy some parts from CPP. Current price is $39. O'Reillys has one for $189.00:confused0006:

I wonder if mine is bad. I'll have to look.:p3::bowtier:
 
#30 ·
Hey guys. I got that used 487 I bought on ebay in the mail today.
It looks pretty good.

Looking at the ball, I can't see any egg shape to it at all but I checked the diameter with my micrometer and I get 0.999 for a maximum and 0.987 minimum. The max and min are about 180 degrees apart and it's smooth wear with no grooves.

.012 difference is just a little more than 100th of an inch and my .012 feeler gauge blade shows how much it looks like. Pretty minimal wear it seems and I think fine.
Do you guys agree this just a little normal wear and am I good to go?
 
#32 ·
Actually, max and min will be 90 degrees apart (wink).

I'd run it.

The one I have that's worn was about .100" difference, and there was a ridge at the high point. That one is the one I took a photo of to show the difference between a 487 and an 877 pitman arm. Otherwise I would have thrown it out.
 
#33 ·
Actually, max and min will be 90 degrees apart (wink).
I'd run it.
The one I have that's worn was about .100" difference, and there was a ridge at the high point. That one is the one I took a photo of to show the difference between a 487 and an 877 pitman arm. Otherwise I would have thrown it out.
Of course
It seems the longer I've been retired, the more simple mistakes like that I make!

Thanks

Thanks to Bruce too.
 
#35 · (Edited)
#40 ·
The value of OEM 55-57 pitman arms just shot up dramatically.
 
#41 ·
They guy on ebay I bought mine from is now out. His last one just went.
 
#43 ·
More on the CPP pitman arms from ~ 2009

I installed the original 487 pitman arm that I bought on ebay yesterday. All went well. Luckily, I had a new felt grease seal to use for it. The seal that came with the 2009 CPP arm didn't fit and was kind of crappy anyway.
I did have to re-center the steering wheel. It was a little off going down the road compared to where it was with the CPP arm on it. Shows that the CPP unit's shape was a little different. Also, the CPP arm would touch my headers on a full left turn. With the original arm on there it does not touch.

So here's photos of the 2009 CPP arm I removed. I had put 11K miles on it while on the car.







As you can see, mine does not have the flaw that Bruce's 2009 arm has. The ball is tight against the casting all the way around.

Is mine safe? I don't know. I don't know how that flanged plug or whatever it is on the bottom side is attached. Since there hasn't been a single report of one of these failing, my guess is that it is safe. But, that's a guess just the same and a part I don't want to have to guess on.

When the first and subsequent failures of the newer CPP arm were reported, I still felt safe with mine. I only started questioning it when Bruce showed the flaw in his 2009 arm. It made me question the quality control that went into whoever produced these for CPP.

Btw, the off-center drilling of the splined hole for the steering box connection isn't a flaw. The original 487 castings are the same way.
 
#44 ·
I contacted the sales department of the rebuilt company and they stated they sell rebuilt Borgeson arms and cores are getting hard to fined and they may not have any in stock.

I sure wish CPP would define the production dates that are known to be bad and what they are going to do quickly. IS that so hard to do?
 
#45 ·
I bought my Pitman arm from Speedway Motors in 2012 and checked mine again last night and the ball is coming loose. I had car up on a jack and had my wife wiggle the steering wheel back and forth and I could see it moving.

I purchased a used gm pitman arm last spring and will install it Sunday. The bad part has no welding just swaged. This is way out of the recall dates but it sure is bad.
 
#49 ·
I would guess any pitman arm purchased from CPP/China is questionable.
I think this sentiment was already expressed a while back. This is just reinforcement.

I think the problem is CPP not China. If you tell China how to make a good part they will. But they will charge you more than low bidder price.

Personally I have decided to never buy anything from CPP again. Added that to the list that includes Ecklers.
 
#52 ·
I agree with you about CPP . I've tell everybody I no what kind of junk there selling , to put on these cars and trucks . Even parts like there rubber bump stop won't hold up setting in the shop just falls off . I like there motto What stoping you ( sure not there junk) never we'll buy are instill there junk . later Jason
 
#51 · (Edited)
China has some good engineers (mostly US trained), but their laborers are small uneducated farmers from the countryside! With the huge deficit the US has trading with China, I really question WHY our public funds (ie. taxpayer funds) are being sent overseas! What an individual does with his own $$ is his own business (if he wants to send his $$ overseas to another country, then that's his right), but... we lose TWICE (at least) when our public $$ are sent to foreign countries!

PS. I doubt seriously if CPP has a single *engineer* employed... chinese or otherwise.
 
#55 ·
Late to the party here...

I'd be interested in seeing a picture of one of the defective pitman arms, after being removed from service, pre-failure.

Also, just curious, has anyone received any sort of compensation or replacement for the defective arms?

I definitely agree with all the others who consider this a pretty scary situation. Do we know of any confirmed failures which have led to a loss of control?
 
#56 ·
Read post number 1 and look at those pictures. It is clearly a huge POS and it was purchased before the supposed defective date CPP posted and I have the receipt to prove it. It didn't fail yet because I refused to install it after looking at the horrible assembly quality.
 
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