68 Steering Arm plug

[Michael M.]

I am rebuilding the front suspension and steering on my 68 big block. I recently purchased two new/reconditioned steering arms because one of mine was incorrect. Although both steering arms appear to be first quality, one of the steering arms I received has a plug in the rear of the two holes in which the outer tie rod end is placed. I have manual steering. Is it true that these plugs were only used for power steering cars? If so, how do I remove the plug? Should I use a drift and pound it out? I normally use the forward holes on the steering arms for the tie rod ends, but having the plug in the steering arm doesn't seem right. Any ideas? Thanks.

[John H.]

Re: 68 Steering Arm plug

The aluminum plugs were used to fill the rearmost hole on power steering cars, which used the forward hole (closest to the knuckle) for the tie rod end; manual steering cars had the tie rod ends in the rearmost hole. Using the rearmost (manual) hole on power steering cars can over-travel the ram in the power steering cylinder and damage the seal.

[Michael M.]

Re: 68 Steering Arm plug

John, thanks for the clarificaion. So it seems I should remove the plug. I typically ran my manual steering car in the forward holes as I understood it gives a faster steering response. Do you know of any problem with doing this.

[John H.]

Re: 68 Steering Arm plug

Nope, no problem with running a manual steering car with the tie rods in the forward position (just increases steering effort).

[Mark #28455]

Did L88's have this plug too? Thanks!

Since the L88 was assembled with the "fast steering" did it have the plug? Thanks,
Mark

[Ralph A.]

Re: Did L88's have this plug too? Thanks!

Are these plugs available on the market? I need 4.
Thanks
Ralph

[Michael M.]

Re: Did L88's have this plug too? Thanks!

I have seen them listed in some of the big vendor catalogs. Why 4? 2 cars?

[Ralph A.]

Yep *NM*