W126 Pitman Shaft Splines Showing???

[gmercoleza]

Upon reinstallation of the steering gearbox into my 85 380SE earlier, I noticed that there is about 1/4 to 1/3 inch of spline still exposed behind the Pitman arm - is this normal? I lined up the index marks on the arm and shaft exactly as they were when I removed them, and everything slipped together just fine. Then I torqued the nut to 135 foot pounds - it was really hard! When I got up off my back and looked at it, I was a little perplexed since I figured all of the spline area would be completely covered by the Pitman arm.

I'm sure everything is fine, and from the front of the shaft everything looks great. Surely I just never noticed the little bit of spline showing behind the arm. But I am very paranoid about this mechanical fit because death is the only result if it ever comes apart. Can someone please confirm that everything is OK?

Thanks in advance!