Maybe a dumb Question

[Al Lindner]

It looks as if I have a dropped pitman arm on my 80 CJ7 . I removed a shackle lift and put OEM shackles on. I also got rid of the 33x12.50x 15 tires and put on 31x10.50x15 in there place there is maybe a 1' BODY lift (shouldn't matter) Now for the question would it hurt to keep the dropped pitman arm? The geometry of the steering linkage looks pretty good. If I put the stock arm (straight) the drag link would be at about a 25-30 degree angle from the tie rod
Any info would be great as I am working on the axle / steering now

Thanks

 

[Petescj]

In general drop pitman arms are only used with 4 in or more lift. ID bet going back to the flat stock style would be your best bet.

 

[Old Dog]

You want the draglink and the tierod to be as parallel as possible to avoid bump steer.

 

[hdgapeach]

Boils down to how the linkage geometry is affected. Turning the wheels from left to right, there shouldn't be any contact or interference with the linkage rods. Easy enough to check, look while someone else turns the wheels. Keep in mind, that check is while the rig is sitting still. Throw in some actual frame twist situations and you gotta add that into your evaluation. If all that is clear, then you need to drive the rig and see how it behaves on the road. I think you'd be very lucky to be able to ride it like it is.

If you decide you want to swap to a "flat" arm, give me a holler. I have one or two lying around that may suit your needs. Providing I find 'em in my shop, you're more than welcome to one if you'll cover the shipping.

PM me if it gets to that point. Meanwhile, I'll go ahead and start diggin' .

 

[Al Lindner]

A couple of pictures of the front end Is that a dropped pitman arm? My drag link and tie rod are about as parallel as they can get

 

[Al Lindner]

Take a look at the pics I Posted. My assumption is parallel on the same plane. Eventually I'll get the beast back on the road As a SAFE and reliable rig

 

[Lumpy Grits]

You need to go back to the OEM type.
LG

 

[Torxhead]

Al, Those dropped pitman arms do tend to screw up the steering, I would follow Lumpy's advice here. I would suggest reversing the tie rods to avoid the bump steer that can come with high lift springs and using the oem style pitman arm. It also helps keep the tie rod away from the rocks.

 

[Al Lindner]

Torxhead,
How can I tell if those are high lift springs ?

 

[Al Lindner]

Torxhead,
How can I tell if those are high lift springs ?

 

[Torxhead]

The fact that you need a dropped pitman arm to run the tie rods parallel and by the spring leaf thickness in your photos. Ck out the "Sticky" section in the beggining of this forum for a post written by IOPort51.

 

[Old Dog]

I would either leave it as is, since it looks good, or do the tie-rod, draglink flip
and go back to the stock arm. Your call.
As Torx said sometime you loose some turning radius with a drop arm, if you have noticed that it would be a reason to do the flip.

 

[Al Lindner]

Thanks guys. I think I found most of my steering issues Worn out tie rod ends Drag link is pretty much shot as well. The Hub bearings looked ok but I'm changing them anyway. Spindle bearings look good so I'm just going to re pack. the ball joints are tight and the u joint in the knuckles look and behave well so I guess I'll clean and lube everything and put her back together. I'll let you all know the outcome after alignment

 

[Sasquach]

Al, Those dropped pitman arms do tend to screw up the steering, I would follow Lumpy's advice here. I would suggest reversing the tie rods to avoid the bump steer that can come with high lift springs and using the oem style pitman arm. It also helps keep the tie rod away from the rocks.

X2, been there, done that.