Drop pitman arm?

Ok so I bout this 2001 Cherokee that has already been lifted and it has a drop pitman arm on it. (About 6 1/2" of lift.)

Now for the question.

I do not seam to get as much angle out of the tires at full lock as I should.
So could the drop arm be changing this?

If so is there a way to tell?

Ill post pics of the steering system as soon as I can. Its to dark out right now.

Thanks guys!

Are the steering stops at the knuckles doing their job and stopping the knuckle from running the tire into the control arm? If that's the case, changing the arm will do nothing. Not to mention throwing bump steer in the mix again.

Pics will tell the story.

A drop arm shouldn't affect it. In the light turn it as far as you can one way and see if it makes it to the stops.

Ok guys I got some pics for you.

I am not able to turn the wheels right now.
The power steering high pressure line is leaking bad right now. I am working on fixing it but it rained all day today so I got nothing done on it.

Any way here are the pics I took.











Other then the leaking power steering line it drives good.
But it has a wide turning circle.
I have driven other Cherokees and they turn sharper then mine will.

I bought the rig just the way you see it. I have plans for it. But it will take time.

Thanks guys!

Doesn't look bad for a shadetree job. Nothing stock about it. I would check the steering stops on the knuckles. I wonder if the geometry is right between the pitman arm and knuckles. Dana 44 from a F-150 I assume?

I will check the steering stops and get pics of the wheels turned to the lock as soon as I can.

The Axle is a D44. Tho its from a Chevy. It was converted to drivers side drop.
PO got the axle for free when he bought the rear one.
They both came from a 77 Chevy 3/4 ton.

I'm currently working on swapping a HP44 with chevy flattop knuckles. From the research I've done many run stock FSJ pitman arm because it is longer and they are able to regain "lost" steering. The only problem with your setup is that the stock FSJ arm is totally flat so you'd have to find a dropped arm. You've already got flattop knuckles so it might be worth looking into a true high steer setup. You would most likely have to redo the track bar (which looks stock), but it would move your tie rod up a few inches and simplify your drag link setup.

I plan to replace the entire steering system and the track bar at some point. Right now I am trying to fix some other things first.

I am going to replace the steering box with one from an 02 S10 4.3L V6 4x4.
I am replacing the power steering pump with one from an 02 WJ 4.7L.
And I will be replacing all the lines and adding a power steering cooler to the return line.

After that the rear suspension is next on my list. Its running lift blocks that are welded in right now and I do not like it at all.


My hope was that I cold just change the steering pitman arm and fix the lack of steering angle while I was replacing the steering box.

It seams it may not be that easy after all.

Sorry for the noob questions. I bought this thing the way it is and this is my first 4x4. Im not new to cars. Or to working on them. But I am new to 4x4 and solid front axles.

Thanks for the help guys!

When I had my steering box still on a mine with a 44, I ended up settling on a dropped F150 pitman arm. I tried a few before getting a good length. Back when I did this, partsmike.com had a big selection of arms an did a good job of listing all of the specs. When I had a stock xj arm, it was too short for the 44 and limited my steering as you described.

A couple things to watch:

Depending on how far forward your axle is mounted, you might contact your pitman arm at stuff. If so, the full size jeep arm is a good length but much flatter.

They main key spline may be in the wrong location on some arms. If so, the arm gets clocked wrong and you get more steering to one side or the other. If it is keyed wrong, you can grind a slot in it to make it two normal splines.

You will definitely need to rework your trackbar mounts to match whatever setup you end up with to eliminate bump steer. You can definitely get this set up correctly. I had no bump steer in mine.


Hope this helps.

ROKRWLR said:

When I had my steering box still on a mine with a 44, I ended up settling on a dropped F150 pitman arm. I tried a few before getting a good length. Back when I did this, partsmike.com had a big selection of arms an did a good job of listing all of the specs. When I had a stock xj arm, it was too short for the 44 and limited my steering as you described.

A couple things to watch:

Depending on how far forward your axle is mounted, you might contact your pitman arm at stuff. If so, the full size jeep arm is a good length but much flatter.

They main key spline may be in the wrong location on some arms. If so, the arm gets clocked wrong and you get more steering to one side or the other. If it is keyed wrong, you can grind a slot in it to make it two normal splines.

You will definitely need to rework your trackbar mounts to match whatever setup you end up with to eliminate bump steer. You can definitely get this set up correctly. I had no bump steer in mine.


Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

Thanks man that helps for sure.

I will look in to that. Right now this thing is not trail ready by any means. It will get there. But its going to take some time.

You need a longer pitman arm. Ive ran Waggy and now I run WJ. Either one will get you more throw than a stock length arm.

So a WJ drop arm will get me more steering throw then the one I have on it now correct?

Measure thenone on it now first.

Ok will do!

I'll tell you now the drop on that current arm has far more than a wj.

How do I measure this arm?

Not sue from what point to what point I am supposed to measure.

831_XJ
So I will need a drop arm for a WJ then not a stock arm right?

Still trying to figure all this out.

The measurement is center of TRE hole to center of steering box shaft. Ideally (from memory) I believe you want the arm length to be the same as the distance from center of ball joint to center of TRE hole on your knuckle. This means that if you ever change to high steer arms, the correct pitman arm might change because the holes tend to be in a different place.

To verify this, you could measure a stock set up and see if the distances match between knuckle and arm.

The drop of the arm is measured from top face of TRE hole to top face of steering box hole. (i.e. a 0" drop would be a perfectly flat arm) The necessary drop depends on your specific set up. You can do it one of two ways. Either match your arm to your track bar, or rework your track bar to match whatever arm you end up with.

The virtually unattainable perfect situation is:
The imaginary line drawn between pivot points at both ends of your track bar should be exactly parallel to the line drawn through your steering. The track bar and steering should be exactly parallel. The set up should be horizontal at ride height. If you could achieve this, you would have 0 bump steer through suspension movement.

Since it is almost impossible to get all 3 "perfect" criteria, you shoot for as good as possible:

1. Get a pitman arm as close as possible to your knuckle length
2. Get a pitman arm with a drop that gets you as close as possible to parallel to the imaginary track bar line.
3. Level is not possible due to potential conflicts with your oil pan. As level as possible is the best you can hope for.
4. Check that you are not getting bind in the TREs or the upper track bar end at droop. If so, you should limit your suspension droop to save your sector shaft and TREs.

Your steering and track bar set up is a little unique, so what worked on my 44 won't get the same results on yours, otherwise I'd just list off the parts I used that worked out really well.

I would also consider putting a brace gusset on the axle side drag link end. Just to give extra support to the arm sticking out. That's a good amount of leverage that the drag link can put on that arm turning big tires, especially in off road situations.

Looking at your last picture, gusset bottom edge above the left 2 bolt heads and running up the length of that arm for support.

Thank you for that info!
It was vary helpful.

I am no longer trying to fix this problem tho.
I decided to sell the axles and the wheels and tires and use a set of built axles I already own that have air lockers in them.

The entire steering and suspension system on this thing is coming off. And I will replacing all of it with new stuff.

I already bought a few things. And will be ordering more stuff over the next few weeks.

I will installing a built HP D30 with over sized shafts and an ARB air locker. 4:10 gears and WJ knuckles and brakes.
A built Ford 8.8 with ARB air locker, 4:10 gears and new disk brakes.
Both axles will be trussed before install.

The axles under the rig now, as well as the wheels and tiers will be sold after they are removed.