4.5" lift.... pitman arm, ya or nah?

[ShipleyCSA]

I am putting the new 4.5" lift in tonight, I know I will need to realaign it, but first....should I buy a pitman arm? I was told I need it.
The jeep is a 90' XJ, thanks,
-John

[CheapXJ]

what lift did you use?

the ONLY reason to run a drop pitman arm is if either end of the trackbar has been dropped or raised. If you didn't change your trackbar mounts, a drop pitman arm will just cause problems.

[xj-grin]

I am putting the new 4.5" lift in tonight, I know I will need to realaign it, but first....should I buy a pitman arm? I was told I need it.
The jeep is a 90' XJ, thanks,
-John

Like most XJ questions, it depends. I had fairly wicked bumpsteer on my 91 w/ an RE 4.5. After multiple alignments, TRE replacement, ball joint inspection, I threw in a ZJ arm and the problems were immediately cured. But, on my 99 I'm driving now (again 4.5 RE), the bumpsteer is not as bad, although it is there. I will probably give the ZJ arm a shot again and see what the results are.

[XJWheelie]

Stupid question time, but what exactly is "bumpsteer?"

[jbixby]

I am putting the new 4.5" lift in tonight, I know I will need to realaign it, but first....should I buy a pitman arm? I was told I need it.
The jeep is a 90' XJ, thanks,
-John

[jbixby]

Well I have an 85 and @first i only went 3 inches and put my center link in a bind. got a new drop pitman arm and was able to go up to about 8 inches now. but need to extend the control arms. good luck. If you have a standard and are gonna go with a crossmember drop you may need to trim up the hole that the shift lever comes up through. also the main linkage arm on the 4wd shifter should be extended 1 inch.

[ShipleyCSA]

I am installing a Rough Country relocation bracket recommended for lifts from 3.5" - 4.5". Will that help or hurt?

[xj-grin]

I am installing a Rough Country relocation bracket recommended for lifts from 3.5" - 4.5". Will that help or hurt?

What you want to watch, and what will determine whether you need a drop pitman, is the relationship between your drag link and your track bar -- they should be parallel to each other. With my RE lift, it came with the RE 1600 HD trackbar, which uses a heim joint, and effectivly lowers the top mountin location of the trackbar by about an inch. Consequently, my draglink top mounting point, the pitman, needed to drop about an inch to bring the draglink back to parallel with the track bar. As I indicated before though, whether 1 inch will have any significant effect will vary with the XJ.

As for the Rough Country drop brackets, I assume you are referring to the control arm drop brackets. I don't think they will effect your need for a pitman arm one way or the other, but they will contribute to a better on road drive, with better control arm angles.

[shimmy]

I am installing a Rough Country relocation bracket recommended for lifts from 3.5" - 4.5". Will that help or hurt?

if you mean track bar relocation bracket that fits on the axle mount, get a new trackbar from RE instead. the relocation brackets tend to wiggle loose and aren't very stout. do it right the first time or it could cost you more in the end. if you have the RE kit, you don't need a new pitman arm.

brandon

[ShipleyCSA]

Ok, thanks. I already bought the relocation bracket, so I am going to instal it anyway, and use an air gun and this heavy duty lock tight to keep it from loosening. I think that will work, but we'll see.