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Steering after axle swap

XJ_ranger

NAXJA Member
NAXJA Member
Location
Port Orchard, WA
after putting in the D44 with the stock ford knuckles (longer ball joint to TRE hole distance than D30) with the stock pitman arm, i cant turn the axle from steering stop to steering stop -

anyone use a longer - not necesarly drop - pitman arm?

My steering box needs a rebuild, and i was looking at a Ford box with the pitman arm that was designed to be used for thoes knuckles and wondering if that would bolt to a factory pwr steering pump or if anyone had done this.

Capt. Nemo and KenCarter - i know you guys run ford knuckles - what did you do to get your turning radius back?


my other known option is to get a set of flat top hi-steer arms with the right balljoint distance, but with 0 income and 50.00 in the bank - that inst happening.

any ideas?
 
XJ_ranger said:
any ideas?
Can you drill & ream another TRE hole on the knuckle's steering arm at the same distance from the ball-joint as the one on the D30?
 
raneil said:
That might create a clearance problem between the TR and the pumpkin, though...

that issue and the fact that the distance difference isnt enough - i would have to weld up the old hole and drill thru the old hole and a new spot - not accureate enough for the tolerance that i want.

I am also using Heims - not TRE's...
 
I see. I would check to see if the Ford pitman arm could be made to work on your box.... I would imagine swapping the box would also necessitate swapping the pump, too. Not the end of the world, of course, but more work...
 
first what is the 44 out of ?is it fullsize?was it cut down?

the only option is see is going with an inverted "T" steering like it used in what ever it came out of.you will have to have a draglink made to length.

i use a factory pitman arm with a custom cut draglink out of DOM and stock tierod bar for a Ford F150.mine is also a fullsize 44
 
1976 f-150

full width

stock ford outters

stock XJ steering box and pitman arm

crossover steering - used to look like this, but put 2 bends in the drag link to give 0 static angle on the heims

tn_IMG_4051.jpg
tn_IMG_4053.jpg


drilled the stock pitman arm out to 3/4" for the 7/8" x 3/4" heims

steering linkage is 1-3/8" solid roundstock if that matters...

at full lock left and right, the knuckle can still turn more, but the box is done...
 
ahhhh gotcha.ok so does your tierod bar and ends not fit?then you need a new piece of DOM cut longer.are you sure your draglink is long enough?

sounds like the box just doesn't have the same ammount of range as the ford box would.i never thought to look on mine.as i see it i have the same ammount of steering i would have with the stock 30 so i'm not losing out.if anything it will be that much harder to blow out a axle joint because i can't put it at its limit.
 
Call WMS or Bob Roggy for a custom Pitman arm. An extra half inch c-to-c should do it.
 
I had the same problem with mine. I didnt lose any steering radius from stock. So I just extended the steering stops. I found out the hard way that it needed done, when I stripped all the bolts out of the box.
 
Has anyone tried a Ford pitman arm on an XJ box?

is there a standard spline setup for a steering box?
 
BrettM said:
Waggy drop pitman

good call... same Box PN, but different pittman arm PN..
 
XJ_ranger said:
Has anyone tried a Ford pitman arm on an XJ box?

is there a standard spline setup for a steering box?

I think the factory ford box was a push pull style? So the pittman arm will not be nearly what you want.
If the axle has one of these factory arms then it is push pull and that steering box would be worthless to you.
Dodge_d44.jpg



The correct solution is the correct high steer arm matched to the pittman arm.
 
ashmanjeepxj said:
I think the factory ford box was a push pull style?

Not the F-100 and F-150 boxes. They were arranged like an Xj box.
 
ashmanjeepxj said:
I think the factory ford box was a push pull style? So the pittman arm will not be nearly what you want.
If the axle has one of these factory arms then it is push pull and that steering box would be worthless to you.
Dodge_d44.jpg



The correct solution is the correct high steer arm matched to the pittman arm.

nope - the knuckles arent flat top, and the steering as CRASH mentioned is not the push pull.

I cant afford flat tops right now, but i have a line on a Waggy pitman arm - and will take some measurements.
 
BrettM said:
the stock Waggy pitman is almost dead flat, I would recommend a drop pitman.

just discovered that one.

looking into a DPA now

thanks guys.
 
Drop shouldnt change a thing,it a travel issue with the length of the knuckle arm and the length of the pitman arm.
 
RCP Phx said:
Drop shouldnt change a thing,it a travel issue with the length of the knuckle arm and the length of the pitman arm.


right - the waggy is the corect length and corect splines on the steering box, but is too flat, and would increase the angles on my steering system

now a waggy DPA would have the same drop as an XJ arm, but the lenght that i need for the ford knuckles...
 
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