steering problem after lift

I recently installed a 4.5" lift on my jeep and have stock steering. When getting it aligned the shop told me the toe was fixed but the steering wheel couldnt be centered because the sleeve adjuster at the pitman arm would be maxed out. at first i thought no big deal, but then realized when the wheels are straight, the pitman arm is slightly to the passenger side which makes sharp right turns impossible. can this link at the pitman arm be adjusted enough to make up for the offset? thanks

There are plenty of guys on here that have used stock steering on 4.5 inches of lift, me being one of them. You should be able to center it using what you have. Set the wheels straight with the pitman arm disconnected, then make sure your pitman arm is centered. Eyeball it straight and reconnect the drag link. After that, you should be able to get the wheel centered fairly easily with a little adjustment.

that alignment shop is full of shit. i would not go back there.

No need to disconnect the pitman arm, just turn the collar in the driveway until the wheel looks straight. If you turn the collar the wrong way you'll know because the wheel will move the wrong direction. Get it close, then drive it down the street to check it, then adjust it a little and drive it down the street again. You'll do this a few times and you'll have it. Just about everyone on here has had stock steering on their first lift, you should be fine. If you really think there aren't enough threads engaging on the adjustment collar, get a second opinion. I wouldn't go back to that alignment shop, except maybe because you paid for an alignment and didn't get all of it. You might want to try them back and make them do it.......but it's also simple to do it yourself.

stewie said:

that alignment shop is full of shit. i would not go back there.

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^^^X a billion! I'm running a stock pitman arm and drag link w/Big Daddy tie rod and 5.5" lift. The stock drag link adjuster works just fine and has plenty of thread contact. I wheel the chit out of my Heep with no issues!

x3, on finding a new shop

my 89 is at 4.5" lift and before i did the zj tie rod swap i had stock steering and no problems centering the steering wheel by adjusting the collar on the draglink.

thanks, problem fixed.