Long story short I have to replace the pitman arm on my Xj. I was thinking since I have to remove and replace it. I was thinking about swapping a zj one in its place. I've read they are about 3/4"-1" drop over a standard Xj pitman arm. I do not have any bump-steer. The Jeep drives relatively well for the amount of lift it has. My main reason for contemplating this is that my drag link tie rod end at the pitman arm is nearing its end of travel, i know when the sway bar links are disconnected and it is flexed out that joint is at the end of its travel and probably binding to some degree. I was considering using the zj pitman arm to help alleviate this angle. My track bar and drag link are pretty parallel to each other. They are not identical but they are very close to the same angle. As I said earlier I have zero bump steer. I can cruise 75mph all day long and you would be hard pressed to tell it wasn't a stock height Xj from the way it handles/steers.
I was always under the impression that if you drop the pitman arm you need to match that drop with the track bar. I've searched quite a bit on this subject and a lot people say they just run the zj pitman arm and do nothing to the track bar and are fine, then there are bunch of people who say you need to drop the track bar too or you will get bump steer. So which is it? I do not want to drop my track bar. I know that the ultimate goal is for the track bar and drag link to be parallel to each. From how my angles are currently it appears as if dropping the top drag link tie rod end down about a inch would improve my joint angle and my drag link and track bar angles would improve and be identical. I don't want to go through the trouble of putting the zj pitman arm on only to create bump steer on a set up that has none. I'm looking for some input from people who are running a zj or dropped pitman arm.
My front set up is as follows
Hp d30
Iron rock off road 5" lift
V8 zj tie rod bar
Rough country adjustable x flex control arms(uppers and lowers both adjustable)
Iron rock off road adjustable track bar with double sheer conversion
Bilstein 5150 shocks with bar pin eliminators
Moog lifetime ball joints upper and lower
Moog tie rod ends all the way around.
Stock drag link
Stock style Xj steering link setup (not wj or over the knuckle or anything like that).
Also my goal with the setup was lower center of gravity with trimming to clear the tires I want. Currently 33's but will be going to 35's soon. This is on a 98 Xj with 4.0/aw4/np231/hp d30/Chry 8.25.
Thanks in advance
I was always under the impression that if you drop the pitman arm you need to match that drop with the track bar. I've searched quite a bit on this subject and a lot people say they just run the zj pitman arm and do nothing to the track bar and are fine, then there are bunch of people who say you need to drop the track bar too or you will get bump steer. So which is it? I do not want to drop my track bar. I know that the ultimate goal is for the track bar and drag link to be parallel to each. From how my angles are currently it appears as if dropping the top drag link tie rod end down about a inch would improve my joint angle and my drag link and track bar angles would improve and be identical. I don't want to go through the trouble of putting the zj pitman arm on only to create bump steer on a set up that has none. I'm looking for some input from people who are running a zj or dropped pitman arm.
My front set up is as follows
Hp d30
Iron rock off road 5" lift
V8 zj tie rod bar
Rough country adjustable x flex control arms(uppers and lowers both adjustable)
Iron rock off road adjustable track bar with double sheer conversion
Bilstein 5150 shocks with bar pin eliminators
Moog lifetime ball joints upper and lower
Moog tie rod ends all the way around.
Stock drag link
Stock style Xj steering link setup (not wj or over the knuckle or anything like that).
Also my goal with the setup was lower center of gravity with trimming to clear the tires I want. Currently 33's but will be going to 35's soon. This is on a 98 Xj with 4.0/aw4/np231/hp d30/Chry 8.25.
Thanks in advance