Zj pitman arm

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

You see different reports about thanging the pitman arm because every XJ is set up a little differently and responds differently. You will not know how much of an effect it will have unless you try it.
If my XJ cruised perfectly at 75 MPH, I wouldn't mess with the geometry by changing the pitman arm. Consider replacing the drag link and ZJ tie rod with a Currie setup. The TREs are angled so they can droop much lower without binding and it's a lot stronger, the strength that is required to keep from bending with 35"s. Big tires put a lot stress on the steering.

I'm planning to go to the iro over the knuckle steering set up in the near future so I am keeping the factory links for the moment.

I understand that everyone is a bit different in setup. However they all should respond similarly to changes in geometry. While the jeep cruises fine the angle of that joint is going to accelerate wear on it and I don't want to be changing that joint x amount of miles because of a poor angle due to lift as it does mess with the alignment even if it is for centering the wheel. Plus if that joint where to fail and break I would loose all steering input. Which could be pretty bad if I'm at highways speeds. I'm a realist and understand that a lifted suspension will not have every alignment angle with in factory specs. But I would like to have everything optimized for what it is.

Since the zj pitman arm is only 30 bucks or so I might just try one and see. I just don't like doing the same job twice and it would be nice to have a clear answer.

I doubt you would notice much of a difference with a 1" drop arm. They are cheap to buy used and even new they are like 20$ at summit. get one, slap it on, if you have issues, pull it off. you'll need to recenter your steering wheeling each time possibly by adjusting the drag link , thats a bout it.

Yep that's kind of what I had decided. It isn't a big deal to do. I just was trying to avoid doing the job twice if possible.

FG Jeep said:

But I would like to have everything optimized for what it is.

Click to expand...

My point was that if it cruises just fine at 75 MPH, the geometry is as close to optimized as you are likely to get it. Your problem is with the operating angle TREs, which the Currie steering cures.
The 3/4" drop of the ZJ pitman arm may not be enough to eliminate the binding at the pitman arm
My XJ, at 4" of lift, had bad binding at the pitman arm and eventually blew out the TRE, at the pitman arm (shouldn't have let the wife and her friend drive it, lol).
Changing to the Currie eliminated the binding and allowed the passenger side shock to fully droop, where before it ran out of travel before it was full extended (10" 5150s).
The wife hasn't been able to hurt it ...yet.

In your case, if funds permit, going straight to OTK steering may be your best choice but beware that the shorter track bar, used on a OTK setup, alters the geometry and can induce some bump steer.
Much of that can be eliminated by moving the coil buckets rearward, providing the extra room for a longer track bar to extend outward. Cal and Goatman's race XJ used this method successfully.

If you try a ZJ pitman arm, let us know how it works. I'm interested in how much more droop it will provide before binding, plus if any noticeable bump steer is created.
There's always more for me to learn.

it takes about 20 minutes. I would not about worry about doing it twice.