Wrong pitman arm???

[Mopedtony]

Please help
I installed a 4" rough country lift on my 1986 CJ7. All went well except the drop pitman arm is now right over the top of the tie rod that goes between the two front tires making the jeep undrivable due to every little tiny bump jams that tie rod up into the pitman arm. I've called rough country, they say to align the jeep, but that makes no sense. It's as if my front axle has moved forward about an inch-how is this possible?

Any help is greatly appreciated

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[shum8]

Please help
I installed a 4" rough country lift on my 1986 CJ7. All went well except the drop pitman arm is now right over the top of the tie rod that goes between the two front tires making the jeep undrivable due to every little tiny bump jams that tie rod up into the pitman arm. I've called rough country, they say to align the jeep, but that makes no sense. It's as if my front axle has moved forward about an inch-how is this possible?

Any help is greatly appreciated

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Somewhere I have a pic of my front steering components I was gonna post for comparison........ but can't find it at the moment. I also have a 4" susp. lift with a dropped pitman...... and don't recall an interference like you are experiencing. I'll see if I can get a pic or two tomorrow. Interesting predicament you have there. Almost like they gave the wrong dropped arm, but what you have looks right.

 

[Peanut Butter]

Couple of questions. Are you sure that the pitman arm is completely tightened down on the steering box? Did you use any shims on the front axle? Can we get a picture of the whole thing from the front? It looks like you have a steering dampener on the front. A forward looking picture may help. Different angle may help. Did you replace any of the steering components, like the tie rod ends? Finally, if you bought an expensive lift kit, why not spend a couple of pennies for a cotter pin instead of a nail?

 

[Torxhead]

If you were to reverse mount the drag link, that should give you enough clearance so you install the oem pitman arm.

 

[Mopedtony]

Couple of questions. Are you sure that the pitman arm is completely tightened down on the steering box? Did you use any shims on the front axle? Can we get a picture of the whole thing from the front? It looks like you have a steering dampener on the front. A forward looking picture may help. Different angle may help. Did you replace any of the steering components, like the tie rod ends? Finally, if you bought an expensive lift kit, why not spend a couple of pennies for a cotter pin instead of a nail?

First off..... I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out with any ideas..
To answer your questions, I am 99% sure the pitman arm is tightened down all the way. I didn't use any shims on the from axle, steering arms are all stock,and the nail is temporary... I'll take some more pictures and post them.

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[Mopedtony]

If you were to reverse mount the drag link, that should give you enough clearance so you install the oem pitman arm.

Do you mean just flip it end to end?

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[Mopedtony]

Do you mean just flip it end to end?

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Also, I'm not 100% sure which one is the drag link. Is it the one from the pitman arm to the knuckle or is it the one that goes from knuckle to knuckle?

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[Torxhead]

The rod from the pitman arm to the steering knuckle is the drag link. What I meant was to reverse the taper fit to clear the tie rod. There are kits to help you with this, look up tie rod flip kits for Jeep CJ. It would improve your steering to get rid of that drop pitman arm.

 

[mtnwhlr]

It's as if my front axle has moved forward about an inch-how is this possible?

Any help is greatly appreciated

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I have never done a lift on a Jeep but I seam to remember someone else here that installed one and after their tires was off center in the wheel well. And it turned out the installed the springs backwards.

 

[Mopedtony]

I have never done a lift on a Jeep but I seam to remember someone else here that installed one and after their tires was off center in the wheel well. And it turned out the installed the springs backwards.

I was thinking that too, but I think the front springs only go on one way... I tried to ask the rough cpuntry tech about this and all he said was get it aligned ...

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[Mopedtony]

First off..... I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out with any ideas..
To answer your questions, I am 99% sure the pitman arm is tightened down all the way. I didn't use any shims on the from axle, steering arms are all stock,and the nail is temporary... I'll take some more pictures and post them.

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Here's another view

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[Hedgehog]

Go with your stock pitman arm. Yes, I know about bump steer, but the pitman arm you have is too deep. As you can see its the grease fitting that is hitting, I'm a little surprised it is still intact. My CJ has more drag link angle than you will end up with, I have no trouble with bump steer.

In the picture the springs also look VERY close to the steering links. Also, even though it seems unrelated, after a lift you do need to have your steering checked. Also, check the front & back lengths of your springs, they do look backwards to me. Yo mentioned that they couldn't go in the other way, why not? Mine would go in either way. ..... and please get rid of the nail.

 

[Mopedtony]

Go with your stock pitman arm. Yes, I know about bump steer, but the pitman arm you have is too deep. As you can see its the grease fitting that is hitting, I'm a little surprised it is still intact. My CJ has more drag link angle than you will end up with, I have no trouble with bump steer.

In the picture the springs also look VERY close to the steering links. Also, even though it seems unrelated, after a lift you do need to have your steering checked. Also, check the front & back lengths of your springs, they do look backwards to me. Yo mentioned that they couldn't go in the other way, why not? Mine would go in either way. ..... and please get rid of the nail.

Hahah.......I knew I would catch a bunch o' about the nail

I will have to take a second look at flipping the springs around.-it may actually be possible. Do you have any pics of the same lift? Do the military wraps go in front or rear of the axle? When I looked at reversing the springs it seemed as if the bushings only fit one way and the bolts at the spring hangers are different sizes at each end of the spring.




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[Torxhead]

If you look at the bolt head sizes between the front and rear of the leaf springs, you will see that they will only mount one way on the later CJs anyway. Where the military wraps go is determined by the spring maker. usually they will be at the larger hole location and sometimes at both ends. I have seen racing leaf springs where there will be two sets of wraps at each end.

 

[shum8]

Hahah.......I knew I would catch a bunch o' about the nail

I was really hoping you used the nail just to get a response.......


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[Mopedtony]

If you look at the bolt head sizes between the front and rear of the leaf springs, you will see that they will only mount one way on the later CJs anyway. Where the military wraps go is determined by the spring maker. usually they will be at the larger hole location and sometimes at both ends. I have seen racing leaf springs where there will be two sets of wraps at each end.

Thats why im not sure i can reverse the springs....
I will try it soon.

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[Hedgehog]

Measure the front vs the back half and see if there is a length difference. If not, well that isn't the problem.

 

[Mopedtony]

Alright....
I tried to spin the leaf springs thinking that it will pull the front axle back enough to clear the dang pitman arm. - it will not work, the bushings/bolts don't interchange like I'd hoped. Here is another view of my problem from the ground up. This drop pitman arm is 5-1/4 inches from center hole to center hole... is there one out there that is shorter?

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[PistolDave]

As Hedgehog suggested measure the distance from each spring eye to the center of the axle. If this measurement is not the same front and rear, that is a problem. My axle brackets have three different hole locations for setting the axle fore, aft, or centered. Your previous owner may have made a similar modification. Make sure the leaf center pin is in the center hole on the axle mounting pad.

 

[Mopedtony]

As Hedgehog suggested measure the distance from each spring eye to the center of the axle. If this measurement is not the same front and rear, that is a problem. My axle brackets have three different hole locations for setting the axle fore, aft, or centered. Your previous owner may have made a similar modification. Make sure the leaf center pin is in the center hole on the axle mounting pad.

I did measure. It is 1 inch longer from rear spring eye to center of axle. I haven't looked to see if there are multiple holes on the spring pad though.. I will try that.
Thank you

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