Jeep PITMAN ARM QUESTIONS

xraidedj · Dec 5, 2008

okay, so I have my MJ and I got a HP44 with high steer arms and I don't have near the turning radius I should have, I'm guessing that I need a LONGER pitman arm, not TALLER. Wagoneer my only choice or what? Need someone that has had to do this give me some insight. I have heard that the pitman arm needs to be as long as high steer arms? What else would work?

WHITE TRASH1 · Dec 5, 2008

Maybe you and booney need to trade arms...

Horus · Dec 5, 2008

I'm running a HP 44 with high steer arms in my ZJ. For a while I left the stock pitman arm in place. A ZJ pitman arm's "drop" is the same as a dropped aftermarket arm for a TJ or XJ. I ended up with bump steer issues as my track bar was short and angled and the drag link was longer and flat.

The solution was a stock TJ pitman arm. It is almost flat compared to the ZJ arm and cured all my steering woes.

After installing the TJ arm I noticed I had gained a significant amount of turning radius. I daily my rig and there is a spot on my commute that has me doing a U-turn every day. I noticed it well after months of hitting the curb turning to wing the U.

Hope this helps.

Pat · Dec 5, 2008

In my YJ with D44 front I use a Grand Cherokee pitman arm, reamed out for bigger (chevy) drag link ends. Like Horus said its the same as an aftermarket "drop" pitman but I want to go back to a flatter one when (if) I do highsteer. Not sure yet if I will use the stock YJ pitman arm or find a flat one.

I think in general the flatter the pitman arm the better, for turning radius, turning power, and good handling. (so long as a flat arm doesn't mean bad angle for the drag link).

xraidedj · Dec 5, 2008

my angles are perfect..i need more "throw". Which means I need a longer arm...if I dropped my pitman arm any more, it would not be good angles when I flex. I am running high steer already, look at my build Project Mans Jeep.

xraidedj · Dec 5, 2008

so is the TJ arm longer? than a xj/mj?

Jaydog · Dec 5, 2008

Here's a pic of my TJ Steering (Done by Bent Metal Customs:011: )
Stock TJ Pitman Arm the axle is a Waggy Dana 44 with Chevy outers

pokey · Dec 5, 2008

Almost all of the saginaw pittman arms are the same length (7") if you want longer your going to need a custom made one or find one from a scout their about 10" (eye to eye)

Wildman1 · Dec 5, 2008

I am using a Waggy arm on mine. I had clearance issues with the drop of the TJ arm.

WHITE TRASH1 · Dec 5, 2008

pokey said:
Almost all of the saginaw pittman arms are the same length (7") if you want longer your going to need a custom made one or find one from a scout their about 10" (eye to eye)

9" center to center with about 1 1/2" of drop. There is enough meat on it to drill it and use a heim but I don't think a large taper would leave much area on the sides. Although I 'spose material could be added to the sides without too much trouble if done correctly.

TreeClimber · Dec 5, 2008

Need more throw? huh? Your steering box has MORE than enough turning capacity to handle a short pitman or a long pitman. Think about it. The pitman arm is connected to the box. Yeah, a longer pitman arm will move the connecting drag link both faster and farther. However, a shorter pitman arm will still move the drag link as far, only it will be slower and require the steering wheel to turn a little more.

So my thought is that it's not the pitman arm. Have you checked your steering knuckles to see if the limiting bolt is hitting? Perhaps the tire is hitting something when you upsized the tire from a smaller size?

xraidedj · Dec 6, 2008

TreeClimber said:
Need more throw? huh? Your steering box has MORE than enough turning capacity to handle a short pitman or a long pitman. Think about it. The pitman arm is connected to the box. Yeah, a longer pitman arm will move the connecting drag link both faster and farther. However, a shorter pitman arm will still move the drag link as far, only it will be slower and require the steering wheel to turn a little more.

So my thought is that it's not the pitman arm. Have you checked your steering knuckles to see if the limiting bolt is hitting? Perhaps the tire is hitting something when you upsized the tire from a smaller size?

already checked out ALL of that....i have a half of an inch on both sides bofore either bolt hit and my tires are at least a foot away from everything possible limiting them....the last thing is the steering box....the arm is too short I would imagine. I need to know what arm people are using for similar problem....if the arm is longer you will get more throw? than if it is shorter, I don't care about speed. The problem is I think that my high steerarms are longer than the pitman arm??? I've heard that people with full size axles on YJs have been told to use Waggy pitman arms?

pokey · Dec 6, 2008

xraidedj said:
already checked out ALL of that....i have a half of an inch on both sides bofore either bolt hit and my tires are at least a foot away from everything possible limiting them....the last thing is the steering box....the arm is too short I would imagine. I need to know what arm people are using for similar problem....if the arm is longer you will get more throw? than if it is shorter, I don't care about speed. The problem is I think that my high steerarms are longer than the pitman arm??? I've heard that people with full size axles on YJs have been told to use Waggy pitman arms?

The main reason for using a waggy or j-10 arm is that there is more material on the tie rod end so it can be drilled and reamed for larger tre,s

Wildman1 · Dec 6, 2008

xraidedj said:
already checked out ALL of that....i have a half of an inch on both sides bofore either bolt hit and my tires are at least a foot away from everything possible limiting them....the last thing is the steering box....the arm is too short I would imagine. I need to know what arm people are using for similar problem....if the arm is longer you will get more throw? than if it is shorter, I don't care about speed. The problem is I think that my high steerarms are longer than the pitman arm??? I've heard that people with full size axles on YJs have been told to use Waggy pitman arms?

The Waggy pitman arm from what I know is flater than a TJ/XJ/MJ/YJ but I am not sure of the length. I can go out and measure it today once it warms up a little more (28 degrees).

I am running a HP44 narrowed to Waggy width and it turns lock to lock on my TJ.

xraidedj · Dec 6, 2008

pokey said:
The main reason for using a waggy or j-10 arm is that there is more material on the tie rod end so it can be drilled and reamed for larger tre,s

Wildman said:
The Waggy pitman arm from what I know is flater than a TJ/XJ/MJ/YJ but I am not sure of the length. I can go out and measure it today once it warms up a little more (28 degrees).

I am running a HP44 narrowed to Waggy width and it turns lock to lock on my TJ.

I used the stock pitman arm and reamed it for fullsize gm TRE's, haven't had any issues with it so far.

Yes, please do measure it from center to center for me, that would be a big help. Even if it were only a half in longer it would help tremendously...