I lifted my jeep a total of just under 4" (shackles and springs), and am having some major steering promblems. I think a drop pitman arm would help me some, my pitman arm is far from flat. I have been reading past posts about how XJ pitman arms fit on YJs as dop pitman arms. Is their anything like this that will work on a 79 CJ5?
Thanks,
Tony:mad3:

The fact that the word "cheat" was used worries me when you are talking about steering. If your not worried about safety (hence the word "cheat"), the quick fix is a 12 pack of Coors, or micro beer (what I drink). You won't notice the steering issues at all. Problem is, you'll need to replentish the fix every time you drive the thing.
Shaggy :flipoff2:

if it fits a yj box then it will fit your cj box. the only thing is the yj p/arms are indexed differently. all you have to do to get around that is take your hacksaw apart and then reassemble it with the blade through the hole that goes over the steering box shaft. now you go in and cut a spline dead center of the 4 indexing splines on the p/arm. this ages rid of the indexing splines and lets you index it as you like. all you have to do when you are done is index it where you need it when you are done. easy as that. :D

I know people running em (like me) should just bolt on and work - I didn't do any re-indexing?

i run a yj p/arm on my cj. the yj arm will bolt up but you will not get full steering in one diection because the p/arm is not centered with the center of the rotation. think about it. the boxes are the same but if you look under a yj the box is bolted flat to the frame and on the cj's the box brackets cause the box to be mounted at an angle. like i said it will bolt up but you will not get full steering in one direction. cutting the indexing splines will allow you to mount the p/arm centered with the center of the rotation on the box.

How much steering will I lose with a YJ arm, and to what side is it lost. Also would I loose turning ability to one side with an aftermarket drop pimtman arm for a CJ?

thanks for the replies
tony

you say the steering is seriously messed up, what exactly is the problem? If you have really long fron shackles it will mess up your caster and cause your vehicle to wander very bad, this can be discribed as loss of steering feel and the vehicle not wanting to travel straight without lots of steering input.

The steering promblems are just like a normal CJ, but 5 times worse .

It wanders and has some fairly bad bumpsteer, I think maybe a drop- pitman arm and new tie rod ends could help.

I think I will try the YJ arm, who sells these the cheapest.

Let get this straight, the YJ STOCK pitman arm will work as a drop pitman arm on my CJ? I think thats what you all are saying, but not sure if you mean YJ drop or YJ stock.

thanks
tony

just having gotten done w/ my soa, i tried an xj(same as yj and tj), and u can't turn to the right at all if u don't reindex it, i just spent the $50 on a drop one and i like it, my drag link also would hit the springs because the xj one was only like a 2.5 inch drop, so from personal experience i would buy the drop one

Where did you get it for $50?

thanks for the info.
tony

four wheel parts wholesalers, its a procomp one, i think it was $60 after shipping and all

Originally posted by aggielr
just having gotten done w/ my soa, i tried an xj(same as yj and tj), and u can't turn to the right at all if u don't reindex it, i just spent the $50 on a drop one and i like it, my drag link also would hit the springs because the xj one was only like a 2.5 inch drop, so from personal experience i would buy the drop one

thank you!!! atleast someone else knows what they are talking about. if you already had the p/arm then why didn't you spend 5 minutes with a hack saw instead of spending $60 on a new arm? am i missing something? :confused:

If you are buying a new one, why not just get one for a CJ?
Am I missing something?:confused:

Originally posted by CJ-Jeeper
If you are buying a new one, why not just get one for a CJ?
Am I missing something?:confused:

you are right there. the reason i used a stock yj arm is because it dropped some but not as much as a drop cj arm. it was perfect for what i needed plus i got it free. :D

You can also retaper the knuckles and flip your tie rod on top of the knuckles...my bro did this and was able to run 4" lift on his 7 without any problems at all...FWIW

Oh yeah and thats with his stock p-arm

I talked to pops and he bought his from some 4x4 place so it may be aftermarket or ? All I know is I could turn both ways. I am going hi-steer so I don't need it anymore though - anyone interested?

http://www.rivercityrockcrawlers.com/TechReports/BornAgain/Axles/frontend.jpg

I don't think that is your steering issue though, cause I had the same thing and I finally decided it was worn out bushing holes (too big so it all wobbled and wondered). I am sure that was not the whole prob but I think it was a big part. All new bushings and hangers, yj springs, new axle, and new shocks later it seems to be ok LOL

Originally posted by cjhunter
The steering promblems are just like a normal CJ, but 5 times worse .

It wanders and has some fairly bad bumpsteer, I think maybe a drop- pitman arm and new tie rod ends could help.

I think I will try the YJ arm, who sells these the cheapest.

Let get this straight, the YJ STOCK pitman arm will work as a drop pitman arm on my CJ? I think thats what you all are saying, but not sure if you mean YJ drop or YJ stock.

thanks
tony

How much of a shackle lift did you do? When you start playing with shackles you screw up your caster. This adds to your wandering on the road.

My old Scout II axle with 0 caster loved to be held. Couldn't take your hands off the wheel unless you didn't mind wandering all over the place.