Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[WillCJ]

Ok, CJ7, right hand drive,33" tyres run 3.5" lift for ages with a combination of spring and shackle lift, bit vague on the steering due to caster angle, steer arm angle, longer shackles.
 Now a proper 4" lift, which has set my caster about right, well nearly 5deg anyway. YJ springs with 4" shackles, drives much better but still steer arm angle to sort, I think it tends to twist the track arm due to how the steer arm connects by a track rod end.
You would say (I did) a 4" pitman will sort it, and probably will, but I was thinking about re-engineering it with spherical rod ends, but it would mean welding supports on the swivel housing to make it strong. I would prefer to keep it near standard set up tho, for spares and safety, if it works well with just a drop pitman.
Looking on US Jeep Forum.com, they seem to be going off dropped pitmans and doing a track rod flip, but that will only work on LH drive set-up.
They say some drop Pitman arms have a shorter length so steer radius is lost, also some are 'clocked', possibly to compensate for length but again I can not find a reason, and probably only good for LH drive.
 I am hoping someone on the forum has some experience with this, could point me at a pitman that will work, (4WDH have 5 different 4" ones!) or has one spare I could buy (power steering)

[Panic mechanic!]

will a xj one fit and work? ( just an idea) not sure if it will 

[Bubba]

xj box will work as it has a drop arm on it but the pitman arm will not fit a cj box get a proper drop pitman for a cj and you will get good results stock cjs are sorta vague the rod flip will only work if you convert to lhd 

[Bulldog67]

I may have a CJ pitman

and an xj box with a pitman I think, altho someone has half dibs on that

[Bubba]

the box you have has 76 cast in to and allegedly that is a good thing and yup it has a drop arm for a 4 inch lift on it

[WillCJ]

xj box will work as it has a drop arm on it but the pitman arm will not fit a cj box get a proper drop pitman for a cj and you will get good results stock cjs are sorta vague the rod flip will only work if you convert to lhd 

Thanks, my steer box is fine, I think, recently re-sealed and set up, so a suitable CJ drop pitman would be good, but there does seem to be some variation in design, so I was looking for a known good one/make someone has tried and can confirm no issues like poor turning circle?
I can live with vague steering, no street racer, but embarrasing when I take it for mot!. Much improved with new springs and bushes tho.

[WillCJ]

I may have a CJ pitman

and an xj box with a pitman I think, altho someone has half dibs on that

Would that be a 4" drop CJ pitman, or are you just thinking of seeing if they are interchangeable?
I don't think I will change the steer box, but thanks for the thought.

[Bulldog67]

will have a look mate, gotta ransack the mountain for Dutch and Willo today anyway

[WillCJ]

will have a look mate, gotta ransack the mountain for Dutch and Willo today anyway

Cheers, had another look at it today (just put suspension on last week,trans back in Friday) and looks like a 4" drop on the pitman will put the pitman end track rod end right where the steer control arm between the swivel housings is, may be because I have used YJ springs and the axle is about an inch further forward. I am leaning back towards a hybrid set up. Spherical ball ends on the track arm, raised ball joint on the steer arm, extended at the swivel housing end.

[Bulldog67]

I believe the answer you seek is cheese 

the pitman has NVD 742 stamped on to it - pic will follow if you want

[WillCJ]

OK, job done, the new suspension sorted half the steer issues out, and going for the hybrid set up I mentioned has taken all the bump steer out, didn't realise it had got so bad till I did this work!
Pics, before
[attachment=1]
and after...........
[attachment=2]
As you can see, nice and parallel now, and no joint on tie rod to rotate
Thanks for everyones input. even the cheese!

[scrw]

excuse ignorance, but couldn't you get a LDH trackbar & flip it to get the steering connection at the correct side? then just drill & weld in new seats to the top of the  knuckles?

[WillCJ]

excuse ignorance, but couldn't you get a LDH trackbar & flip it to get the steering connection at the correct side? then just drill & weld in new seats to the top of the  knuckles?

If you mean what I think you mean?, no, don't get it, the steer knuckles only allow for that on one side, and the steer box is offset to that side ,so the track bar would be very short, so the connection is already at the right side for a RHD car.
5 mins later............
Ahh, get it now, thought about that, but same amount of work and still end up with that oddball trackrod connection. I am happy with the way I went, works great and cheaper set up, only tricky bit was the tapered hole in the extension on the Lh knuckle, but I could have gone for a rod end there if stuck. all ends up far more parallel than a lhd track bar I think.