90cherokeeguy

i just went to have an alliment done and was told i need a diffrent pitman arm on my 90 i just instaled a 4.5 in rc lift kit could someone please tell what size pitman arm do i need and who would carry it

s14unimog

did they state why? Aside from over rotating TRE's I've heard it can cause bump steer but I don't understand how people come to that since any solid axle vehicle will always have bump steer...

I've got this one on my 4.5" XJ. Although its black

http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchan...egory_Code=ste

And this is what it took to get mine off. Broke a puller trying first.


I still have a good range of motion on that TRE too. so I don't see a need to go any longer. I've recently changed my track bar to double shear and their distance from the frame look pretty similar.

muddeprived

Go somewhere else for an alignment. Do not install a drop pitman arm unless your trackbar is dropped as well.

90cherokeeguy

the prolbem im having is that there the olny ones in the area that will do the aliment

muddeprived

No other alignment shop? I don't see the reason to get another pitman arm. When I installed my 4.5" LA's, I didn't install the DPA that was included (and t-bar bracket and got it aligned at Midas. They didn't have any issues. I made some adjustments to the suspension a little later and aligned it myself too and it worked out fine. The only situation I see where you would need a DPA is if you had alot of lift and there's not enough thread on the tie rods to make proper adjustments. But by this time you should have upgraded your steering to crossover or OTK (or Currie's since their tie rods are angled to compensate lifts).

Tell em to set the toe as close to stock specs and adjust the draglink to center the steering wheel. There's nothing to it.

Are they only setting your toe or doing adjustments to the caster too? If it's just toe, then you can easily learn how it's done with a tape measure, pen, jack, and 1/2 socket wrench.

s14unimog

I do. the TRE's can only rotate so far before they max out. A drop pitman will help preserve the life of the TRE's on the drag link.

I agree with your second comment though, its easy to align the steering on a Cherokee. Just run the toe and 1/8" in and center the wheel with the drag link. Its easy and when you are constantly changing your setup, it really saves you some cash. If you are using stock arms I would extend them as far and the slots will allow. If you're not, search for the factory pinion angle and see how close you can adjust to that.

90cherokeeguy

ok cool ill try that will the aliment take the shaking out of the jeep when it hits a bump over 40 mph???

s14unimog

doubt it. the shakes usually come from worn bushings or tired TRE's.

muddeprived

I agree with ya about the working angle of the tie rods. At 4.5", your steering is still "ok" but close to the point of needing upgraded. It does not prevent you from doing an alignment though. But if you have long arms or drop brackets then I would agree on dropping the draglink AND trackbar cuz those setups net alot more flex and will risk wearing the tie rods. I ran 4" with stock steering for a couple years and now I'm at 4.5" with LA's and switching to currie'ss cuz they have better angled tie rods.

To do your own alignment:

http://www.stu-offroad.com/steering/align/align-1.htm

You don't really need paint since you can still scribble a line on it without spraying it.