My new ZJ has 3" lift in it I am planning on going to 4.5" - 5". I have been reading about drop pitman arms. Would I need to put a drop pitman arm in at that left height or no?

 

not sure if this helps but my jeep has a 6" lift and what appears to be a stock pitman arm resulting in a steep angle where the rod connects to the wheel. I did not think it looked right so I started looking around and read somewhere that the angle of rod connecting to the pitman arm should roughly match the angle of the track bar. I am not sure why or if there is any truth to that so hopefully someone who has gone through this exercise can confirm.

 

Okay, here's my take on the situation. The more vertical angle between the steering box and the wheel there is, the more sideways force there is on the steering box mounting when the suspension flexes. Every time the suspension compresses, the steering rod tries to push the box against the frame, likewise on extension, it's pulling on the mounting bolts. I'd be willing to bet that's why sometimes the frame cracks or the bolts break.

Anything you can do to reduce that height difference is helpful. This is just my opinion based on the geometry and mechanics involved.

 

I installed a 2" drop pitman arm on my ZJ with a 4" long arm lift. It did help with bump steer quite a bit.