longer pitman arm needed

[deemac]

hey guys, this is my first post here. I have a 1994 explorer that i did a HP D44 SAS on. I narrowed the axle 6" to early bronco width. I am running 3.5" early bronco coils with 1979 bronco coil buckets that are cut down to stock explorer coil bucket height. I am running chevy 1 ton TRE's with 1.5"x.25" DOM tubing. I am running the tie rod over the knuckle. I moved the axle foreward about 2-1/4" foreward from stock. i am running the stock steering box.

I am having a problem with the steering, when i sort of rock the steering wheel back and forth, like loading the steering left and right, the tie rod rocks foreward and backwards. Like the drag link is twisting it down when i turn the wheel right and twisting it up when i turn left. I talked to one guy who is very knowledgeable and he figures it is because i moved the axle foreward and from a top view the drag link angles back slightly overlapping the tie rod. The guy i talked to figures that this top view overlapping is the cause of my problem and the solution is to move my steering box foreward. On our trucks thats kind of a big deal. I could do it but if there is an easier solution i am all for it. I have read that a pitman arm from a 2wd superduty is like 1-3/4" longer and fits our trucks. but i also remember reading somewhere that the superduty pitman arm splines are very similar but just different enough to work themselves loose. Is this true? If i could run a longer pitman arm that could solve my slight steering geometry issue and it would also give me a tighter turning radius, which i like. Please let me know because this could solve my problem and would be much simpler than moving my steering box foreward. Thanks for any help you can give me. I will also post a picture of my steering because it is not a rediculous upward angle on my draglink causing this. The truck is more finished than in the picture too....thats from earlier in the winter in the middle of the build. Anyways, that is my long winded question.

 

[yostyexplorer94]

I too have this same problem. I moved my axle forward 2" from stock when I sas'd my rig. My turning radius isn't the greatest and my knuckles can turn more but my gearbox can't. I think a longer pitman arm is my solution, but there is not a whole lot of info out there that I have seen. Anyone else run into this issue?

 

[deemac]

i thought i would post up how i solved this problem. I did not get a longer pitman arm. I took some old skateboard wheels and threw em on the lathe and machined some bushings 1.5" od x .75" id x 3/8" thick. Then i took the TRE's off and took the rubber booty off and put the plastic bushing in its place. Then i reinstalled the TRE's on the knuckles. This completely tightened up the steering. And they seem to seal better than the rubber booty. I have a full year of wheelin on em and theyre still holding up perfect. problem solved. It took a long time to post the solution but it works great.

 

[yostyexplorer94]

That great that fixed that issue. I found some poly bushings on the internet a while back that are just like what you made, just haven't bought them yet. A longer pitman arm would definitely be the ideal solution though because it would give you full turning potential. I can't believe more people haven't complained about this issue who have done a solid axle swap and pushed the axle forward 2".

 

[Kirby N.]

Older post, but currently running into an issue on my solid axle swap where I would like a longer pitman arm. Any solutions located?

 

[DB_1]

Dave'S offroad sells a "blank" pitman arm that's flat and you drill your own hole for the drag link TRE or rod end. The steering box end is just a hole where you insert and weld in the splined end of a pitman arm that has been machined to fit the hole.

 

[Kirby N.]

Thats cool. I would like about a 4" drop, but I am having a rough time finding one.

The stock early 1999 superduty 2x4 pitman arms with a x pattern key way and a 32 spline sector shaft mating surface fit and are about 6 3/8" long (center hole to center hole). However, stock they are nearly flat. Maybe 1" drop.

It appears all the drop pitman arms for our application are 6 3/8" already. (skyjacker FA400, Procomp FD400 and Fabtech FTS309)