[Maverickxeo]

My 02 Jeep TJ sport has a 4" short arm lift, 33x10.50R15 BFG A/T tires, and recently Ive replaced the steering box (or rather had my mechanic do it). Ive replaced the shocks (they would compress with one hand and NOT expand) but Ive yet to do the stabilizer.

It does steer a bit better than before (with the new box) but it still seems fairly loose. I DO have a drop pitman arm, but I did notice after my steering box was changed, that the pitman arm was NOT overly tight on the bottom of the box (you could see the 'splines' on the box) whereas on the old box you couldnt.

Could that be the issue? I asked my dad (who has a mostly stock 99 Sport) and he says that its normal to be set up like that.

I will be replacing the stabilizer shortly (tommorow, hopefully) and hopefully someone can provide me somewhere to begin with this issue here. I do have the stock Pitman arm, but I really dont want to try changing it...

[bmosing]

I have a 4" lift on mine, went to get an alignment the other day and they noticed my tie rod was bent. So I ordered currie's hd steering kit. At about that same time, I started getting some wobble around 55mph. So I got a new steering stabilizer. I also realized that the PO had a drop pitman arm on it, so i got a stock one.

The combination of these things made my jeep handle SO much better. No bump steer and hardly any play in the steering wheel. I would probably attribute this to the stock pitman arm. The steering stabilizer will mask a lot of the flaws, but getting your steering geometry right will help you the most. If you have your stock one, PUT IT ON!! It definitely won't hurt anything

[Maverickxeo]

Originally Posted by bmosing

I have a 4" lift on mine, went to get an alignment the other day and they noticed my tie rod was bent. So I ordered currie's hd steering kit. At about that same time, I started getting some wobble around 55mph. So I got a new steering stabilizer. I also realized that the PO had a drop pitman arm on it, so i got a stock one.

The combination of these things made my jeep handle SO much better. No bump steer and hardly any play in the steering wheel. I would probably attribute this to the stock pitman arm. The steering stabilizer will mask a lot of the flaws, but getting your steering geometry right will help you the most. If you have your stock one, PUT IT ON!! It definitely won't hurt anything

I may give that a try, but how if the stock one is so much better, why is it that a drop is included in some lift kits? Is there a reason to have a drop pitman arm?

[wolfcreek]

I suppose a drop pitman arm will keep the inverted Y geometry of the steering components closer to stock, and might reduce the amount that toe-in changes during compression, but any advantage is far outweighed by the bump steer they cause with a stock trackbar mount height.
I wondered the same thing when I got the advice to remove mine, but I certainly haven't looked back. Possibly the DPA is a holdover from leaf spring lift kits, something that buyers have come to expect.

[ejg]

Did you also change the caster ?
At this moment i have the same problems, i will set the caster to 5 - 6.
It's now at 4 degrees

[geiman]

Typically you use a drop pitman arm with a drop bracket on the trac bar. From my understanding, if you don't have a drop bracket on the trac bar, you don't need the drop pitman arm.

[Maverickxeo]

Yeah, I DONT have a drop bracket.

But I am still curious about how the pitman is attached to the box... I can probably squeeze my pinkie finger between it and the box.

[geiman]

I think that "should" be normal; I'm having a hard time visualizing it in my head, but I'm pretty sure when I put my new box in the pitman arm wasn't tight up against the box. There should be somewhat of a gap there.

And since you don't have the bracket, I'd go ahead and throw a stock one on there; should fix some if not all of your issues.