Early pitman arm shorter?

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autocomman
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Early pitman arm shorter?

Post by autocomman »

Heyoo, So I have a 72 waggy. It has a 74+ Dana44 open knuckle front axle. Its also had the steering box replaced as well but I dont think its a non factory box however. Anyway...I have an issue with the drag link pretty much kissing the tie rod.

Being a 72 its got shorter springs than a 74+. Also so far as I know the location pin for the front axle would be farther back in a 74. What ever it is, the pitman arm I have im pretty sure is for the later front end. If memory serves me correctly its 7" center hole to center hole. This cannot be right for a 72. I have seen later tie rods that have a bend in them to clear the drag link. I ordered one of these, but its too long. All I can get is a straight RH side tie rod. I cant find a pitman arm for a 72 either. I read somewhere that the pre 73 or 74 trucks had a shorter pitman arm, when the srpings got longer so did the pitman arm. And this is what remained through the run of the SJ. Can someone verify this? And if so where the hell do I find an early one?? Or what pitman arm can i substitute that wont loose me a bunch of turn radius? This is a stock height truck and wont be changing. Its not in the cards to change the springs and relocate the mounts for the longer springs either FYI
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Stuka
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by Stuka »

The positioning the axles did not change with the spring changes. Instead the spring perches moved to allow for longer springs, and the better ride that they offer.

Sounds like the tie rod you ordered was for a WT Cherokee or J-Truck. These had wider front axles, hence the longer tie rod.

We have had quite a few people here put newer axles into older FSJs and I don't recall them having this issue. Are you able to find a model number on your steering box? I am curious if its a stock box for your year, a newer year, or maybe like an S10 box or something from another vehicle that has the output in a different location, but otherwise bolts up.
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autocomman
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by autocomman »

Yep, I ordered for a Cherokee cause its the only one I cold find with the squiggle in it. I have no idea what box is in it. Do different boxes have a different output shaft location?? anyway someone can make some measurements for me to go off of so I can see if this box is a factory or a different one. The info I got with the truck (a paper the guy who built it 2 owners ago wrote out)says quick Ratio Gear Box, standard GM 3 bolt steering box, part number C200005. A search of this previously didn't show anything, but I just saw a result with an ebay listing showing this was GM part number 5691676

Im still stick on the pitman arm being an issue. I cannot find anyone selling a pre 74 pitman arm, so they must be different?

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tgreese
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by tgreese »

If you really want the earlier pitman arm, you're likely have to settle for used. Look up the part number in the early Jeep parts catalog and compare to the PN used for a '74. All Jeeps '74-80 are the same pitman arm except the CJs. Group 10.104-1: manual - 5352162, power - 5352278.

I can't invest a lot of time to look up parts for you right now. The '62-73 parts book is online, and you can buy the '74-80 book. Was available on CD-ROM and paper on RockAuto. You can also buy it on paper from BJ's. Knowing the Jeep PNs will help a lot in deciding what the right parts are, and no one is more motivated to figure this out than you.
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Mreuther12
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by Mreuther12 »

Let me look in my box of take off parts. I may have the stock pitman arm from my 70 still.


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autocomman
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by autocomman »

Mreuther12 wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 7:57 am Let me look in my box of take off parts. I may have the stock pitman arm from my 70 still.


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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by Mreuther12 »

Opened my parts box and it was sitting right on top. Send me a PM


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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by Stuka »

As far as I know the older pitman arm will not fit on the newer boxes, including the GM one you have.

Its certainly worth measuring center to center on the old arm to see if it is indeed shorter.
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autocomman
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by autocomman »

That box is a reman, but should just be a standard Saginaw 800 series, not a later box with metric fittings. Either way I'm pretty sure the pitman arms are all interchangeable. However the drag link side may be different and may need to be reamed out. Guy on the IFSJ forum said he did the D44 swap on a 73 and had to retain the older 'shorter' pitman arm. So fingers crossed
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by Stuka »

autocomman wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 12:43 pm That box is a reman, but should just be a standard Saginaw 800 series, not a later box with metric fittings. Either way I'm pretty sure the pitman arms are all interchangeable. However the drag link side may be different and may need to be reamed out. Guy on the IFSJ forum said he did the D44 swap on a 73 and had to retain the older 'shorter' pitman arm. So fingers crossed
Ahh, I think you are right. The TRE side changed diameter.

I am thinking the box must have moved on the frame a bit. I have never had them side by side to measure though. I do know the steering box mount changed at least three times though over the years.

I am betting they moved the box forward to use a longer pitman in '74 when they switched to an open knuckle axle. The longer pitman arm will allow for more steering range than a shorter arm. The closed knuckle axle had a much more limited steering angle than an open knuckle.
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autocomman
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by autocomman »

Yeah I was wondering what changed. The turn radius right now is ok, I can't imagine loosing any, but at this point I don't want to deal with changing the frame bracket which may make the box Interfere with other things. Then the steering shaft would have to get longer. And then I'd have to change the steering column cause I have the early column where the end of the bell coupler is part of the end of the steering shaft. It's not splined coming off the steering column. So it would be a mess to try and move the box.

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autocomman
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by autocomman »

Ok, new/old/early pitman arm aquired thanks to Mreuther12. It is shorter by about 3/4 inch and should give a reasonable gap between the tie rod and drag link. The hole for the tie rod end will most likely be too small, so I ordered a 7 degree reamer. This and new leaf spring bushings and maybe it won't change direction going over bumps anymore haha. New steering shock has been done, alignment checked. Toe in is just under 1/8 total. Caster +4.5 degrees, camber is +.5 which honestly who cares. I'd like more caster but that's a decent number. It will be good to have this squared away finally
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by Stuka »

0.5 camber most likely means your ball joints are worn, as thats quite a bit.

But glad you were able to source the shorter pitman arm.
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Topic author
autocomman
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by autocomman »

Ball joints are not loose...
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by Stuka »

autocomman wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 12:20 am Ball joints are not loose...
If its not worn ball joints, some other causes could be somebody installed offset ball joints, a spindle shim, or the housing is bent. +/-0.05 is nothing to worry about, and is actually quite good. But +/-0.5 would make the tires visibly look canted from the front. On a new Wrangler for instance, if its over +/-.37, Jeep replaces the axle housing (if under warranty).

Not saying you have to run out and fix it right away or anything. You can drive it that way, potentially forever. The tires might wear more on the inside, and it will exaggerate the camber change when turning.
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autocomman
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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by autocomman »

Oh yeah, I know heh. Not worried about it at all.,. Especially in a truck like this. Lots of older cars were actually setup with positive camber. My bugeye sprite is supposed to have +1 degree from the factory, not adjustable. But because of BMC and their amazing quality control my car actually is +1.5 and +2.5 camber. Not great. Especially because modern tires would prefer -1 deg on that car. And the car has never been hit or bent. It's not the first one I've seen that way either. The fix is custom made offset reunion, which I'll get to eventually. The thing only weights 1300lbs wet so even after a couple thousand miles it's not even noticably wearing the tires lol

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Re: Easily pitman arm shorter?

Post by marinatin »

Autocomman. Are you the original owner of the waggy? I just picked this up of a guy in LA.
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