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2WD pitman arm that barely clears the frame.

The one I had clears the frame by too much, and yours looks to have ever bit as much drop as mine did. That put it (or rather the DLE) into contact with the axle on up travel before it hit the bumps. Even with the huge 4" bricks on my K5, it hit well before the bumps. And this is fact, not conjecture, because it took off the grease fitting and marked the spring/DLE from multiple hits. The only solution is to go to a flatter pitman arm, or lower the bumps and loose up travel...

But apparently, the arm that came on mine was not the 4" drop Ford arm, but maybe a 6"? Still, even if it is a nominal 2" higher on the Ford arm from the article, the bumps on my K5 could easily have let it hit on full compression. I'm much better satisfied with the Ford arm, and the only down side I see is the very slightly increased angle of the drag link causing ever so slight an increase in bump steer.
 
Well the super lift arem is reamed for tre's so I wonder if you wanted to do dle's if you could ream it form the top and put you DL in from the top.
But if your going to ream, you could have gotten the ford arm.
 
How do you bend a pitman arm? On purpose of course.
I have a bronco arm that won't clear the frame.
 
Heat is the only way. For a street driven rig, I wouldn't bend a pitman arm since you will undoubtedly weaken the forging. I would be too afraid of it breaking at 60 down the freeway.
 
I have a fist gen and the 4" drop arm wont work. It hits the springs at full compression. I have a full size jeep wagoneer arm on mine that had to be bent slightly. I had a shop do it so I don't know how they bent it. It cracked on me so I also am looking for a suitable replacement.
 
I have the DLE-hits-Spring problem. Trying to put all the info in one place, for my sake, and the next poor jerk's. Finding a solution is starting to really hack me off. Had no luck finding a good hard solution. Seems as though ORD or someone would have an option on the shelf by now since it seems to be a common problem. Several possibles listed below...pics too.

FIRST PIC
Glenn V. (Depdog?) that did the tech writeup for Xover used a YJ arm. The picture *looks* like it rides close to the frame. I believe my brother K10ANDYKHAMNIC used the same on his K10 - he has mucho flex, and hasn't had a problem yet. He's down here in CA recoving from his wreck and his K10 is in CO, and he doesn't remember how close it is to the frame. I'm gonna have him call tomorrow and have some1 look at his truck and see.

Kert from DIY is going to see somoene tomorrow who might have an answer.

SECOND, LAST PICs
BadDog once posted a pic of the elusive part # Ford Van Vs. 1104 arm. Think that's the Van on the left. His other thread on this here http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155838

BOTTOM PIC, see link.
I saw (and emailed regarding) some pitmans on WFO Concepts' site that looked promising. http://www.wfoconcepts.com/Steering/SteeringParts/listing.html

I've also thought about reversing the taper on the 1104 arm, putting the DLE on top. This would increase angle on the drag link though, and put it closer to the engine Xmember.

I'm gonna hit the JY tomorrow and see what turns up.

Any more ideas?

YJPitmanArm.jpg

FORDVAN.jpg

WagoneerVs1104.jpg

GoodFitVan.jpg
 
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I used a bronco pitman arm and it worked fine. Had to heat it and bend it though. No cracks, no 60mph failures.
 
garlicbreath said:
I used a bronco pitman arm and it worked fine. Had to heat it and bend it though. No cracks, no 60mph failures.
Yet... ;) Please be careful and inspect frequently. There are lots of things done every day that increase risk without a catastrophic failure, but I like to do what I can to improve my odds, not reduce them. Worst part is, if a pitman should fail at 60 on the freeway, you'll have absolutely zero control as you potentially enter the oncoming lane and take a header into a vehicle full of a young family who will never make it where they were headed. Not to bash on you, but that’s the type of thing that causes pressure to enact lift laws and inspections that people cry and moan about when it prevents them from building the truck they want...

David:
Good luck on the arm, they are not that hard to find. My advice, look at the profile of the one in my pic. Notice the outer edges pretty much intersect with the end radius at a tangent (smooth intersection of flat transitioning into the curve for those that don’t know what tangent is). There is a very similar but slightly later arm that I’ve seen (and bought, then returned myself!) that isn’t quite so beefy but does have a slight dip at the transition. It would work too, but the keys are 45* out of position for our boxes. Take a normal 2WD pitman if you need to and compare key location.
 
Listen to Mr. BadDog now...no weakening your pitman arms, kids. It's not worth the risk.

Russ-thanks...didn't know any of you old tech-heads were stilll around much...
I'll try not to "go off on a tangent..." :rolleyes::haha: ... or were you talking about another kind of tangent? :D

Not sure if I'll make it to the JY today. Just got a call that my Gma might be dying, but that happens pretty regular lately. She's old and sick and in pain, so if she does, it's good, time for her to go home.
 
I pulled my arm from a mid 80's jeep cherokee, also found one on a late 70's dodge van
 
Yeah, I'm still around. I read a bit on topics that catch my interest, and I still moderate when needed, but I've been pulled aside on other interests/distractions for the last year or so and have not done much to post about.
 
468k5 said:
I pulled my arm from a mid 80's jeep cherokee, also found one on a late 70's dodge van
All the cherokee ones I saw today seemed short and skinny and too much drop.

I got one off and '85 Dodge 1/2 ton 2wd. Looks like it's gonna be tight to the frame(hopefully not too), will have to be reamed bigger (no prob for me), and it's a wee bit shorter than the 1104 on the K5, but longer than anything else I saw in the JY. No 70s Ford Vans, only some trucks, and they looked kinda small and too much drop. Dodge arm isn't super beefy, but I think it's enough. Hopefully being slightly shorter won't hurt turn radius too much, and should give a little more leverage to steer the big XMLs 'til I get hyd assist on. On my J**P I had a scout 44 in the front with the looong steering arms (scout steering arms/pitmans are a good 8-9"), but the shorter J**P pitman...made it real easy to steer, but wouldn't turn very tight. Probably helped the ujoints and shafts live longer...

Pics of my Dodge arm later. Wife is standing over my shoulder waiting for me to take her out for our anniversary.
 
Here's some pix. It's about 1" of drop and 5-3/4" long hole to hole. Yellow marks show the keys...I think those are right.

85Dodge2WdPitman 001.jpg

85Dodge2WdPitman 002.jpg

85Dodge2WdPitman 004.jpg
 
Rambunctious - how much lift are you running? what springs? where is your axle in relation to stock?
 
MattK said:
Rambunctious - how much lift are you running? what springs? where is your axle in relation to stock?

4" Rancho
1.5" Forward - ORD zero rate.
No Anti-Sway Bar
DLE hits the spring.

Here's some pics. The Dodge arm had 1" of drop and hit the frame. Probably need 1-3/4" to 2" drop or so. The 1104 has 3-1/8" of drop.

"The wagoneer arm drops around 1", a stock tj/yj arm drops about 2", and another arm that drops around 2.5". They range from
$65 to $85. Trevor WFO"

Sounds like the YJ/TJ may be the ticket.

BadDog - What's the drop on the Van arm?
I'm measuring with a straightedge across the upper face where the sector shaft goes thru to the upper face where the DLE goes thru.


DodgeHitsFrame.jpg

1104VsDodge.jpg
 
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If I switch to a shorter drop arm i.e. the TJ/YJ arm over my superlift drop arm will the angle on the DLE effect the overall performance of my steering? I am moving my axle forward with 56s and prolly a zero rate and I need to keep the draglink out of the spring plate ubolts:D. And are you saying that Trevor sells the YJ/TJ arm already reamed for the Chevy ends?

Ira
 
I think so. My brains are kinda scrambled. Give him a call or email. He's cool. I can ream it for you if not.
 

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