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Dropped Pittman Arm?

OL BLAZER

OL BLAZER

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Joined
Aug 22, 2006
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Location
GLAMIS SO CAL
Whats up everyone and anyone out there who might know if ther is some sort of kit to drop my stock tie rod ends or something like that to fix the steering on my blazer it has maybe a four to six inch lift in the front and is causing my tie rods to wear out at the bushings big time ... i cant make left turns right now cause the bushings are worn out so bad .
so im getting ready to go down to auto zone and just get stock tie rod ends to fix the problem for now but i was wondering if any one out there could give me some ideas or websites with something to fix my steering?
 
alright man thanks i knew this was the place to come for info ...so that one works for every size lift or ?
 
that will give you 4" of correction. you may need more, but it's a good starting point. after that I would suggest a drooped pitman arm. they offer a 2" correction one. I had it, but replaced everything with a crossover steering setup.
 
Yes the steering arm is your best solution. This was my set up with a 6" lift when I was 1/2 ton. I have gone crossover and since sold the arm but still have the 2" drop draglink.

ea23f78f.jpg


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got my bid in on the steering arm now its just a matter of time ...one more thing i was trying to get new tie rod end at autozone and they want to know if i got 7/8 threads or one inch threads so i guess i gotta measure em if someone could tell me if they happen to know of the top of their heads
 
Lets make sure we are on the same page here- you talking tie rod ends or draglink ends? I believe the TRE are the 7/8 and the drag links are 1" If you can take one off and bring it in that'd be best or just slide a caliper on there and get the measurement. Also if you are buying new Draglink ends and you have a 6" lift you might consider putting that $ toward a 2" dropped draglink. Mine is doing nothing sitting on the floor.
 
thats a pic of your greasy draglink and the raised steering arm you just bid on.:doah: You already have one on the truck. I hope someone out bids you.

I would look into a dropped pitman arm. dropped draglinks suck. they can twist and turn flat completely negating the purpose of the drop.

Or spend the money and start piecing together a crossover setup.
 
shoot... i hope i get outbid too thats what i get for being green i guess anyways i bid 25 bucks so not too bad

so i guess its the draglink that i gotta change , is thats whats making me not turn left ?

One more thing is a crossover setup custom built or is it out there for sale?
 
Yea you all ready have the 4" raised steering arm. If you can get a pic of the drag link from the side we should be able to clear up whether you have a 4 or 6" lift. IFrom that pic I would say 6". I have never had problems out of my dropped drag link. I was very happy with it's performance while I was 1/2 ton. If it is turning flat then somethings else has got to be the matter cuz the joints don't let it flex/spin that much.
 
you can buy a complete crossover kit that even includes the passenger side knuckle, but its expensive. If you like the junkyard and hunting for deals you can piece on together fairly reasonably.

The one person I new who had a bent drag link that would turn flat was running 40's. We could never get it tight enough to hold for good. I think that he probably did not get it tight enough on the initial install.

You may just need to adjust the length of your drag link. If it is too long you would not be able to turn left as well as right. support the front axles on jack stand and have someone turn the tires from stop to stop. If it hits the stop turning right. loosen the adjuster collar on your drag link and shorten it up a turn. recheck your side to side turning ability. it should change.

keep adjusting the drag link until you can turn the same amount both ways.
 
alright so how do i know if i got a dropped pittman arm or not , I dont wanna make the same mistake twice? As for the raised steering arm ... i got outbid so thats cool but i really wanna get rid of my steering problem , i forgot to mention earlier that the blazer has a killer bump steer on the highway if i hit a pothole or somethin my whole ride wants to go right and i have to correct it by bringing it back to the left ... could that be my power steering or is that worn out bushings?
 
you have the stock pitman arm. It turns right when you hit a bump because as the wheel goes up the distance between the pitman arm and steering arm gets shorter. pushing the steering arm back, turning you right.

A dropped arm will help, but no matter what you do there will always be situations (a lot fewer) where bumps or potholes affect the steering. Just hit all bumps and potholes with the passenger side.:D
 
gmc4cw said:
keep adjusting the drag link until you can turn the same amount both ways.
Click to expand...

That works for equal steering in both directions but then you may not end up with the wheel centered (which will mess with turn signal operation). It's all a toss-up. I just went through all that a couple weeks ago when I changed out my steering gear. Since I do more street driving than off-road, I ended up sacrificing some left-turning in favor of a centered wheel.

Also make sure that your wheel bearings, ball joints, spring bushings and tie rod ends (the ones on the actual tie rod) are in good shape. If the rest of those parts look like that funk-covered drag link, then you may need to drop some coin on your steering and suspension.

I have all new front end parts, a raised steering arm and a dropped pitman (6" of lift) and I have no bump steer issues at all. :D
 
sounds like i'm gonna put some $ in my ride cause everything under there is probably over twenty years old

So whats up with that gear in my steering box ... is that something to look in to because i think i need a new steering box , my old one is leaking power steering fluid pretty bad too.

one last thing ... where should i look for a dropped pittman arm?thanks
 
alright guys I know this is off topic but since there's a bunch of pros in here i was wondering if anyone could name this part that's been slowy leakinking just getting worse everyday ...from a greenhorns point of view it looks like its leaking somewhere behind the pan of the tranny just higher so if i could get some help here so i at least know where to start as far as parts or what i need?
53a8fma.jpg
 
the picture took is mostly of the adapter from the trans to the t-case. Looks like someone gooped it up with a lot of sealant. The bolts holding the adapter to the transmission could have gotten loose. they are only bolted into aluminum. I had to take my t-case out and heli-coil mine. Or the bolts holding the adapter to the t-case could also be loose, or both. or your pan could be leaking. I can see a drip of trans fluid on the corner of the pan.

Just hope the tail shaft housing on the trans is not cracked.

I would get under there and spray everything down with degreaser. go at the heavy stuff with a wire brush. Hose it all down and let it dry. get everything as clean as you possibly can. It will make tracking down the leaks easier.
 
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