drop pitman arms?

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[BiGdAdDeE]

been noticing an excess amount of sway and over steer lately.  By over steer what I mean is I have to turn the wheel in the direction I wish to travel an inch or so before my truck figures it out.

Then if I am on a bumpy road I find my self having to compensate way too much to keep my wheels heading straight.
Now I have never had a drop pitman arm on this and have no sway bar connected anymore but I find it is doing this at slow speeds as well as fast.  I wiggled the linkages around and really don't feel any play.

Will adding a drop pitman arm help with this issue?
It was always a pretty tight steering jeep up till last fall or so when I noticed it was a little more squirly and now its the worst I have noticed it.  especially on acceleration up hills when I need to turn at the top.  It sometimes takes me over and then I over compensate and it pulls too far when it comes back.

Boy this description suks asss.   Enlighten me

[Axle]

sounds like play somewhere, check all the tie rods out, check the box too. the pitman arm wouldn't really do anything.

[jeepgod]

you need to check out ALL of your steering parts as axle said. ball joints, tre, axle u-joints etc etc etc. that is where your issue is

if you have never had a dropped pitman arm and you have just gotten this issue then the issue is def not a pitman arm

good luck

[BiGdAdDeE]

yes todd you are right and I agree 100% but would running my jeep with a drop pitman arm cause less strain and potentially lessen the chances of this type of issue happening in the future?
as I said though everything feels good joint wise.  Tie rods...ball joints too.  My box has been a leaky pain in the arse for a while now.  Maybe I will start there and replace it first as I see no other obvious reasons

[Krome]

Again, check the tie rod ends, ball joints and sway bar links. Any one of these can be the culprit of strange steering feelings, if you not sure how to do it, look it up online or one of us can help you sometime!

If the box is leaking, I'd say its time for a new one, it can cause a lot of play and very slow response in steering

[Posimoto]

x4 on checking all joints and bushing first including the four rear spring bushings and both sets of rear spring shackles for wear or looseness. You should have a helper turning the steering wheel while you check all the problem areas in the front.

After the above is repaired or in good working order then check the steering box. The best way is the clean the box so you can easily find where the leak is coming from. There are 10 locations on the box where it could be leaking 6 can be repaired fairly easy. 

[derickw]

BigD i've been kind of chasing the same problem. at this point I'm starting to think it my steering box too. i've changed just about everything else. when i shake the wheel i get a decent amount of side to side before the pitman arm catches up. but at this point i have bigger fish to fry. need to be able to move before i need to steer

[98xj]

I experienced this with my xj. When I changed the steering box it felt alot better. Then wheeling a few more times it's back to being a little bit sloppy.

[navman 5.0]

Check your tire pressure as well. If you dinged one of the rims it could have a slow leak and really screw with everything.

[Twisty]

He would have had to dinged it on a curb. 








j/k BigD!!

[jeepgod]

to answer your question big d the strain you are placing on the frt end will not be helped by adding a dropped pitman arm. 

like everyone else (including me) said there is an issue in your frt end, tre, ball joints, loose or worn hub bearings, axle u-joints, steering shaft, etc etc etc etc

you need to look over all that stuff ALOT more carefully cause that is where your issue lies.  i have never had a leaking steering box cause the symptoms that you are expalining. i have had the same exact issue and ti was a frozen axle u-joint which could only be checked by removing the tie rod and moving the knuckle. that is when i noticed the knuckle didn't move freely, and this caused the same issue you are experiencing. i am not saying that the problem is not your steering box, i just don't think that is it and it is the last thing i would replace.

[BiGdAdDeE]

prior to posting I had my wife wiggle the steering as lay underneath searching for the culpret but came up short.  I originally thought tire pressure as I have a bad habit of driving daily  with 11-13lbs in each tire.  Much softer ride though I know the dangers and issues that may result from doing so.  However I aired bach to 32lbs each and still she sways.  There is definitely play .

also I never thought about shackle and spring bushings, or as jeepgod mentioned the axle joints either and will go through those now as well. Wheel bearings are all new with only 1000 or so miles on them and I check those with no play either to report.

I bought some brake cleaner which works better than degreaser in my opinion as it drys the area quickly as degreaser needs to be rinsed and will not allow me ample time to take a few photos where my steering box leak is coming from. That needs fixing regardless as it pisses everwhere leaving a puddle where ever I park.

[jeepgod]

so your wife "wiggled the steering wheel" you checked tre, you diod not check ball joints!  unless you are leaving that part out?

there should not be ANY play in ther frt end, jack up frt end, grab top and bottom of tire and attempot to pull out on top of tire while pucshing in at bottom of tire. is there any movement. just cause you installed new wheel bearing doesn't ,ean you torqued them correctly, or that they haven't loosened up a bit. this is also the way to check ball joints. if you feel play then you need to have someone perform the test i just descibed and watch for the play and where it is coming from.

just a little play will cause the issue that you are having, i have seen loose shackles cause all kinds of steering issues. i have seen worn out spring bushing mess with steering also.  if this is your issue the steering will be all over the road while driving, it would cause a vague feel in the wheel and you would need constant input to the steering wheel just to drive down the road. this al depends upon how badly things are worn. i am asuming whenb you did the lift on your jeeop that you replaced all the psring bushings so i would guess that this is not your problem? but then again i am not there so i have no real idea.  a simple check for loose or worn spring bushings is to move the steering wheel back and forth and just watch the springs. if the springs or shackles move before the wheels then there is your issue

good luck

[mika401]

I had death woble ended up being the upper shackle bushings, wouldnt hurt to check all your spring/shackle busings either

[Switch]

I had death woble ended up being the upper shackle bushings, wouldnt hurt to check all your spring/shackle busings either

mine was the result of unbalanced tires and a blown out steering box